Oh, rats! I have to take back some of what I said. I did damage a couple of my lettuce plants. But not all. So I will say definitely on somthing as delicate as lettuce, be sure not to overheat the tender middle! :) Also, there is a new batch of aphids showing up. They are smaller on average than the previous batch, so egg hatch? Anyhow, I'm still satisfied because the lettuce that I didn't hurt looks good, the stuff I did looks no worse than it would had I not caught the aphids, and as for having to respray, well I would have to do that no matter what I used. I think those darn little black ants are bringing the aphids with them...

I would be worried about cooking the lettuce.

g'day sunni,

mmm hot water the big danger as you have found is cooking the plants or causing some sort of damage. not sure about where you are but usually over here aphids are there when the ants are as they have a symbiotic relationship so the ants need to be moved on before any aphid or other tretment will work, actually if you remove the ants in that scenerio the aphids will die off the plant by themselves as we found when we stopped the ants getting into a citrus that ahd a good stock of aphids.

aphids can be simply removed with a strong spray not jet of water this will dislodge them and they have no way of getting back. if the infestation returns then it may very wll be the ants, no need to see a lot of ants. the only vege' that gets aphids in our gardens is the snake beans and always toward the end of their season when the plant is at a low ebb so we pull them, end of aphids and the ants have to look elsewhere.

len

Here is a link that might be useful: lens garden page

This recommendation will probably meet with a couple of naysayers -- it always does -- but I will swear by it because for the last half dozen years it's worked for me with absolute certainty. I place potted marigolds around the garden to cover all bases. Aphids don't like marigolds. I don't know why, but they do. Before I started this practice I had aphids in the garden by the gazillion. Now, nothing! I'm pulling lettuce now. The weather has been cool/cold and damp -- perfect for lettuce...and aphids. I have not seen a single one so far and don't expect to.

Hi Len (and everyone)! I think we have aphids here that are free of the ants, because I see plenty of winged green ones on the roses and not really any ants. (The roses also seem host to many ladybug larva, so I am letting that little drama play itself out.) I actually started with the lettuce, since it is the most tender plant in the garden. I was well aware that cooking might occur if I was not careful, but every new process has a learning curve. I figure if I can get it to work on my lettuce, that bodes well for trying it on the tomatoes when their annual infestation comes!

I posted this for those who are tired of chemicals or tired of paying a lot for them. I in no way claim that it works better than any other method, just that it is there as an alternative for those who are curious, interested, or other wise motivated to try it! :)

Anyhow, I do see ants mixed with the aphids on the lettuce, and those are wingless and black, so perhaps those are symbiotes. And the marigolds sound like a wonderful idea for when I move and have a much bigger garden!

Cheers!

Sunni

so take a sieve or flour sifter, and dust plants with flour, just plain old allpurpose flour. Go back about 15 min or so later and rinse off your plants. I use this on my roses. works every time. Good luck! The theory is.. the aphids body is sticky and flour smothers them. Even plain old water shooting on them would probably work, but this is well recommended to me.

Like Len says, no need to heat the water. Just blast 'em with the hose for a few days in a row and the problem will be down to a dull (and ignorable) roar.

No need for rocket science when a lever and pulley will do.

I love this idea - the spray of water, hot or not. Thanks for posting. I love hearing about natural approaches that are also cheap & easy.

I always thought I was being lazy in that I've never really done much about pests in my garden. Other than the occasional snail problem (Last year they ate 3 successive melon transplants! And attacked my peppers!), I don't seem to have pest problems to the point where I get enough damage I mind.

I certainly do have some pests, but from experience and now my reading over this winter, I'm guessing my efforts paid off more than I expected. I plant lots of marigolds wherever they fit in the veggie garden. Nasturtiums, too. Various herbs get either planted there or their pots get dug in. My veggie garden is also near my perennial garden, and I'm a fan of perennials that attract butterflies. I learned this winter that many of these same perennials also attract beneficial insects, and I do have a lot of those in my gardens. So I guess I've been keeping a decent balance of beneficials and pests all along.

I've been growing my veggie garden a little every year, but last fall we made it significantly larger. I've been worried the pests would invade now that the snack bar is bigger. Maybe not?

I read this winter about golden marguerite being one of the best in this regard, so I got some seeds. I have a zillion little seedlings now, and I'm planning to plant them just outside the veggie bed. They're pretty - what the heck. I'm also adding more flowers & herbs in various places. I'm hoping it works. Lazy has been pretty nice!

... But maybe I'll hang out at night with a spray bottle of hot water to attack the slugs if they come near my melons this year. That would certainly be satisfying....

Hey y'all! I was away for a week, sorry. Just one little follow-up here. The lettuce grew well while I was gone and the little spots where I cooked it on a couple of plants turned into little holes on the leaves... I've seen worse damage on my lettuce from a heavy rain.

No aphids at all on any lettuce plants.

My true interest in this method was to see if it could control my annual spidermite problem. Now we're moving and I don't know if the new site will have that particular problem. But I thought this might work where other things (including unheated water) have failed! I find the flour and water idea interesting, so I'll keep that written down in case I need to try it!

Cheers!

Sunni