Nate-- thank you, thank you, thank you. Ive been hearing you say it for the last two or three years but ole hard headed Steve just didnt get it. But today I decided to follow your advice and without a doubt you had it right. Now the citrus spray does kill some but not enough and not quick enough for most people. First a little detail work: I used a spray bottle with plain ole water[ used all the made up citrus spray first] most of my aphids are concentrated in the blooms or buds easy to see, I just hold the stems for support so I dont damage the blooms then blast away till all those little critters are gone and the bloom is clean. I continued all around plant in this manner hitting/washing out every one and every closed shoot or leaves that were suspecious untill I got every one. Im sure I may have missed one or two but got most of them. Next the iceing on the cake: Knowing that by blasting all the aphids out of the blooms they didnt all fall to the ground, but laying on a leaf somewhere waiting to attack. So then comes the garden hose spraying from top to bottom and under leaves till Im satisfied with this round of the battle. I feel reasonably safe that the plant is clean, it should take a while before the aphids find their way back if they do. The next big battle will be jap beetles coming in june, consult your local listing for time and place..

Steve
Martinsville, In
Heat zone 6
Sunset zone 35

So where are the Aphids? Swmmingin the garden...Drowned...getting ready to attack again? This is what I don't understand about the "Hose em off" method. If they get knocked onto other plants, thats still a problem as most of my plats are rich in nectar....Does anyone know what happens to them? Thanks!!

Pam NJ 6B

Birds, other bugs and frogs (I think) eat them

Penny
Niagara Falls, NY
USDA zone 6a/6b
Heat zone 4
Sunset zone 39

I have seen the goldfinches on the plant on occasion and I assume he may have been gorging on some of them, but Im afraid he prefers the thistle easier to get and he would always go back to the feeder.

Steve
Martinsville, In
Heat zone 6
Sunset zone 35

I had a problem with aphids also, just on two of my rose bushes.. At first i had no idea what they were so i went online to figure it out.They were lined up and down my rose shoots. What i did was take a spray bottle with a little dish washing soap and water and sprayed my plants and then rinsed them off...Had to do it a couple times through out the week but seemed to work.
I got that method from a few different sites.

Steve
Indianapolis,Indiana

Nate's confused. What I'm I being thanked for Steve?

Did you use the dish soap and water in a spray bottle or just the spray from the hose?

Or did you find yourself yelling "ONE, TWO, THREE, FOUR, I DECLARE A BUG WAR!" and run around your yard with tweezers killing everything with more than two legs?

My current battle with aphids on my Trumpet Honeysuckles is a losing one. I'm killing the aphids just fine and dandy, but the flower buds on the T.Honeys are being stunted/killed too. Maybe it's just too strong a solution and I need to squeeze ye Ole Palmolive bottle a little less vigorously when making up my Wonder Bug Distructo Juice.

Half of my T.Honeys didn't survive the 2008/2009 Winter so I'm down to 5 stragglers. I'd love to replace them but it's just too expensive for me to do so every year.

I don't know what in the world I used to do that made them grow so large and healthy in the past.

Well..., there was that whole Miracle Grow every day bit, but who's counting that?

Actually, a few years when I've tried to use Miracle Grow (in a more moderate application) it seems to hinder rather than help the plants grow.

Of course there's also been the constant battle with aphids and black spot/powdery mildew as well, so I'm not totally convinced that mitigating circumstances aren't influencing my decision to withhold MiracleGrowing them the last couple years.

O.K. time to wrap up making Mom's Mother's Day gift. I'm framing pictures of the two of us from Walt Disney World which were taken this February, 2009 while we were down there celbrating my birthday at the end of the month.

Off to it then!

Oh, and just to clarify, the Citrus Spray is not my idea nor part of my regime.

And before I forget...

You're most welcome Steve!

...for whatever it was that I said.

~Nate. The Mighty King Cupheaphea is in Zn 1/2" to the left of your second knuckle from the tip of your thumb on your right palm.

Thanks is for the spray bottle and hose method. The citrus spray was my own experiment it kills some of them but not enough. So now Im going out every day with spray bottle plain water and I may dish soap or not. I dont want to use anything that will be plant harming, and blasting out any new collection of aphids on my coral honeysuckle. I have tons of blooms on that baby this year and the aphids will not defeat me this year. Now the japanese beetles coming next month , that could be a different story, more scary.

Steve
Martinsville, In
Heat zone 6
Sunset zone 35