Why so many aphids this year?

Found a 'recipe' for getting rid of aphids.....

8 diced Chilli's
500mls of water..
dash of washing up liquid....

Mix together in a spray...shake well....and bobs your uncle.....might give that a go....

 

I haven't really seen many in my garden this year, since I started feeding the birds in my garden a year ago. I like to think the birds are eating all mine. I'm probably being naive thinking this

 

Funny you should say that JJ.....I used to think that but i have my doubts now.....going back the birds were always hanging off the plants eating the grubs etc...but i'm wondering if now with many of us religiously stocking up the feeders they are taking the easy option....not that i'll stop feeding them but that's my theory anyway

 

I think that the weather has played a part in this and also mutations which is nothing else than dna adjusting for the organism to survive, in this case fighting against disinfestant.
Even though you may not have sprayed it directly to your aphids.

 

yep loads of greenfly here too, i've been squishing them like there's no tomorrow but still they're everywhere...they're even on the eucalyptus! i was under the impression that nothing could live on them? last week we found a ladybird in the garden, the first ever! & close by what i think may be their caterpillar/larva? but not sure so i've been careful to check it is infact only aphids im squishing (squishing doesn't bother me normally but then i've never had to do hundreds & thousands in one go before...your hand gets seriously gooey!

 

one of my lupins is covered in aphids, and they are huge.

I've seen 2 ladybirds in the garden, both were moved to the lupin where they stayed for a couple of days.

So far just the 1 lupin seems to be the target, the lupin at the other end of the flower bed and the other plants seem safe for now.

I keep washing them off with the hose, even removed one of the flowering stalks and binned it because it had so many on.

seen a few hoverflys about when the wind isn't blowing a gale, but even the slightest breeze turns my garden into a wind tunnel because of the way the area is developed.

 

I'm plagued with whitefly this year. Seen but a handful of ladybirds. Thankfully, I've not seen a ladyboy since Thailand though!

 

I had a lot on my roses - kept hosing - got blackfly (ant farmed) on my potted viburnum's new shoots - a couple of weeks ago I took zoomed photos of the surrounding trees (mostly sycamore) and saw these - so what chance have I got ??? And no ladybirds - not even a harlequin this year - I remember a few years ago we had them everywhere - even coming indoors bunching together for an over-winter.

S

 

my garden is infested with them... I just spray them off.. the ones that are on the stems are usually killed by the power spray but more turn up.

 

I've just been removing curled up new growth from my Rhodos. Little blighters are gonna get it full force this weekend, I've had enough

 

I have had no aphids up to now this year and I haven't used any sprays for 5 years.

But lily beetle is another saga finding babies on all the lilies !!

Spruce

 

I'm pretty sure we used to collect the larvae from Lime trees when we were at school, kept them in the inkwells on the desks till they hatched.

Checked some lime trees this afternoon, not a single larvae.

 

I too have a lot of greenfly, my plum tree has lots on the new growth, I keep seeing birds feeding on them but there's too many.

I did have some huge whitefly on the spent flowers on my hellebores but I've removed them and washed the rest off the leaves.

Just yesterday I found some blackfly on my guelder rose so I just removed the effected leaves as they were only on a few.

Have only seen a couple of ladybirds so far this year, where as last year I had hundred of them??

 

Now that the Frits are over I'm having to check my Tricyrtis collection..................

 

Been playing with my new tree pruner and chopping down some of the neighbour's Elder which overhangs my top patio. It's absolutely infested with the ruddy things