HelpfulGardener.com

My house plants have severe aphids. javascript:emoticon(':?')I have tried pyola oil, then I have re-potted all my plants. No aphids! I was aphid free for around 1 month give or take. The aphids have come back, and very heavily javascript:emoticon(':x'). I was thinking they had come from a plant that I brought in for the winter. Could they have come from the soil I bought? Did they never leave my house? Were they in hibernation somewhere? Why are they in some plants worse then others? I need help how can I really get rid of them? javascript:emoticon(':('). I am trying neem oil insecticide right now. Hasn't been long enough to know the effects yet. Please help, I need good ideas badly. Thanks in advance

My grandmother would just take those plants out of doors and give them a good washing off with the garden hose and then let them dry off in the shade. Repeat again in a couple of days if needed. If it is severe then spray with 4 T dish soap and 2T of canola oil per gallon of water. One problem with aphids is that they hid on the underside of leaves and on stems. therefore you have to spray the underside of every leaf and the stems entirely on that plant to get rid of them. It is quite possible that you simply missed a lot of them. They can be difficult to get rid of on house plants. I would leave them outside in the shade until you know you have the problem under control.

I usually just hold my plants under the faucet and wash aphids off, but if you prefer, you can kill them with a solution of pure soap and water. "Pure soap" would be a product such as Dr. Bronner's, not something like dishwashing liquid or laundry detergent. Mix 1 teaspoonful of soap in 1 quart of water.

Spray the plant thoroughly from all directions, until it's dripping wet. Do that 4 times, at 5 to 7 day intervals. One treatment won't kill all the aphids, so you have to repeat the treatments 5 to 7 days apart. The same is true if you just wash them off, I.e. you will have to wash off the plant every 5 to 7 days. Four "baths" should do the trick.

The aphids probably came in on the plant you brought in for the winter.

Thanks for the hips will do! (':)')

too much fertilizer can make plants susceptible to aphids.

I haven't even used fertilizer on these plants! Could they be gnats too? I'm starting to get confused with all the different types I see. I have tried this cinnamon soak, ':shock:' that I read on the forum some wear. I hope this doesn't harm my plants, but the aphids seem to be dwindling away! ':D'

NeedExperience,

Cinnamon is used to inhibit fungus in the soil, which in turn inhibits Fungus Gnats. The larvae of Fungus Gnats inhabit the soil while the adults are airborne,

Aphids are sucking pests that generally damage tender new growth. They congregate at the tops of plants. If you Google the insects in question you will see that they are different.

Norm

To be honest I when against everyone's advice and used a "chemical" ant/roach spray... directly on the stem and under some leaves of my pepper plants where I was lucky to find the white clothy "nest" after killing them all either by hand/spray I washed the plant with water a few times where I sprayed the chemical agent before, and I never spotted one again and my plants grow further just as before with out a hitch and I had so many hot peppers I couldn't finish'm.

this was my experience last year at least I had a good ending