Repetition and persistance. You CAN spray with an insecticidal soap, but it's not needed. A spray bottle, set for "stream" might do the trick, and be easier then moving them to the sinkk and back. I have heard of some people squishing them, and someone else told me she wraps packing tape, sticky-side out, around her hand and swipes at them with that....

Indoors? Unusual if its aphids. Neem oil would be a great way to get rid of these. Fungus gnats and their maggots are also damaging to indoor plants. The maggots feed on the roots and the tiny black bugs fly to other potted plants to infest everything. You can find many brands of neem (Safer is one) as a spray and its quite safe to consume the leaves a week or two after a few sprays. Just flcking them off or spraying with a strong stream of water will not get rid of them totally. Bugs lay eggs, and some are microscopic and can live in the soil. Neem works two ways, it smothers them as well as disrupts their digestion when feeding on the leaves. Its the safest thing out there now.

you most definitly will get the aphids to spread. best bet is to remove any pots with dirt and remove any dirt from the area of your seedlings. aphids require one step of their lifecycle in soil, if you remove that and are using new seed starting mix or soilless mix, then you should be able to quickly get rid of the aphids. Plus if you do see a few that make it, the insecticidal soap should work better and you can keep a handle on it until you can find ladybugs. I have never gotten ladybugs, but we use Planet Natural catalog for the green lacewings and other natural beneficials we have bought. Here is a link that might be useful: planet natural-free shipping right now

I am trying to get rid of aphids on plants in my indoor grow area - the majority of these plants are hot peppers. I believe the aphids are being brought in by ants and then farmed by them, because there is an ant problem as well, and every time I see more ants I see more aphids. So far I have tried neem soil drench and foliar spray and hydrogen peroxide foliar spray and borax baits for the ants but nothing has worked. It has gotten to the point where I am "showering" my plants every day to get the aphids off, but they just come back stronger in larger quantities a couple of days later. I recently bought a spinosad product, the Monterey Garden stuff, and I'm hoping some one can clear up some points for me. Does spinosad only kill on contact, or can I do a foliar spray and the leaves will absorb it and it will keep working over time? if so, about how many days will it be effective for until it stops controlling aphids? I have read that spinosad cannot be used as a soil drench because it is not systemic. Is this accurate? Do aphids lay eggs in the soil of containers? It seems like if they do a light drench might be effective for the eggs? I have also read that neem counteracts spinosad and the two should not be used together. Does this mean I should not do a neem soil drench at the same time as a spinosad foliar spray but should wait for a certain amount of time first? Thanks for your help.