if i want to get rid of the aphids can i use dish liquid soap or bathing soap too?

Answer 1

Here is what the research from the University of Illinois has to say on this subject:

"Insecticidal soaps are useful in controlling various insect and mite pests in landscapes and nurseries, including aphids, scales, mealybugs and twospotted spider mites. A soap is a substance derived from the activity of an alkali such as sodium (hard soap) or potassium (soft soap) hydroxide on a fat. Fats are generally a blend of particular fatty acid chain lengths. Soap is a general term for the salts of fatty acids.

Soft-bodied pests such as aphids, the crawler stage of scales and mealybugs, thrips, whiteflies, and mites are most susceptible to soap applications. Soaps generally have minimal activity on beetles and other hard-bodied insects. Soaps are effective ONLY when insects or mites come into direct contact with the spray. Dried residues on plant surfaces have minimal insect or mite activity as soap residues degrade rapidly.

Soaps kill insect and mite pests in one of three ways - although the mode of action is still undetermined. (1) Soaps may work by penetration of the fatty acids through the insect's outer covering and dissolving or disrupting cell membranes. This disrupts cell integrity, causing cells to leak and collapse, destroying respiratory functions, and resulting in dehydration and death of the insect. (2) Soaps may act as insect-growth regulators, interfering with cellular metabolism and production of growth hormones during metamorphosis. (3) Soaps mat block the spiracles, interfering with respiration.

There are a variety of fatty acids: however, only certain ones have an insecticidal properties. This trait is related to the length of the carbon-based fatty acid chains. Most soaps with insect and mite activity are composed of long-chain fatty acids. Whereas shorter fatty acids have herbicidal properties.

There is a general misconception that any soap or detergent can be used as an insecticide. Although only a few select soaps have insecticidal properties, many common household soaps and detergents including Palmolive, Ivory, Joy, Tide, and Dove, which are unlabeled insecticides, have some activity on many soft-bodied insects when applied to plants as a 1% or 2% aqueous solution. However, reliability is less predictable than soaps formulated as insecticides.

Dishwashing liquids and laundry detergents are primarily designed to dissolve grease from dishes and clean clothes, not to kill insects. These materials may cause plant injury by dissolving the waxy cuticle on leaf surfaces. Registered, commercially available insecticidal soaps are less likely to dissolve plant waxes. Also, plants with hairy leaves may be more susceptible to injury from dishwashing liquids and detergents. Dishwashing liquids and laundry detergents, like insecticidal soaps, lack any residual activity; thus more frequent applications are needed. However, too many applications harm certain plant types. In addition, detergents are chemically different from soaps and may cause phytotoxicity. In fact, many hand soaps are not necessarily pure fatty acids. Most importantly, these solutions are not registered insecticides. Soap companies don't intend their products to be used as insecticides, as they have not gone through the EPA registration process.

Soaps, even insecticidal soaps, may be directly and indirectly harmful to natural enemies. For example, one study showed insecticidal soap to harm predatory mites. In another study, a 4% application rate of insecticidal soap was moderately harmful to western flower thrips predator.

The type of fatty acid, length of carbon-based fatty acid chain, and concentration in many laundry and dish soaps is not known. Also, the insecticidal effectiveness may be compromised by coloring agents or perfumes, oftentimes leading to inconsistent results. Certain laundry and dish soaps precipitate in "hard" water, thus reducing their effectiveness.

Despite the activity of some dishwashing liquids and laundry soaps on insect and mite pests, their use in landscapes and nurseries should be avoided primarily because they are not registered insecticides. Even more important is that a pest control company generally stands behind a product when there is a problem. If dish or laundry soap is used and plants are injured, there is no recourse."

Answer 2

Either detergents or soaps work to kill insects that have soft bodies such as aphids, young scales, whiteflies, psyllids, mealybugs, and spider mites. Detergent is just more likely to injure the plants. This is known as "phytotoxicity." It is most likely to occur when it is warmer so spray early or very late. This also extends the drying time making the spray more effective since it only works while it is wet. Known sensitive plants include: Begonias, impatiens, ferns, african violets, palms and succulents and some varieties of tomato. It is best to wet one leaf on the plant. Test one leaf overnight for toxicity. Even some plants that are sensitive can be sprayed then rinsed the next day to remove residue before the sun hits them.

What you need to use is liquid soap as the powdered or solid forms are harsher on the plants.
Detergent and soap are different things. Soap is less likely to injure the plants than dish detergents. Soaps include Ivory, pure castille, Dr Bonner, Murphy's Oil, and liquid hand soaps. The limitation with soap, but not detergent, is it does not work well in hard water. Distilled water avoids that limitation.

Special purpose insecticidal soap sprays are the easiest on the plants and by far the more expensive method.

I usually make a 2% solution of soap because it tends to work well and offers a safe range of use in the garden.

Answer 3

Yep. Get a spray bottle at K-Mart and put in some cheap liquid bath soap. (The aphids ain't gonna care if it smells nice, or is anti-bacterial.) Fill the bottle up about 1/8 of the way with the soap, and the rest of the way with warm water. (That helps disolve the soap better.)

Then spray like mad! Pretty soon the aphids have a nice coating of soap on them, and they can't get any oxygen. Dead aphids. You do wan't to make sure that the ants that usually tend the aphids are not keeping more destructive bugs from your plants before you do this.

Good luck. Ciao!

Answer 4

A lot of people get kind of up in arms about this, saying that it's not made for animals and could be dangerous. Just keep it away from the kitten's eyes, mouth and ears and it's /fine/. I adopted what I was told was a six to seven week old kitten(we found out a few days later she couldn't have been more than four weeks old, the woman who gave her to me was very irresponsible) and she was absolutely flea ridden and covered in dirt. We had always used Joy lemon dish soap on my dog to get rid of fleas and it worked like a charm. The poor thing was just so flea ridden I had to give her a bath, her gums were almost white. So, I scrubbed her up with soap and gave her a nice warm bath. She was so weak from the fleas the stress was nearly too much, and she slept for a very long time, which worried me. But the next morning she was up and exploring the apartment. So I know it's absolutely fine, this is a much safer alternative than over-the-counter medicine on such a young kitten. Just watch your fingers, and stay away from her mouth and eyes and you'll have a happy, clean kitten in no time. But keep in mind! Scrubbing may dislodge some flea eggs for them to be washed away, but it wont get rid of all of them. Flea eggs can last for up to a YEAR(or so i've read somewhere.) so make sure as soon as the kitten is old enough you go with traditional preventatives.

Answer 5

You need to use soap that is pure like Ivory.
Don't use detergent type products that have phosphates, because that's bad for the environment.

Many have taken the soap scraps & added them to water to make their own liquid soap spray.

Soap & water spray is used as a last resort when hosing down the plants with a strong spray of water doesn't get rid of them.

You only need a tablespoon of liquid soap to a gallon of water.
Good luck! Hope this helps.

Answer 6

Got you covered, and this is all organic and cheap.

1 Bottle of Palmolive Dish Liquid
1 quart of Household Clear Ammonia
1 Beer Take a sip first pour the rest in the mixing container
4 tablespoons of Miacle Grow.

Mix well and spray through a garden sprayer. It won't hurt to spray leaves and all.

Answer 7

Yes, I have heard of that method but just with the dish soap. (Try Dawn)

Answer 8

Dish soap is best.

Answer 9

Neem oil and Bayer advanced Tree&Shrub pest contorl work best for me!