Comments on: Organic Aphid Control: 9 Ways to Get Rid of Aphids

By: Aaron (Mr. DeannaCat)

Aaron (Mr. DeannaCat) — Sun, 19 Dec 2021 16:37:54 +0000

In reply to Arthur Dawson. Hi Arthur, glad to hear you enjoyed the article. We haven't looked too much into aphid pheromones but here is and interesting article on Aphid Alarm Pheromones, and here is another interesting article from the Cornell Chronicle. Hope that helps and happy gardening!

By: Arthur Dawson

Arthur Dawson — Sat, 18 Dec 2021 21:42:06 +0000

Thanks for lots of good information. Obviously it is based on your own experiance, rather than copied and pasted of other websites. I wonder if you can comment on something I’ve noticed. I watch my cabbage and cauliflower closely for rolled leaves, an early sign of attack by the cabbage aphid, Brevicoryne brassicae. When I identify a colony, I squash the larger individuals at the center. Within a day the whole colony has died and there is no evidence of spread to the rest of the plant. Do they produce an alarm pheromone that deters further colonization? I’ve found no explanatrion on the internet and ‘experts’ look at me as though I’m hallucinating. I’ve observed the same thing repeatedly during 50 years of gardening and don’t think it’s my imagination.

By: Arthur

Arthur — Thu, 16 Sep 2021 23:02:10 +0000

Thanks for sharing great tips and a great deal of information!

By: Aaron (Mr. DeannaCat)

Aaron (Mr. DeannaCat) — Sun, 04 Jul 2021 15:58:33 +0000

In reply to Erin. Hi Erin, you are in fact correct. Nitrogen leads to explosive plant growth which attracts aphids to the new growth plant tissue. Aphids are a fairly common garden pest so it is not uncommon to see them in any garden whether the soil is low or high in nitrogen. Parasitic wasps, lady bugs, and green lacewings will help keep the aphids in check. We released some lacewings on our property some years ago and have consistently seen them ever since, whereas I don't recall seeing them before that point. Let us know if you had any other questions but thanks for reading and for your support!

By: Erin

Erin — Sun, 27 Jun 2021 20:19:37 +0000

I’ve heard that aphids show up when there is too much nitrogen in the soil, what are your thoughts about that? Thanks guys…love your blog!

By: Geoffrey Rod

Geoffrey Rod — Mon, 07 Jun 2021 23:08:40 +0000

Gollum…gollum…excellent.

By: Peg

Peg — Sun, 16 May 2021 20:32:38 +0000

Just today I came inside and told my partner how I daily pick all the funky looking leaves off our collards and kale first to feed to the juvenile chicks for whom I can’t quite let out to safely free range yet. Then I pick another bunch of good ones. Some of the leaves look like they do from aphids –which are really only restricted to one smaller plant that was probably weak and sickly from the beginning. The rest of the plants in the garden are robust and healthy. They rush to devour the aphids off the leaves first before eating the leaves themselves with relish. Then I looked at email and saw this article from you! LOL!

By: Aaron (Mr. DeannaCat)

Aaron (Mr. DeannaCat) — Thu, 13 May 2021 15:50:04 +0000

In reply to Christine. Hi Christine, thank you so much for the kind words and support. I am unsure if it kills spiders but when using the soap spray it is good to only spray on the target areas as to not spray any non target insects that may be around. Usually spiders will leave an area once they notice movement that is larger than they care to deal with. Hope that helps and good luck!