Topic: Blinking Aphids!!

[Biscombe]

Kept zapping the aphids on my greenhouse pepper plants with neem oil spray, worked well for ages, but now the little horrors must be getting used to it! heard garlic, washing up liquid and chili works well, but in what quantities? don´t want to harm my precious seedlings that the blighter's are now going for!!!!!

[Mrs Ava]

no idea, but I don't know about the washing up liquid idea.  I thought it was horticultural soft soap...... ???

[Ceratonia]

Needs to be very dilute - just a couple of drops of washing-up liquid to a gallon of water will do the trick.  Horticultural soap is better because washing-up liquid isn't too plant-friendly and the soap is insecticidal rather than just washing the aphids off. I've seen people advocating boiling up a clove of garlic and adding that to the mix, and/or adding a teaspoon of chilli oil.

It also has the added frisson of being illegal, as washing-up liquid won't have had the necessary EU pesticide certification  ;)

My elderly neighbour draws chalk circles round pots in the greenhouse. He reckons ants won't cross them because they don't like getting powder on their feet, so they don't carry the aphids onto his plants. I might try one that this year...

[Georgie]

I use one clove of garlic (zapped in the microwave for one minute with a tablespoon of water) added to one pint of water, liquidize and strain.  The soap agent is supposed to help the spray to adhere but I don't bother. I've found it very effective.

G x

[manicscousers]

one of the older guys on the allotments, he's since moved on, sprayed all his brassicas with cheap washing up liquid, diluted, and burned all of them, don't know if it was too strong or something in it

[Robert_Brenchley]

I've done that successfully, but I only used a few drops of detergent in a sprayer.