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Aphids - how to get rid of them?


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I seem to have a very large blackfly and greenfly infestation in my garden this year. Usually I squish them satisfyingly but with the amount that have set up home it would take me all day:o I have heard something about spraying them with a soapy solution (I would prefer using something like that rather than a pesticide) - how does that work then and how do I make the solution. Would a soap solution be OK for flowers or would that damage them? Are there any good other methods?

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Try to encourage natural predators into the garden: lacewings, labybirds, blue tits etc. I just put up with the aphids that I get although I'm pretty lucky (or rather the garden is rammed with natural predators). You could try companion planting, planting Tagetes will attract the blackfly away from broad beans etc. Of course this is no good if it's tagetes that you're trying to grow in the first place.

 

I'm fast coming round to the idea of planting things that slugs/snails/aphids etc don't like. This includes many types of wild flowers. If they do get aphid infestations they seem to survive quite happily and my garden is buzzing with bees as a result. They also self seed...

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Just fill up the washing up bowl and wash your hands with a bar of natural. plain soap (unscented) - then you'll have lots of soapy water to fill up a plant spray with. Cheap as chips and then just 'spot' spray it on stems or buds where there is an aphid problem.

 

Other thing you can do is try to hose them off by using the mist or soaker setting on your hose nozzle thingie.

 

Blackfly are harder to get rid of than greenfly though - be warned!

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