Abe Coley wrote:i do a combination of 3 things:
- 1 tsp neem oil per 2 cups water, sprayed with spray bottle every few days.
- a light dusting of diatomecious earth through a hand-pump duster
- picking them off by hand and smashing them between your fingers
look for any plants that are their headquarters... i had an overwintered kale plant in the greenhouse that was the base of their operations
My greenhouse got down to 21 degrees this winter but I still had aphids come spring. Maybe the eggs can handle a bit of cold? They appeared first on the new leaves of my citrus. I sprayed them with neem and/or insecticidal soap and while it eventually took care of the aphids, the new leaves died. I'm not sure if it was from the spray or the aphid damage...
Regarding DE, I thought it was for hard shelled bugs. So would it have any effect on aphids or just their predators/supporters? I've used it before when I have aphids on my young fruit trees. I put it around the base of the tree to take care of the ants that are farming the aphids (they have to cross the DE to climb the tree to go to work). Once the ants stop farming, the aphids get taken care of by other critters.