aphid plague on nasturtiums

[Jen]

I have nasturtiums growing under my roses. I love nasturtiums and it's the only place I have left to grow them. A couple of months ago I noticed some aphids on the roses, as of course they always get, but I hadn't got around to spraying them yet. Yesterday the nasturtiums looked really sad and seemed to be covered with aphids. Today I pulled the nasturtiums out, and I was absolutely amazed at how many aphids were around. There were great clumps of them. Looks like they were mainly under the leaves, but kept breeding. There were also heaps of caterpillars. I don't know what I'm going to be able to do with them when they grow back, it's just too many nasturtiums to spray. Does anybody have any ideas?

Jen

[Cereus-validus-...........]

Poor Jen,

Don't you know that aphids are born pregnant?

You may as well spray and spray again.

[mick]

Does anybody have any ideas?

Just use a hose and blast them off or a soap spray

[Jen]

A soap spray would probably be difficult, because of all the leaves, and with so many aphids under the leaves. I was thinking of blasting with the hose, but because I've got that area set up with a sprinkler system, it takes a bit to drag the hose out of the shed, and I hadn't realized how bad it was until it was beyond the hosing. I guess I should try to check it all more regularly when it comes up again, and give it a blast with the hose every now and again anyway.

Thanks

Jen

[Doug Kanter]

How about buying one of those hose-end things that you put chemical sprays into, and dispense the soap spray from there? It certainly would be fast. I don't have a good recipe for the soap spray, but someone here probably does. Or, Safers Insecticidal Soap.

[Jen]

That's a good idea. Thanks

Jen

[meee]

i've found good old white oil with a few drops detergent does fine for aphids. and using the hose attachment to dispense whatever you use sounds like a great idea, spraying is probably the only way to grow the nasturtiums. you might also want to sprinkle ant sand around the base, as t5hat will prevent the ants bringing more aphids there.

[Travis]

What the heck is "good old white oil"? What is "ant sand"?

[meee]

oops, sorry, didn't check your sig. line. White oil is, (others correct me please if I'm wrong) a petroleum based product that resembles thick, shiny cream, dissolves in water and is used as a general insecticide. it is diluted with water, and sprayed onto the insects, i believe it blobks their breathing apparatus. it has to be re-applied with each infestation, but is cheaper, and i think more gently, than some other pesticides. it can be used for insects like scale which protect themselves from toxins with an outer covering. 'ant sand' is a product made by mortein i think, that is basically pesticide coated sand. it's used around houses on the outside ie. on patios, as it killas ants and they won't cross it (usually). i've used it to control ants carrying aphids onto my plats, just be careful where there are surface roots, i haven't had any problems so far but i have only used it on very deep rooted plants. check with a garden centre for something to wipe out the ants, or they will keep carrying the ants onto your nasturtiums and roses. it's interesting that they are attacking the nasturtiums over the roses, you must have an aphid resistant variety. ask for white oil too, it's fairly general purpose. good luck!

[GreenieLeBrun]

You can make your own white oil, have a look at

[Travis]

Thanks.

[Dave]

Ant sand controls the ants that protect aphids- they fend off ladybirds and other predators. Worth a try.

Confidor is very effective against aphids. It has low toxicity to vertebrates, but will kill bees. However, if you have removed all the plants, the winged aphids will leave, the rest will die. However, they will come back for the next crop.

For caterpillars, try Dipel or a new organic insecticide called Spinosad (sold as "Success".

Good luck! Dave