Aphids / green fly

Hello lovely gardeners!
Please help….

I have a rose bush next to my porch entrance that gets green fly every year.

I want to use non toxic ways to get rid of them or prevent them in the first place.

I have made my own garlic water in the past which did help but I found out bees hate garlic.

I have also found out bees don’t like citronella or lemon grass….

I don’t want to deter bees from the garden but I also don’t want to use toxic pesticides.

I’ve tried leaving it and hoping for the best… the health of the bush declined…
This year the green fly has also now come indoors and decided to infest my Anthuriums on the window sill…

I need a natural way that will get rid of them and then PREVENT them without upsetting bees! Losing hope that it’s possible?

Thanks in advance

 

Try SB Plant Invigorator - it's plant-oil based and includes a foliar feed. Should not harm or deter bees or aphid predators.

Or horticultural soap (potassium salts of fatty acids) - again. should only limit the aphids and not the 'good' insects.

 

If you spray them off using just a hose that will help get them down in numbers.
Repeat every few days as new eggs hatch, but after a while they should mostly be gone.

You could also use a hand sprayer filled with water, add just 4-5 drops of washing up liquid, shake and spray with that.
The washing up liquid makes them lose grip, so shifting them is easier.

Or a combination of both.
Good luck

 

@Pete8 @The Buddleja Garden

Thank you both for your replies

What about preventing them in the first place? Regular soapy water spritz’s? How often can this be done without hurting the plant?

 

There's nothing you can do to prevent their arrival really.
As long as you stick to just a few drops of washing up liquid in about half litre of water you can use it as often as you like.
Every few days should be enough.

I have loads of roses and they all get aphids, but I don't bother treating them.
Eventually the ladybirds will arrive and clear them.
But I understand yours is by the front door and you don't want your guests getting covered in aphids when they arrive

 

Have also had success with SB Plant Invigorator in the greenhouse to control Red Spider Mite and Aphids etc.

However its important to spray the plant/s with it once a week to be fully effective thoughout the summer and try and wet as much of the underside of the leaves as possible.

Better to buy the 250ml or 500ml bottles of Concentate rather than the ready made spray which works out quiet expensive. ( on Amazon etc)
Also fiil the sprayer with water, then add the SBI , otherwise it can bubble over.

 

Does anyone know what the contents of this Invigorator is, just looked it up and cant see what the substance is.

 

I use the fondle of death. Gently stroke the aphids or with young leaves very gently pinch them together wipe your fingers in your trousers and go on to the next rose. Very therapeutic.

 

AFAIK it's based on Neem oil and works by suffocating the bugs under a thin layer of oil.
I think there's some nutrients in it too that are absorbed by the foliage

 

That’s not quite effective when they are all over the new rose buds that haven’t opened yet and inside the crevices of new shoots etc I did do that with a few though, minus the wiping them on my trousers

 

That's when it's most satisfying

 

When I get them on my dahlias I often just use a paper tissue to wipe them off.
Saves my trousers looking like I've been wiping bogies on them

 

Are any of these solutions suitable to spray on plants with edible fruit. I was thinking of spraying one with vinegar as it may have an ant aphid farm

 

Oh wow, I’d never heard of that before. Just looked it up, how clever of them. It’s giving me ‘A bugs life’ movie vibes

 

All of the above suggestions are fine to use on edibles