How To Kill Aphids
How to Kill Aphids the Easy Way
If you are a gardener, you've no doubt had times when you had to decide how to kill aphids that threatened your plants. It's a constant battle. Aphids are inconspicuous pests. You can look over your garden and everything is fine, and seemingly only a few days later, aphids can move in, breed and destroy your garden.
Frequent inspection is the best defense against aphids. If you can catch them early, you can gain the upper hand. Take garden walks a few times each week, and pay special attention to the leaves' undersides. Check newly purchased plants for aphids before you plant them in your garden. Be careful not to use too much fertilizer, since aphids love new growth on plants that are over-fertilized. You can often use a strong water spray to dislodge aphids from plants, too. They will not often be able to return to their host plant.
Spraying a mixture of dish or laundry soap and warm water, sprayed everywhere including under the leaves, is one way you can use, if you're looking at how to kill aphids without disrupting your plants. You will want to respray once a week or so. Don't use your spray on very sunny and hot days, because it might magnify the sun and burn the plants.
You can also use aphid sprays or insecticides if the soap and water mix don't kill off your problem. The best effective types are “IGR's”, oils, insecticidal soaps and pyretherins. IGR's are insect growth regulators, and they work by mimicking the young hormones so that the young aphids can't reach adulthood. If you're looking for a way that's not as harsh to your plants, try insecticidal oils and soaps. These sprays trap and suffocate, and dehydrate the aphids.
In addition to chemical means of killing aphids, there are also biological enemies that you can bring in to solve your problem for you. These include aphid predators, ladybugs and lacewings. If you want the predators who feed on aphids to remain in your garden, plant clover, yarrow, dill, fennel and mint to attract them. Dandelions will also help attract aphid predators to your yard, although many people find them unsightly.
You can also make a special home-made and environmentally friendly spray to use. This was posted on a forum where someone asked how to kill aphids in her garden. The person who replied suggests that you mix one tablespoon of Murphy's oil soap and one quarter cup rubbing alcohol in one quart of water. Be sure you spray all over the plants and under the leaves. The same mix will work on scale and aphids. It is supposed to be very useful for killing aphids without harming your plants.