How to treat Plum Aphids on Damson?

[Stan79]

Hi folks,

Just discovered what i take to be leaf curling plum aphids on a special damson in the garden (present to my wife from her grandma). RHS reccomend spraying as follows:

"During the growing season plum-leaf curling aphid, may be controlled with thiacloprid (e.g. Bayer Provado Ultimate Bug Killer) shortly after bud burst. If mealy plum aphid begins to develop in mid-summer, thiacloprid (e.g. Bayer Provado Ultimate Bug Killer), lambda-cyhalothrin (Westland Resolva Bug Killer), deltamethrin (Bayer Sprayday Greenfly Killer) or pyrethrum (organic, e.g. Py Spray Garden Insect Killer) may give control."

So based on that i need to buy some Bayer Provado Ultimate bug killer? Any other suggestions?

Thanks all.

Stan

[WendyC]

How big is the tree? Could just pick off the worst leaves?

[Jungle Jane]

I had the same problem on my plum tree but I used a homemade spray of 3 cloves of garlic squashed flat put in water sprayer with water for a few hrs to infuse,then after that added 1 squirt of hand soap,shook it about so the soap could mix in. As I was spraying I was squashing the aphids as I went around each leaf. What I found was,the aphids don't come back because they don't like the smell of garlic. I used to spray with just water/hand soap but the aphids would still come back,meaning spraying everyday. The smell of garlic lingers for more than a week,I didn't need to spray again but noticed lots of aphids were on the shrub next to the plum,easy to prune off & squash. Best to spray anything when the suns gone down.

[Stan79]

Quite a bad infestation so not many leaves would be left I think!

Ah. Tried that on my tomatoes with mixed success. Worth another try before spraying chemicals around!

Ta.