Apple tree and tomato pests!

[chefgage]

I have never had much bother with garden pests, but this year thats changed!
I have two dwarf apple trees both of which are producing apples but one tree has been plagued by some sort of pests as shown below. Any ideas what I can do/spray onto the tree to sort it out?


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On the third picture you can see how the leaves have curled into a ball, this has happened on many leaves.


Another problem is my tomatoes that are in hanging baskets, they are covered in pests as well! Any ideas what I can do to sort this out as well?

[jackarmy]

The ones on the tom look like greenfly, certainly an aphid anyway.

I tried soapy water spray but it failed miserably so i got a basic aphid insecticide, unless you breed laybirds not a lot you can do, i had thousands in my greenhouse and i dont know if my peppers will recover ( failing eyes failed to recognise problem early enough )

[WendyC]

Aphids - seems to be quite a bad year from them. If they are not too bad squashing them with your fingers work well. I sometimes pick off and remove badly infested leaves.

[Jungle Jane]

I had good success with a homemade spray bottle of;Three garlic cloves squashed flat then left in water to infuse for 2-3 hrs & one squirt of handsoap. I had to squash them off the leaves too as I went around each leaf,but they don't want to come back because of the smell. This dramatically reduced the numbers of aphids on my plum leaves & the smell lingers for a few weeks,but don't spray it in the sun,it could burn the leaves,like normal water can. Also I noticed recently the aphids had moved to a shrub right next to the plum tree,but i've pruned them away.

[chefgage]

I like the idea of the garlic spray! It's a bit weird but I have not seen one lady bird this year? Obviously why there are so many aphids about.

[Jungle Jane]

Ants protect aphids from ladybirds. Ive seen pictures of ants attacking a ladybird,biting at the ladybirds back leg. Check for ants? Ive had a few ants nests I've had to get rid of,the last one was red ants near my runner beans,I used boiling water as a quick remedy.