ShadeZone
Newly Registered
Posts: 6
Joined: Tue Jan 31, 2012 12:03 am
Location: Pacific NW

Help! Attack of the Aphids!

My young foot-tall tomatoes and potatoes are under attack by black aphids. There are small holes in the leaves - some of them look like lace doilies. I sprinkled diazinon and sevin on the leaves, then remembered diazinon has been pulled from the market, something about killing birds I think. The black speck-like aphids have jumped ship for now, but soon they'll be back.

Aphids are the biggest bane of my garden. Soon they will be attacking the zucchini and squash. They always gather underneath their leaves later in summer. Green aphids attack the dill weed.

What products are safe and effective for aphids? Is there any way to nuke 'em once and for all or is it a matter of continual vigilance and spray/powder?

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rainbowgardener
Super Green Thumb
Posts: 25279
Joined: Sun Feb 15, 2009 6:04 pm
Location: TN/GA 7b

Jeez... talk about big guns for a small problem. There are many safe and easy solutions for aphids that don't involve poisoning yourself and the environment, starting with just squishing them or spraying them off with a strong jet of water.

They have been discussed here MANY times. Type aphids or aphid control in the Search the Forum keyword box to find lots of suggestions.

There's a current thread about it right now:

https://www.helpfulgardener.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=27409

with lots of good suggestions.

Before you spray your sevin again, come back here and let me talk to you about it! Besides all the many harmful effects of it, in the long run it doesn't work. It kills off EVERYTHING including all the beneficial insects and things that would eat the aphids. So when the aphids come back (and they always do, ants bring them, etc), there's nothing left to prey on them and they go crazy...



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