Welcome to the forums! I hope you'll be back many times. What pest were you spraying for? We don't spray "just because ". Lots of people (millions) use dish soap for plant issues, but I'm not one of them. Your accident is a perfect example of why not. Your proportions were too strong. Add to that the fact that Dawn is strong grease busting detergent and very harsh on plant tissues. I have no problem using vinegar on plants.....again, it's all about the proportions. Two tablespoons per GALLON can be used to lower the pH of water for spray solutions. As a weed killer, it needs to be used undiluted. Throwing the soil away is totally not necessary and your plants may only need to be cut back, not destroyed. As far as the Sevin goes....please don't go there. It's deadly for bees and other pollinators and is famous for causing a rebound of pest populations. So! You've learned that people don't spray plants for the heck of it.....we go after the pests on the plants. Not all insects are pests, so identify first! We do an excellent job here, as long as you can provide a decent picture. It's best not to invent home remedies until you get some experience under your belt. There are plenty of safe, organic commercial products on the market. They actually have labels! This post was edited by rhizo_1 on Tue, Jun 11, 13 at 16:33

Yes, fire does kill aphids. I doubt you'll have an issue with them on that particular plant again. However, if you actually want to keep the plants in the future... =) A good blast with the hose will knock them off, and then they can't find their way back up to the plant again and will die. Even colonies like you described can be handled effectively in this way, and it beats pesticides or destroying the plant. I've also heard of some people who buy and release ladybugs in their yard, although I haven't tried this myself. But these pests are so easily handled that a pesticide is really an unnecessary step. As you say, why risk harming the hummers (or yourself and your family/pets, for that matter!)? Incidentally, anyone know if hummers eat aphids?

When I was first building up my garden, I bought and planted lots of plants from the local nurseries. I had a terrific slug problem for many years. One of the contributing factors was that I was importing nursery slugs right along with the plants. Have you seen their plants sitting on the ground waiting to be moved up to the table as a space clears? If not at the nursery itself, then at the wholesaler that trucked them in. That's how slugs can get into hanging baskets. That mistified me for years.

Yes, they are "Rainbow Mix" from eBay. Buy 300 for like 1.70 or buy 900 for 3.70. I chose the 900 seeds. Hope they stay viable. I also ordered a different Rainbow Mix but I forget the seller. Now I am waiting for the "Pineapple and Black Dragon" Coleus seeds to come in the mail. I like your mix, BloomCin. I want some like the purple ones. I will be selling some at our Farmers Market in my town. I need more variety. I only had one like your purple one in the left bottom corner. I will be glad when my greenhouse is built so I can get the seedlings out of the house and so I can plant more seeds.