Aphids in greenhouse

[Perko]

Hi,

Having finished work early I’ve jist been down to the greenhouse and found green aphids on several of my pepper/chilli plants. They’re even starting to congregate inside flowers. I’ve hardly been down there all week with the weather as it is so today is the first time I’ve seen them. There’s no visible damage to anything...yet.

I’ve been onto green gardener who were helpful and I’m getting some aphidius but they won’t be with me until towards the end of next week as they’re not having any delivered until Wednesday.

She suggested getting an organic spray in the meantime to control the population so gonna go see what our nearest garden centre has.

Does anybody have any suggestions as to what would be the best course of action until the predators arrive? There’s very mixed reports online using home remedies.

I’ve searched all round the garden for ladybirds but with this weather there’s absolutely nothing around!! The neighbours must’ve thought I’m going mad if they saw me lurking round the garden in the rain!

Looking forward to any suggestions, I’ll be gutted if these little critters start to destroy my crop after all the nurturing and love that’s gone into it over the past 4 months!

Thanks

Dan

[Matt94]

Afternoon Perko, I was always told a spray made from soapy water works - if you want stay green I know there’s eco friendly washing up liquids out there.

[Perko]

Cheers Matt, I think it would need to be eco friendly if I go for that option as the lady at green gardener said to make sure whatever I use in the meantime is organic so it doesn’t kill the aphidius when they arrive

[bario1]

I would just rub them off the leaves for now, to stop them spreading too fast.

[bikermike]

I use diluted ecover product (either washing up liquid or multi-surface spray)

Keep it dilute as they'll burn the leaves

[DannyK]

Put the plants outside for time being. There's loads of other things like lacewings and there's also tits, which I've seen hunting bugs on my plants.

[Small pumpkin]

If you've got predators on the way I'd do what bario suggested, just rub them off. You don't want to kill them all because then your little predators will go hungry and you don't want to use anything that will have lingering effects that'll kill off the predators when they arrive.

[Perko]

Cheers for your quick replies. I’m afraid with things like household products I’m more likely err more on the side of “a little bit more won’t hurt“ and do more damage in seconds than a colony of aphids could do in a week.

As for putting them outside, these are possibly the most molly coddled plants in derbyshire, the blustery conditions would simply be too much for them haha!

I’ve just bought a neudorff organic product. I used there organic lawn fertiliser at the last house with impressive results.

Will post how I get on with it, the price wasn’t bad for the concentrate

Thanks again for your comments!

[Perko]

If you've got predators on the way I'd do what bario suggested, just rub them off. You don't want to kill them all because then your little predators will go hungry and you don't want to use anything that will have lingering effects that'll kill off the predators when they arrive.

Cheers SP, a valid point which I’ve been thinking about on the way to the garden centre. To be honest I don’t know whether there would be enough aphids to keep 500 of the little critters busy for long until they ran out of food and then die. I don’t know what their appetite is like?

I haven’t actually ordered them yet (need to order online), I was going to wait and see what I could get at the garden centre. I’m going to try this neudorff product and start to rub them off after a couple of days. Maybe give it another treatment mid week next week and see where I’m at.

If it gets worse then I will go back to plan A of getting the aphidius.

The other thing I’ve thought is buying some ladybird homes to see if I can get a bit of a colony going, I don’t expect so with the summer we’re having tho!

Cheers

[toomanytommytoes]

Is it the BugFree Bug and Larvae Killer you're bought? If so, be aware that it contains pyrethrins which will kill pretty much all insects including bees, spiders, hoverflies etc.

If I have bad aphid problem and it's too early in the year for predators, I spray with a mixture of soap and neem oil (1 tsp of each to 1 litre of water). Otherwise I squish and wait for the helpers to turn up. Aphids like to congregate on the growing tips, flowers and lower leaves. If you see any mummified aphids then the parasitic wasps are already there.

Ladybird larvae are cheaper than aphidius and will eat a larger range of pests. You could also try growing flowers in pots to attract predators into the greenhouse (see Plants That Attract Beneficial Insects for a list of plants).

[Small pumpkin]

I'll be ordering ladybird larvae when the aphids find my chilli tunnel. Used them last year for the first time. They were brilliant. Did a stunning job. And they even had time to make the next generation of aphid killers

[Gillykat]

I would buy a load of French Marigolds and put them next to the chillis in the greenhouse and perhaps leave a window or the door slightly open so hoverflies can gain access and then produce larvae which will feed on the aphids.

I don't trust ANY chemicals whatsoever (nothing, whatever the claims made about it, is specific to just ONE pest and everything in the natural world is interconnected) and would just rub the aphids off with a finger (yucky but effective!)

I now grow flowers in amongst everything I grow to eat and never have any problems with pests as the allotment now has it's own natural balance

[Urban]

I spotted aphids on my peppers last week. So I rubbed alot of them off like people have been saying here. And ordered some ladybird larvae. Got em this Tuesday and there doing a great job so far. They have doubled in size already. It's interesting watching them on the hunt.

Hopefully they'll keep the greenhouse Clear for the rest of the season

Also my partner got me to do her some gypsophila from seed. they have just started flowering. And they seem to be attracting a hell of alot of attention from hoverflies. More so than the marigolds. So I'll be keeping a few in the greenhouse. And growing them again next year

I'll never use chemicals. Because even if you manage to not kill anything beneficial when you're applying it. The bees Will still end up ingesting it if they take any pollen/nectar from the plants

[Jane0o0]

What type of flowers should you put next to tomato plants as think I have aphids but not sure.

[Dynamite]

What type of flowers should you put next to tomato plants as think I have aphids but not sure.

I put x1 french marigold in every tomato pot, one per MFB. Never had any major problems. Also, I took a ladybird from inside my house on a windowsill and took it to a plant last summer in the garden that had a few aphids. Just popped it on the stalk and it immediately started wading into them munching away. Must have been hungry!!

Kind Regards.............Rob