Cassie's China Doll
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Aphids on my sage!

I have a beautiful purple sage plant that is about two years old and I have never had a problem before. Seriously, no pest problem ever. But all of a sudden this year I have a mass infestation of aphids AND small green catipillers! Any suggestion on what I can do to take care of the problem naturally? I have never had to use any fertilizer or chemicals in my garden and I don't want to start now!!

Thank you!
Cassie

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Jess
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I know this may not sound very helpful but if the plant is quite large and robust try doing nothing.
Patience tends to allow the arrival of predators to do the job for you.
It may help to add a bit of nice compost around it if you have not done this recently. I would never suggest feeding a sage anything but a bit of fresh active compost could work wonders.

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slx2007
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I use ultra fine oil or summer oil. One tea spoon per liter and spray it around the plants. it is not pesticide. It is just something that aphids don't like. Or use detergent.

opabinia51
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You can buy ladybugs and spray a sugar solution around the your sage before spreading the ladybugs. Also, spray your sage with a soapy solution to rid the aphids.

Furthermore if you look up the beneficial insects thread which I think is in the permaculture forum now you can look for plants that you can put in that will attract predators of aphids.

Cassie's China Doll
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I would love to leave it be because it is a very robust and large plant, but, I think it may be too far gone already for no help. It has been totally molested by buggies. I think I will try the detergent spray first then the sugar spray, then add some ladybugs. Gosh I hope it works. I love my sage..... Thank you all for the help! :-()

opabinia51
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Also, soapy water works well to temporarily expunge the little pests as well.

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Jess
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Cassie's China Doll wrote:I would love to leave it be because it is a very robust and large plant, but, I think it may be too far gone already for no help. It has been totally molested by buggies. I think I will try the detergent spray first then the sugar spray, then add some ladybugs. Gosh I hope it works. I love my sage..... Thank you all for the help! :-()
Oh dear. :( I hope it makes it. The fact that it has suddenly become infested is normally a sign of a plant in stress. If it does pull through then as I said before, give it a nice rich mulch to help it become strong and healthy again. Good luck.

Cassie's China Doll
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I came upon an unexpected suprise yesterday. My over-active four year old son has become my sage's savior! He has taken to finding green catapillars and "poppong" them. Yes, I know a little harsh on the little buggers, but what can I say? Can't seem to find any today... And a few good spray downs with the hose seemed to take care of the aphids.
Thank you for all your help.
:clap:

praying mantis
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I check my plants every morning and evening....all of them....individually. I don't really know how things grow, yet, so I am very interested in fully experiencing each stage. The rapid insect population fluctuations is truely amazing to me. My friend gave me an aphid ridden fennel which had a skinny stem and 4 fuzzy leaves. It looked sad and pathetic. I picked at it. I pick at everything. I washed it . One day, it didn't have aphids. It kept growing throughout the infestation. Perhaps my attention had an impact. Maybe the aphids found a better place to be. Maybe it was the weather.

I have different aphids everywhere but everything keeps growing. I always have whitefly on the spearmint but sometimes on the tomatoes and sometimes on the eggplant. I have a full ecosystem on the lemon verbina, including breeding praying mantis(s). I have to find one everyday or I can't leave the house. Unless I see holes or drooping leaves, insects don't make me anxious anymore.

Although, I am determined to deal with whoever is eating my anaheim.



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