Aphids - How to Get Rid of Them

[Joakim B]

LATEX GLOVES ARE ONLY INPERMEABLE FOR WATER! NOT CHEMICHALS!
Sorry for the big letters
Most chemichals penerate the latex glove in secondc and then You have that against Your skin. So throw the glove imdediately if You get something on them. Gloves that are impermiable to chemicals have a layer of aluminium and are expensive as h*ll. The latex gloves give You the second needed to take it of and hence protect nothing more. Maybe they protect from dirt but not more so use a lot of gloves if You spill a lot.

Ian
I think that is good Ian to inform since if one does not know You there might be a risk of misunderstanding. I hope You take it as feedback rather than critisism since it is only meant as such.

Kind regards
Joakim

[Ian Y]

Latex gloves: okay if one is not allergic to latex, of course!

Joakim: I very much welcome your feedback: that is exactly what theses pages are here for.
From what you have said I realise how my words might be confusing, you have raised a very good point.
I hope the next bulb log will make things more clear, how one mix will last me for a long time, I use very sparingly, etc.

[Joakim B]

Ian it is often the power they use in the latex gloves that is a problem. There are powder free for 50% higher cost and there are other disposable gloves at the price 100 for 5£. So there should be something for everyone
Kind regards
Joakim

[David Pilling]

>LATEX GLOVES ARE ONLY INPERMEABLE FOR WATER! NOT CHEMICHALS!

Is there any negotiating over this? Apparently water and air don't pass through latex. The medical profession use them as protection against blood.

So which chemicals, how much goes through and how fast.

On the other hand it is interesting to observe how some things will seep out of plastic bags.

Presumably one should fill a glove and see how long the contents take to vanish - and no, I'm not about to carry out this experiment.

[Joakim B]

David with chemicals I mean possible pesticides that are at least partly fat-soluble if I remeber correctly and the fat soluble goes through latex. If the pesticides are water soluble then the gloves might work. Often the manufacturer use water as a solvent but uses tricks to get the pesticides in the solution even though they are fat-soluble. Then the pesticide can go trough but not the water.

Blood is thicker than water but it is mostly water and therfor latex gloves works.
Your experiment would work but sometimes the pestcide is in low, but efficient levels, so one can not see them penetrate the glove.

I will not perform the test either.

There might be pesticides that are water soluble and against them the latex glove work but I would never take that chans my self just take a new glove.

Joakim

[mark smyth]

didnt see this thread so my input is - I use rose clear that has a scent added to let you know when the mist is entering the nose

[Maggi Young]

Yesterday I found a Daphne retusa that was covered in both greenfly and whitefly, and these were dropping on to some Erythroniums below the Daphne, too.  Shock Horror! 
I cleaned off as many of the greenfly on the daphne buds as I could by squishing in the time honoured fashion with finger and thumb  but that still left quite a few, and the whitefly....I decided to resort to the remedy of soapy water douches...... about six watering cans full  later, both daphne and erythroniums were looking much better and today they are none the worse and the bugs are gone.
DO NOT use soapy water on Shortias, though, the flowers will fall off! I discovered that many years ago when I gave  what I thought was a gentle rinse of water and fairy liquid ( a proprietary washing up product) to a super pot of a shortia the day before a show... because I was worried that a commercial pesticide might damage it... and all the flowers dropped off, practically before my eyes! Yikes!  I don't always get it right and that was a real corker of a mistake!

[tonyg]

Maggi - you beat me to it.  I was going to open a discussion on aphids!  The current balmy (barmy) weather seems to have begun a rapid breeding program here which threatens to become a plague

WHERE do they come from???  Like you I am finding them on garden plants as well as under glass.  Are there particular host plants that we should avioid?  (Did I read somewhere that ivy is a host?) 

I know that ants have a friendly relationship with aphids - and my light soil is ant paradise.  Should I be on an ant purge, likely to be impossible I guess!!

Any ideas, suggestions welcome.  I'm sure some of the bug buffs will have info.

On the soapy water front - how much fairy liquid per watering can?  Does it kill them or simply wash them off?

(Can you tell that I'm getting desperate? - Its just that I am simply not here enough to go and squash all the little blighters by hand!)

[Joakim B]

I have heard that a cigaret butt in the water (maybe with detergent and alcohol) does the job very well.
The nicotine is bad for the buggs but not the plant.
I just tested it and can not say if it works. I do not think that the plants take up the nicotine so one needs to hit the bugs or get it into the soil.
It is also very education to show kids how dangerous ciraretts are. The later was a tipp from the person that wrote about using cigarett buds in the water. I myself believe that a bit of alcohol helps getting out more nicotine out of thee tobaco so I added that and some fary since I already tested that remedy agianst afids and the black small mositos whos larviae eat bulbs. They really made a mess of many of my crocus. 

The best bug to get is the ladybird (little red with black dots) often called "key girl" or something like that.
Both that and their offspring eats the aphids. In February Sweden was infeted with them and I hope they stay there to fight the aphids.
Here in Portugal I have not found many so I am tempted to offer a reward to my nices if they find some for me. I would have the bugs in the glassed veranda eating the aphids.

Good luck hunting
Joakim

[mark smyth]

Over Easter I sprayed one of my climbing roses with Rose Clear. Everything wiped out. Blue Tits and Coal Tits werent eating enough. Watching the birds today they were back in the rose. It's heaving again!

[Maggi Young]

On the soapy water front - how much fairy liquid per watering can?  Does it kill them or simply wash them off?

Just a small squirt, as for basin of not very greasy washing up! How I love my scientific approach, the BD would collapse ! I think it kills the whitefly, maybe not all the greenfly, but if you apply enough, I think the soap breaks the surface tension and I hope they drown!!

I've heard of nicotine in water, too. No cigs about here, so I don't know if that works or not.

Just a though , Martin, about Ivy harbouring aphids.... should you be speaking severely to IVI ?
Edit: lost the place here, it was Tony who was commenting and I mistook him for Martin, whose wife is Ivi!!  I get worse! M

[Joakim B]

Maggi no cigs around here either but would it not be a nice excuse to go to a coffee house and have a cake and then take a few cigaret butts home for scientific testing. 
Maggi I strongly belive in the squirt as a scientific measurement and use it myself.  Sometimes more successfull than others 
Joakim

[Maggi Young]

No cig buts in coffee shops in Scotland, Joakim... smoking is banned in public places! I would need to collect them from the street gutters!

And long live the squirt !!  How is your  handsome son?

[derekb]

Tony I am not sure if the Aphids are in your Alpine houses or in the garden but many years ago I visited Simon Bond to get some Alpines and he had 3 or 4 Pinguicula on the benches and said they kept them Aphid free.I had not tried it until this year I got one from Ann at Mendle and at the moment it seems to be working(touch wood)

[Joakim B]

Maggi
My handsome son is sleeping.
He was out with daddy to buy plants an then later plant them as well as inspecting the eucalyptus in grandfathers differnt forrest patches.
All that and a bit playing with the cat and at the playground in good weather make a boy a bit tired.

In Sweden it is the same with no smoking in resturants and I love it. In Portugal You can smoke everywhere unless it is stated You can not  . I had the feeling that the Scotts do quite a bit of smoking so I thought You would have someone that is hooked in the neighberhood.
The squirt gun gets even more effective with nicotine, I think. I will inspect tomorrow.
Still have not found any ladybug to do my work of killing aphids for me. Son time to issue that reward

Kind regards
Joakim