Aphids

Have you noticed the leaves on your plants curling at the edges, or seedlings looking stunted?

It could be Aphids feasting on your plants. We have tons on our rose bushes but there is a very quick and easy way of removing them.

What are Aphids?

Aphids come in a few different varieties, according to your location, plant varieties and climate but are usually small (only a few millimetres in size), green/brown or red with long legs. They clump together, rather than being found on their own and you will often see a mature winged female with them.

They are also sometimes called blackfly or greenfly.

They suck on the sap of your plants, reducing its ability to transport nutrients and energy around the plant, which leads to damaged leaves and fruit.

Something interesting: The word "bug" isn't slang or used to refer to all insects. A bug is specifically an insect which "sucks". E.g: Mosquito or Aphid.

They are often found underneath leaves, rather than on top. This is for shelter and protection from predators.

Identifying them

A simple method for seeing if your plant has Aphids is to brush your hand over the leaves quite roughly. Almost as if you’re roughing up its hair. If there are any Aphids there, they will be dislodged and fall off which will help you to identify the problem areas. This is good to do often and it has another benefit by encouraging the plant to grow thick stems.

Another method is to regularly check your plants which look damaged or stunted. Lift the leaves to see if there is anything hidden underneath.

Getting rid of them

There are a few ways to get rid of Aphids but I use the following methods in order:

1. Squirting them with water

It sounds too simple but they don’t have that great a grip on the plant they’re bothering. Before resorting to more extreme measures, try changing your hose or spray bottle to a jet and hit those leaves with a hard jet of water. The plant wont be damaged (unless it’s very small) and it should dislodge the Aphids. It’ll certainly make the winged females go elsewhere.

The Aphids will have a hard time getting back to the plant and will often die when not sheltered by the leaf they were hiding under.

2. Give them the thumb

This involves squashing the group of Aphids with your thumb. Be careful not to damage the leaves. This may not be possible on some plants as Aphids like to lurk in the creases or between the leaf and stalk/axil.

3. Give them a soapy wash

If the above didn’t work, a great and simple method is to use soapy water. All you’ll need is a spray bottle, or bowl of water, and some washing up liquid.

Please check that your brand of washing up liquid is plant safe before covering all of your plants.

Step 1: Add some water to your spray bottle

Step 2: Add a good squirt of your washing up liquid. Replace the top and give it a real good shake.

Step 3: Spray your soapy water onto your plants, making sure to properly cover the infected areas. Aphids like to lurk underneath the leaves rather than on top, so get your hands in there and massage the leaves. If you’re using a bowl of water instead, cover your hands in the soapy water and massage in the same way.

The effects of this should be quick and, checking the following day, you should find that the Aphids are gone. You may find that it doesn’t remove all of the aphids the first time round. Simply repeat the steps each day until they are all gone.

I would recommend that you give the plant a rinse with clean water after the Aphids have been removed to get rid of any residue from the soapy water

That should do it, I hope you found this guide useful.

If you have any tips or advice for dealing with Aphids, please comment below so we can all learn and grow together.

Article written on May 11, 2020
Updated May 11, 2020