How to best deal with the many aphids in your garden

There are hundreds of different species of aphid. However, the control of all the different species of aphids is the same.

With spring growth of fruit trees and rose just around the corner, the aphid population is just about to jump. I already have some plants showing the start of increasing aphid populations.

When it comes to controlling aphids or any insect pest, I like to use the least toxic chemicals first. For aphids, the least toxic is water. In early spring when it still is cool to cold at night, you can wash off the plants with cold water. The water can dislodge the aphids from the plant and the cold water can kill some of the aphids. It is more likely that the cold water does not kill the aphids directly but makes them cold and they cannot move quickly enough to make it back to the plants before they starve. The minimum the water will do is to at least slow their reproduction down.

Next down the list in toxicity is insecticidal soap. Insecticidal soap is one of the safest pesticides available and will work very well for controlling aphids. Insecticidal soaps are based on fatty acids that kill aphids and other soft bodied insects, but do not affect humans, animals, and even other insects that have hard bodies.

Insecticidal soaps should be applied in the morning to be the most effective. Insecticidal soap is an organic, contact insecticide, which means the spray must hit the aphids. There is no residual effect to the spray, so it needs to be sprayed every three to seven days for the first couple of weeks and then once every two weeks to keep the aphid population down. You must be careful with insecticidal soap in spring; it can also kill bees, if you spray it directly on bees.

It is also best to purchase insecticidal soap, not make your own out of household soap. Household soaps may contain other products like perfumes and oils, which can damage your plants. If you believe all soaps are the same, check your cabinets. You may have hand soaps and face soaps and dish soap and laundry soap. Would you substitute laundry soap for face soap if it was cheaper?

In fact, insecticidal soap is the most effective way to control aphids, and I do not need to use any other pesticide.

However, another way to control aphids over a longer period of time is using ladybugs or ladybird beetles. Ladybugs eat the aphids, but as the aphid population decreases, most of the ladybugs move on. But some ladybugs will stick around, which can help control the aphid population.

Ladybugs cannot control a large outbreak of aphids, but they can keep a population in low numbers. If you use ladybugs, be sure to place them out in the morning when the plants are moist and cool. Try to cover the ladybugs with a light covering of mulch or leaves. Cold ladybugs do not move very fast or far. They will climb up the nearest plant hopefully eat several aphids on the climb and decide to stay. If you spread ladybugs over the top of your plants in warmer temperatures, they will probably all fly away. Insecticidal soaps will not kill ladybugs.

Aphids can be difficult to control due to their high reproductive rate. A single female aphid can produce up to 100 offspring in her lifetime. During the spring, summer and early fall, all the aphids are female and produce live offspring without mating. This means that it takes only one aphid to become billions of aphids in the course of one summer.