Aphids, Thrips.....please help!!!

16 years ago

I'm going to start by saying I decided to try something new this year and not use insecticides in an effort to help the "good" guys survive. BUT, if it comes down to have the "good" guys around, or pretty blooms, the blooms will win every time! I don't see the point of putting in all this work on my roses if I don't get to enjoy the blooms!

I just came in from checking my roses for the first time today. I checked them yesterday and noticed nothing of concern. I have been waiting for my first bud to open. I noticed today that it didn't look right, so I tore it open and sure enough, the thrips were feasting inside! As I continued to look I noticed that 2 of my bushes are covered in what I am assuming are aphids. They are tiny green things. I've never had aphids before since I used systemic insecticides in the past. Is my only defense against aphids lady bugs? I read that nematodes are about the only thing that will eat thrips. Does anyone know about these? Is there anyway to attack the thrips once they are inside the tight bud?

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Comments (6)

jerijen
16 years ago
Your best defense against aphids is your garden hose.
If you blast them off the buds with a blast of water, they're gone. Or you can just brush them off, which is very satisfactory.

But, Aggie, there's another thing maybe no one warned you about.
Going from a garden that is treated with pesticides, to one that is NOT is a fine thing.

But there is a transition period.

We made the change because pesticides triggered seizures in our dog.
For a whole year, this garden looked like H*LL.
We never thought about going back to pesticides because there was Frodo -- so we gritted our teeth and held on.

By the second year, a balanced ecology had begun to develop. We started to see birds swooping in to eat aphids and white fly. We started to see lizards. We removed roses that couldn't make it without fungicides. We added a few other sorts of plants.

Now, after a few years, things look better than they ever did with pesticides. But it didn't happen overnight.

Jeri
olyagrove
16 years ago
Well said, Jeri!

First year of growing roses I sprayed. Took a month to get rid of aphids completely
Now, with no pesticide in the garden, it takes about the same time for aphids to disappear...
Better without it; blooms are great, but I do not want to expose myself to it when spraying/mixing

Olya
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Yes, it will damage the lilies because they need to keep their leaves/stalks until they die back naturally to feed the bulb for next year. Here is what I did the other day for aphids, got the recipe on the antique roses forum. Also you can jet them off with the hose, that might ruin the blooms (you didn't say which part of the plant they were on). Mix one teaspoon of liquid dishsoap with one quart of water in a regular spray bottle and give it to them good. They should turn black and die in a week (don't know about flying ones). I didn't know about that when they were bothering a few roses in late spring so blasted them off with the jet on the hose and hand picked the rest. But I sprayed my phlox just about 5 days ago where they've appeared (must be low on ladybugs around here because they're supposed to take care of aphids when they come in early summer) with the solution, and they have disappeared. Didn't have to repeat but you can daily. I'm surprised Sevin didn't zap them. Did you use 2 fluid ounces per gallon? Also Bayer Advanced Rose and Flower Insect Killer says on the label it's for aphids. HD was out of it so I ordered a bunch online because it works on Japanese Beetles. But here is the caveat. It kills bees. Now I haven't seen any bees in my lily blooms, just flies and occasional Jap beetle. The product contains imidacloprid and has a residual effect that lasts up to possibly 30 days. That will disorient and incapacitate bees days later. So be careful if you decide to try that, comes in a 24 oz ready mixed bottle, don't forget to shake. I forgot to shake my Sevin concentrate. I'd try the soapy water first, then if they are still creeping you out, try the Bayer. You could cut off the blooms but don't cut them down except as a last resort. My Bayer is insurance if the JB's swarm here shortly, and I only intend to spray plants that aren't blooming (cut the buds and blooms all off my roses until the beetles are done).
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Hi Julie! As you already know, it is very hard to keep aphids off of all organically raised leaf crops because you can't spray with insecticidal soap, neem oil, or superfine dormant oil. I've never tried spraying lettuce with a homemade garlic or pepper spray as I assume the garlic/pepper spray would ruin the lettuce for human consumption. I'm not sure there is much you can do at this point, but there are a couple of things you can do 'next time'. Predatory insects are your best bet, but they won't show up until you have a large aphid population to attract them and by then it is probably too late to save the current crop. Next year, or in the fall if you grow fall lettuce, you could try releasing beneficial insects like lady bugs, aphid midges, green lacewings or parasitic wasps. The timing is tricky, though, as you have to release them before the aphids get out of hand, but you can't release them too early or they won't have anything to eat and they'll leave. You can also plant pollen and nectar plants near your lettuce and they will help attract the beneficial insects. Spraying with a stream of water works temporarily, but must be repeated daily. Since aphids carry viral diseases that they transmit to the plants as they feed, you can still have plant damage even if you are spraying with water daily. Some people have had success with mulching their leaf crop beds with a silvery reflective mulch. In the 'old days' they did this by laying down aluminum foil as a mulch around their plants. Some people used to buy that building construction paper that has brown paper on one size and shiny foil on the other. Nowadays you can buy a silver mulch from companies like Territorial Seed. That might be an option for future years. Plants fed excess nitrogen tend to be more attractive to aphids, but since you garden organically, I can't imagine your plants have been fed an excess of nitrogen. You also can keep aphids off your leaf crops by raising them under floating row covers that are well anchored so aphids cannot find a way under the row covers. That's about all I can think of right now. Dawn
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aggierose
Original Author
16 years ago
Jeri, I noticed you mentioned lizards. Do the insecticides kill them too? I guess I never thought that throwing a granular insecticide on my roses would kill the lizards. I do have lots of lizards, but not as many as I used to. When we moved into this house it seemed like the yard was overtaken with lizards. I used to find dozens of lizard eggs in the dirt when I was planting flowers, but I don't find those anymore. Does fungicide kill them? I'm not planning on stopping the spray for blackspot, but that is because I didn't think it killed anything but fungus.
jerijen
16 years ago
Aggie, I don't know whether pesticides killed lizards, or just drove them off. I suspect it might have killed 'em tho.

Not everyone may agree, but I really enjoy my lizards. They're just an extra little bit of life in the garden.
I know FOR SURE that we have ten times as many birds here as we used to, and that they are key in aphid control.

Jeri
sammy zone 7 Tulsa
16 years ago
My gloves are a good deterrent for the aphids. As I wander through the garden, I just rub them off. I have heard that once they are off, they cannot get back on, and I don't try to get every single one every day because the lady bugs are working also.

I wish I could think of something like this for the thrips, but I only spray the blossoms and buds with Concern, not the entire plant.

(Sometimes I do put the Concern in with my fungicide, but only a couple of times a year.)

Sammy
barbarag_happy
16 years ago
Start a diary; you may be surprised to find how short-lived some of these insect imbalances are. I remember my new rose garden in Dallas and how FREAKED I was when thrips got into my yellows & apricots-- and they were my main colors. By the 2nd & 3rd year it wasn't so much of an issue-- a few spoiled blooms early in the season was all. A few cold-water treatments in the spring have provided all the aphid control I've needed. With regular cold-water washes, I've never had any spider mite problems either in Dallas or here during high-risk hot weather. Oh please hang in there! It is so much simpler and more enjoyable to grow your roses without all the sprays.

Aphids, Thrips.....please help!!!

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jerijen

olyagrove

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Aphids, Thrips.....please help!!!

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jerijen

olyagrove

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aggieroseOriginal Author

jerijen

sammy zone 7 Tulsa

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