Apple Tree - APHIDS!!!!

[Grovsey]

Can they actually kill a tree?

One of my apple trees is infested, I sprayed with soapy water and it just seems to have accelerated the imminent death of the tree? It's also crawling with ants which I presume are eating the aphids?

What do I do?

[Two_Sheds]

The ants are protecting the aphids, not eating them.
How big is your tree? If it's large (tree size!) it should cope. If it's small, the aphids are more of a problem.
spray them off with water and/or use insecticidal soap (a potassium-salt soap available at most garden centres). Many people have success by spraying weekly with very dilute washing up liquid - about one teaspoon of Fairy to a couple of litres of water. Of course, plants aren't meant to be covered in Fairy, so I wouldn't think it does the leaves any good at all. Aphid control, how to get rid of Aphids.
Look through the 100s of other posts on aphids, to see more options on controlling them.

[Grovsey]

It's relatively young, 2 years old....about 6 feet high....

How do I get rid of the ants? My other 4 trees that are close by are absolutley fine...

[Two_Sheds]

How do I get rid of the ants?

get rid of the aphids.

[Mikey]

ants climb up the tree, you need several bands of something very sticky with a couple of centimetre intervals between them, low down the trunk. You need more than 1 band to ensure the ants don't climb over the dead ones and carry on up the tree.

[SimonCole]

I would not bother with the sticky bands, but would tackle the aphids first.

[gojiberry]

I know a lot of people are trying not to use chemicals, but if the infestation is that bad I would use a spray to get things under control, then think about using soap solutions to keep things under control.

Ian

[Garden_girlie21]

following on from aphids on apple trees (where I'm growing my veg, there are a couple of small apple trees that are infested), does anyone know whether these aphids will suddenly decide to leave the apple trees and jump onto my veg?? Will they be a probem, or is the apple tree the main victim??

Thanks,

Jennifer

[SimonCole]

I don't think that many studies of that kind have been done on aphid movements. However I think that aphids aim for the most susceptible plants, being those that have thin, fleshy stems or contain fewer insect-toxic compounds. So I find that infestations do occur, but doubt that a nearby infected tree will significantly increase the pestilence rate.

[Grovsey]

I have puchased some DE which apparnetly should do the tirck, it also kills fire ants:

£5.99 inc P&P from: Helen Edwads, NFF Ltd Cwrt Farm Buildings Penrhyncoch Aberystwyth, SY23 3EG

DE Diatomaceous Earth natural parasite control products & natural feeds : Natural Feeds & Fertilisers

Fouond it via a Google search.

Diatomaceous Earth, which is also called DE or silicon dioxide, is as chemically inert as road dust, but when properly used, it is very effective against insect pests. Unlike ‘chemical insecticides’ of the last half of the 20th Century, DE is a ‘physical’ or ‘mechanical’ insecticide.

Knowledge of one fact about insects and two facts about DE is required in order to understand how DE can have no known negative effect to humans and yet be very effective in killing insects.

Insects control their body moisture by means of a complex ‘waxy’ coating on the outside of their exoskeletons, i.e., their shells. This coating is naturally porous, which permit slow loss of water and evaporation. If the waxy coating is damaged, the insect suffers serious injury.

DE is made up of ancient skeletal remains of diatoms. These one-celled creatures have hard, sharp structures that are small enough to cut or pierce the insect’s waxy coating. But the structures are so small that DE feels as soft as baby powder to humans.

[Two_Sheds]

...the structures are so small that DE feels as soft as baby powder to humans.

but not, presumably, to beneficial insects such as ladybirds?
I believe you need to increase the amount of predators, who will then eat your pests. If you take away their food source, you will never build up a healthy predator population. (esp if you are poisoning the predators as well as their food source)
Also, if you are spending money on chemicals, that makes your crops that much more expensive. Might as well go to T3sco.

Aphids are easily dealt with by squishing. It takes minutes.

[Grovsey]

I dont have a ladybird in sight anywhere in my entrie garden.....I have tried squishing and saopy water...no luck they just come back...this is my last resort.

[Mikey]

Nor will you as long as you do not control the ants. The ants are just like the aphids 'big well hard brother'.

[SimonCole]

You need a mask to work with diatomaceous clays. They do just the same to insects as to the surface of your lungs and bronchitis is a risk. I would also cover my eyes.

You don't want too much of this stuff blowing around. I work with it at Thatchers to purify the cider, and would find something better to use.

[Two_Sheds]

no luck they (greenfly) just come back...

Well, of course they do. While there is food available, they will return to it. (they have wings, so new bugs will fly in all the time) Nothing chemical that you use will eliminate the greenfly, ever. So you might as well save your money.
What you have to aim for is achieving a balance ~ keep your pests down to reasonable numbers. You need a multi-pronged attack (just like wtih slugs: no one method will work on its own). Let the wildlife do the work for you!

My broad beans are becoming smothered with blackfly at the moment ~ I need to check them every time I'm up there, squishing and rinsing them off with water.

If you have no predators at all, perhaps you could attract some in with a few flowers. Hoverflies are superb, and love calendula and limnanthes. You don't need loads of them, just put some in a couple of pots.