[CH] Mike Benson on Aphids...
Joe Arditi (pepperjoe@home.com)
Sat, 15 Apr 2000 20:06:31 -0400
If you have Aphids already Mike in your basement it sounds like they
overwintered in the soil and kinda came out of hibernation because of
the warm indoor temperatures. It's a good idea to eliminate them now
without unintentionally transferring them to the garden.
I use pryethrins myself because I'm an Organic grower. But my spray of
choice is good old fashioned dishsoap. Use 1 tbs. per spray bottle and
try to get a direct hit on the Aphids. It suffocates them because
soft-bodied insects breathe through their bodies. Hard bodied pests
will get a terminal case of dysentary from it.
Lady Bugs are a good natural control once they go OUTDOORS. However
keep away from the ants. The ants actually 'milk' the aphids of their
sweet nectar that they get from the leaves of the plants much like we
get milk from cows. They are extremely smart and tenacious insects.
They carry the wingless Aphids to the tender leaves on the Chiles. I
like to put citrus rinds at the base of my pepper plants in June to
discourage the ants...especially Orange rinds which they despise. You
may want to start saving your citrus rinds now by putting them in a
blender and freezing them..then take them out when the Aphids becomne
most active in your particular climate zone.
Good Luck and Great Gardening,
Pepper Joe
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