Isopropyl does, though. I would recommend dismantling the screens and spraying with alcohol. Maybe a liberal sprinkling of cinnamon, as it is approaching the holiday season. I want to see a big-screen TV full of thrips. It'd like an antfarm with technicolor. Stacy

Thanks for sharing that Ron. I did not know any of those stories. They all touched me, and they made me think of many other stories there are out there. I travel a lot on my job and in pursuit of my other passion in life; trout fishing. I see men and women in uniform in almost every airport I travel to, but I particularly see many on my trips to Charlotte. Some of these folks are going "over there" (or getting ready to) and a few of them I've met were coming home. I never go by without letting these people know that many people here at home, whom they have never met, care deeply about them, worry for them, wish them a swift and safe return, and thank them for their service. I hope these people never ever want for their fellow Americans respect and concern. And I hope that if you are reading this that you will reach out to these people when you see them in your own life, shake their hand, thank them for the job they do, and let them know in some small but sincere way that you care. You'll be doing that person and yourself a great deal of good in the process.

Aphids are generally more likely to infest plants with lush green growth, plants growing in soils with too much available Nitrogen although they can be found on other plants. Aphids also produce live young, and start doing that almost as soon as the are born so by the time you see an Aphid you probably have several generations already present. The simplest means of control is to knock the wee buggers off the plants with a sharp spray of water. Now many people that know not whereof they speak will tell you that those Aphids you just knocked off will simply return, but these wee buggers are so dumb they know not whereof they came and die before they figure out where they need to go. What you will see is the next generations moving into the vacancy you created, so it takes some time and repeat applications of the water spray, as well as digging into your soil to determine why your plants might be so attrractive to these pests.

You are so right, kimmsr. However, insect pests and plant diseases are a part of the normal scheme of things, too. Good, healthy soil, and strong and healthy plants can tolerate a balanced population of the problem organisms. Those conditions do nothing prevent pests and pathogens from arriving. What you have been repeating over and over is tried and true. Nothing new, but certainly worth repeating. It is also important to know that a healthy garden will have aphids, will have mites and caterpillars and will have billions of spores of pathogens. Learning to accept and manage the problems is all part of 'culture'. It's good for gardeners like momma to know that, and to learn about some of the many methods of control they have to choose from. Momma has done a good thing in switching fertilizers, perhaps. She might also try to be even more watchful, especially when the crops are young, so that she can do some hand removal before those 'green buggers' get the upper hand. Which they will do, no matter how 'good, healthy, and strong' everything may be. A healthy tomato plant doesn't repel aphids....the plant is just able to withstand the onslaught longer.