There she is -- the subject of our affection. With her sucking mouthparts and her honeytubes at the rear of her abdomen. What a beautiful creature, secreting honeydew, which is in turn harvested by ants. She is the cow of the insect kingdom, feeding on roots, stems and leaves. She produces assexual clones of herself and they clone themselves in turn. When the host plant is full or dying, she produces thousands of herself, except with male parts, and of course wings...
But enough of this morbid aphid prose. After all, they're nothing but plant lice.
Firstly, the best way to control small, isolated infestations is by hand-wiping. Grab a rag or towel and gently rub the aphids off. I find a rag soaked in soapy water works wonderfully. A very small infestation can also be controlled quickly by simply pruning off the effected leaf or leaves and stomping on it.
You can also wash aphids from foliage with a strong stream of water.
Spray with soap. Soap works by covering the body of the aphid with a fatty acid. Since insects breathe though their skin, the soap effectively suffocates them. You can mix up your own soap spray, but make sure the soap is not highly fragrant first. Mild dish soaps work well, at a rate of 1 part soap to 20 parts water. Safer's Insecticidal Soap is best though. It is strong on aphids but mild on leaves. Soap only kills those bugs it comes into direct contact with, so only the sprayed bugs will be affected.
Always encourage natural enemies, including ladybird beetles, lacewings, and parasitic wasps. How do you do that? Do not spray chemical insecticides in the garden. Do not spray soap onto an insect if you think it may be beneficial. Read on for more information about beneficial insects.
Control honeydew-feeding ants, which help protect aphid colonies. Sugar water mixed with a small amount of boric acid (available in the form of Borax) makes a good bait for ants. Set up a small dish in an ant path, or at the bottom of the affected plant. Ants take the mix back to their colony, which is then destroyed. This works particularly well for large trees infected with aphids.
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