Aphids vs. Ladybugs---Aphids Winning!!

15 years ago

I've got several three year old pluot and aprium trees that are heavily infested with black and green aphids. I've been organic for three seasons now, so I did have some native ladybugs at work. To supplement, I bought a carton and turned them loose, too.

It must be a super good spring for aphids, because even though the ladybugs and now, their larvae are eating away, it's not even putting a dent in the dumb aphids.

What can I use that won't totally knock out the ladybugs? I was thinking of a castile soap mixture, but didn't know if that would hurt the ladybugs.

Unfortunately, I don't have a hose that will reach out there to use water power to knock the aphids off. Any suggestions?

Thanks,

Elaine

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Comments (14)

organicguy
15 years ago
Ladybugs are great, except that don't stay put! They will stay where the food is, but if you are infested, chances are so are your neighbors. It's likely that your ladybugs may be feasting on aphids from other nearby areas, and not just your own property.

If you are that badly infested and it's a matter of loseing the tree's, I would spray with Pyrethium, Rotonone or a combination of the two. I doubt that soap is going to do much good.

Ron
The Garden Guy
http://www.TheGardenGuy.org
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dchall_san_antonio
15 years ago
I don't know if it will help you but there is an article here on a different approach to controlling aphids.
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I cannot answer the 'how it works' question but I have seen it work. My eight-year long battle with aphids on my roses ended the day I started using corn meal under the plants. It has been six years since and no aphids. When I mentioned that to a local organic researcher he took me to his green house to show me something. He was doing an experiment with soils. He had three plants growing in 4-inch pots. The plants themselves were about 8 inches tall and the canopies of all three were touching. One of the plants had aphids all over it while the other two had none. The canopies were touching but the aphids did not make the trip over to the other two plants. I asked him what the difference was and he said it was the soil. He could not tell me what the three different soils were because it was on ongoing blind experiment where he did not know which plant was which, but the point was made that soils made the difference. I can say that we spent a long time talking about his experiments. From those discussions I would guess that all three pots started life in a generic bag of potting soil from Wal-Mart. To that he added compost to two of them and probably a product he sells called Texas Greensand and one called Vulcanite. I also judged the botany category at a regional science fair for about 20 years. During that time I saw numerous projects where the students were able to specify a plants' resistance to different pests or disease simply by exposing the plant to various vapors. One vapor they liked to use a lot was salicylic acid (methyl salicylate or oil of wintergreen). One of the particularly gifted students proved that these vapors worked at the genetic level by turning on or off certain genes that the plant uses to protect itself. He also proved that certain combination of vapors stimulated a dormant gene that nobody knew what it was there for. When you see a breakthrough in scientific understanding at the high school level, it can make the mundane science fair much more fun to do. That boy went on to win the international science fair. So if you want to know "exactly" how these things work, maybe I can connect you with that kid. I'm sure he's out of college now - or maybe working on his Ph.D. The midge lifecycle sounds like the thrips lifecycle. We can control thrips in the soil over the winter with beneficial nematodes applied in January. Our climate is so much warmer than most places that January may be too early for many of y'all.
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jean001
15 years ago
Hose them off. REpeat as needed.
Kimmsr
15 years ago
Rotenone today is unaccetable to an organic gardener and since pyrethrins are very braod spectrum pesticides that should only be used as a last resort since it will kill the Lady Beetles and their larva and create larger problems in the garden. Until the population of the Lady Beetles and their larvcagrows enough to control the Aphids the best means of control is a sharp stream of water. That does not need to be delivered via a hose, maybe should not be because of the pressure, but a spray bottle of water that will knock the Aphids off the trees will help, without harming the Lady Beetles and their larva.
rhizo_1 (North AL) zone 7
15 years ago
I agree with the plain water folks. If you jump in with the hose upon occasion, you'll get the aphids under control enough so that the ladybugs are no longer the underdog in that fight.
organicguy
15 years ago
She did mention in her post that hosing them off was not an option for her.

Ron
The Garden Guy
http://www/TheGardenGuy.org
New Article & Garden Journal Entries!
jean001
15 years ago
Applying direct hits of insecticidal soap works. Repeat as needed.
Kimmsr
15 years ago
Not having a hose that will reach that far is not a problem since there is no real need to use a hose to knock Aphids off plants. A spray bottle, or a portable sprayer, will work just as well as a hose, maybe better since the pressure is not there to damage the plant.
Dan _Staley (5b Sunset 2B AHS 7)
15 years ago
I've used a quart spray bottle with a mix of dish soap, veg oil, garlic, and chili powder for well over a decade.

Dan
californian
15 years ago
Buy a longer hose.
hardin
15 years ago
I've had the same problem before, and what I did was a little gross but it helped. Put on a pair of gloves and just carefully start running your fingers through the aphids and lightly squeeze them to death. Gross? Yes. Effective? Yes.
idaho_gardener
15 years ago
More ladybugs? Buy another carton of them? I guess I'm having trouble believing that the aphids can outrun the ladybugs for very long.
Kimmsr
15 years ago
For the population of predator species (Lady Beetles in this instance) to grow they need a food source, available water, and shelter. Once those are in place then they will mate, lay eggs that will hatch into the larva, and then the population will grow, but the population will only grow so large, what the habitat will support. If you bought a large number of predators those that the habitat would not support would leave for greener pastures.
The Aphids need to be in place before the Lady Beetle populations will grow.
jan67
12 years ago
I noticed for the first time in 15 years that my clematis plant had little black bugs all over the trellis and old vines, and osme one leaves. They are the size of a tick. I think I finally found out that they are aphids. The odd thing is that after an unusal amount of rain this year, the big fir tree branch hanging over the Clematis, dropped a ton of sap all over my leaves. I have tried soapy water, but that doesn't last too long. Has anyone heard of aphids, in every size, coming from the sap of fir tree? what is the best homemade remedy I can use for both the sap and the aphids. Thanks, Jan

Aphids vs. Ladybugs---Aphids Winning!!

Comments (14)

organicguy

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