How can i get rid of Aphids?

Question

I recently put some seeds of my geranium plants in the soil. They grew up and i thought what a success , but over the past few weeks a large group of aphids have taken over my geraniums and over half have died. I keep them in my consevatory and i put a insect kill spray on them and their still their. These plants i my prize 2007 annual village competition plants and i need help other wise i will loose them.

So what do i do ?

Answer 1

I'm sorry to say that if these are your prize plants for the annual village competition that you are better off dumping them and starting again. Geraniums grow fast and furiously with the right care and attention so you can still produce prize plants.
Now that you know that you have aphids, prevention is better than cure. So clean your conservatory right out and then wash it down with a mild disinfectant. Remove all debris as this provides places for the little critters to hide. If you have other plants in the conservatory then this is your problem. They all need to be treated (sprayed) with a mild soapy solution twice a week.
If you are determined not to lose these plants then you need to keep spraying them with a soapy solution made with washing up liquid. You might also consider putting in more seeds just in case of disaster.
Other plants will not deter aphids at this cold time of year and I'm not sure that ladybirds would be that active either.
I have lots of experience with gardening and the only thing which will sort out aphids at this time of year is sqashing them with your fingers and spaying with soapy solution.
Make sure to sow more seeds and keep a very close eye on things. Good luck.

Answer 2

I had these on my oxalis plants. Just take a deep breath, be patient, and every week go over your plants by hand, picking off all the evil critters. The unfortunate thing about aphids is that just about every species of them can reproduce asexually. So even if there's only one left, within a couple of weeks you'll have plenty again. Just be patient, spraying them off helps, but not a pathetically weak spray, you've got to blast them into oblivion.

Answer 3

you need to completely soak every surface of the plants in a solution of safer's soap everyday or as directed until the aphids are gone. also any other plants that are in the same room or area that aphids may be hiding on. you might also try neem extract with the safers soap, but read the label 1st to make sure you use the amt. directed for which plant. you can do it! good luck.

Answer 4

For a quick start wash them off using water with a little washing up liquid in it and wash them off then go down to the garden centre and get an aphid spray what does surprise me is aphids so early MMMMMMMMMMM you sure

Answer 5

Are you not to early to be growing geraniums outside? Anyway I use garlic corms planted in my garden near to plants that I want to protect. I always grow garlic below rose bushes and they stay aphid free. Never tried it with geraniums though. Good luck.

Answer 6

I really don't like pesticides, so I use the stages method.
First stage is spray the aphids with water to get them off.
if they come back, then on to
Two, which is spray them with Safer Soap (That's easy to make=a couple teaspoon of dish washing soap in a sprayer filled with water)
if they still come back,
Then I go to the Garden Store and buy Ladybugs (they are actual ladybugs) and they love to eat aphids.

Answer 7

I do the same thing as jonsey...use about 1 teaspoon of DAWN dishsoap in 1 windex sized bottle of water. Mix well and spray directly on the bugs. You must keep vigil and watch for any new outbreaks...sometimes after I spray they sort of scatter and move to new places on the plant. You can spray this daily if need be.

Answer 8

When my roses get aphids, I just mix up some dishwashing liquid and water in a spray bottle and spray the affected areas, it gets rid of the aphids and it's not toxic.

Answer 9

I have always used dishsoap and water and spray it on the plants. Make sure you get under the leaves and blooms. You will have to spray it a few times but, wait a day in between.

Answer 10

If your garden is infested and the soap doesn't work for you and you want to avoid chemicals, there are botanicals, used by organic gardeners. Those that are effective on aphids, such as pyrethrum, rotenone or sabadilla. They're easy to find at gardening stores or online. Try Gardens Alive (online or catalogue) for organic/natural products for every garden problem. I've used their products for years.