aphids
Gardening, Uncategorized

Aphids Infestation: Let’s Heal the Plants

Balcony Garden

Aphids are the small irritating pests that feed on the soft growing new leaves and the buds of the plants. They’re literally the pests that don’t give up easily. The worst part is they can jump from one plant to another. I’m trying to deal with Aphid’s infestation on my favorite Indoor Plant: English ivy for the past whole month and let me share with you my experience with these pests.

What are Aphids?

Aphids are the small pests that attach to the soft growing buds and leaves of the plants and suck the nectar out of the plants. They slowly and steadily suck out the life of the plants. They lead to yellowing, curling, and withering of the plants. They breed and proliferate very fast and spring is the main season when they lay eggs and grow.

They’re found in many colors: green, pink, black, white, offwhite, yellow & many more.

[Tweet “How I finally got Rid of Aphids?”]

I used many ways but few worked and few didn’t. later on, I realized that everything would work but I’ve to be consistent with my plans and continue them then only the aphids would leave. I combined all of the things to finally get rid of them.

Neem Oil

I ordered neem oil from Amazon and I used 2 drops in the spray bottle of 1 liter then I use to spray on the infested part of the plant. Repeat spraying on the plants 2-3 times a day.

I even use the remnant oil solution to water the plant.

Neem oil is beneficial in stopping fungal infection and in stopping bugs too.

Aphids
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Lemon/ Vinegar/ Citrus solutions

I used:

  • 1 tablespoon: lemon
  • 1 tablespoon: Vinegar
  • 1 tablespoon: mandarin oil in 1 liter of water

I regularly sprayed the infested part of the plants. Aphids hate strong smell and citrus is one hell of strong smell to deal with.

At times I even mixed neem oil in this solution. I was literally desperate to get rid of them.

Manual removal

Aphids are small bugs if you’re not scared of small insects you can just rub them from the shoots of the plants. They’re easy to remove. Do it gently though.

Water jet

They’re attached to the plants but with a jet of water, they could easily get dislodged. Use the jet stream on the affected part to get rid of them.

Lady Bugs

Ladybugs are pretty and they can get rid of aphids for you, but they’re pest too. Although ladybugs are considered healthy pests that are good for plants but in large numbers they could eat up the plants too.

You could try it out although I didn’t give it a try.

Rosemary oil/ Mandarin oil (Essential oils)

The aromatic herbal oils could be used to produce strong smell and Aphids can’t tolerate the smell.

Alcohol/ Spirit Swabs

I was very-very irritated so In the end, I even tried alcohol/ spirit swabs to wipe them out from the new leaves and buds of the plants. It did work for 1 week but then they returned.

My advice would be to mix and match the approach, keep a keep watch on the undersurface of leaves and buds for aphids.

I hope these solutions would work with you as they did for me.

Happy Gardening to all.

8 thoughts on “Aphids Infestation: Let’s Heal the Plants”

  1. I would love to do more gardening but I, sadly, don’t have a green thumb at all! Nothing seems to want to grow for me. Thank you for the tips though, as I will definitely use them once I am able to get our garden going.

  2. These are great ways to manage the menace from aphids. Lemon/ Vinegar/ Citrus solutions, neem oil, alcohol swabs are simple and easy to do. Lady bugs… that’s an interesting way to get rid of aphids. Thanks for this informative post, Richa!

  3. Oh tell me about it. Been dealing with them and meally bugs for a while now. I used alcohol swabs and it has helped a bit. But these buggers are quite persistent. A little but of neglect and they proliferate like crazy. Thanks for the tips.

  4. Ah I remember when all of my Hibsicus plants caught the Aphid bug and then it started to spread all over. I tried everything- detergent in water, chilli water, oil and disinfectant……….. Nothing worked. I was getting all the tips from garden lovers but nothing worked. Finally I had to discard all the plants which had these bugs which reduced my plants to almost half.

    Glad to note your remedies and will remember for next time around.

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