Are aphids taking over your Urban Garden?
It seems like every year there is a mini obstacle for me to overcome in our garden.
CHALLENGE ACCEPTED.
I take great joy in being surrounded by beautiful plants that I have put tons of love and work into, so to have an army of aphids run rapid on my sunflowers, lettuce, AND roses I knew I had to act quickly before they ruined all of my hard work.
I decided to break out the dish soap, yes that is right dish soap.
It kills the bugs onsite with out harming your plants with harmful chemicals. This is safe to use on all hardy stems and leaves. Although I wouldn't recommend using directly on finer blooms themselves.
I used the dish soap and water solution in a spray bottle and applied it in the morning before the sun hit the effected areas. That evening I mixed a tablespoon of neem oil in a gallon of water and continued to spray all of the plants in my garden. Neem oil is plant derived and also is safe to use around pets and children.
The aphid issue seems resolved for now but I will keep a close eye on my garden.
I recognize the feeling of having unwanted guests in the garden. Every year our garden is invaded by big black or brown slugs. One year my wife got rid of over 700 of them.
Best regards, Niklas 🎈
#1 I also have slugs that rule our front and back yard. Have you tried laying a border of coffee grounds around the edge of your garden? I like that its a natural way to get rid of them with out using a pesticide.
I have not tried coffee. One problem is that they have already invaded our garden so laying coffee grounds around it will likely fence them in. :-) Another problem is that it would take a lot of coffee to cover the edge all the way around.
Best regards, Niklas 🎈
#3 You can always just mix the coffee grounds in with the soil, it actually kills the slugs on contact. Crushed egg shells add calcium in the mix and they balance out the acidity from the coffee grounds.
I think mixing it with the soil around the perimeter would be even more difficult. My guess is that it is around 150 meters.
Best regards, Niklas 🎈