Aphid are here. Note the lack of an s, Aphid is plural and Aphis is singular. You almost never get the chance to correctly use the word Aphis. They always show up in droves.

There is continuing interest in non chemical methods of pest control. Aphid control is one area it can work. It does take more involvment by you and acceptance of a little damage. This is actually the method I use at home.

What I do depends on two predators. Ladybugs are one control. I put them out when I have a good crop of Aphid, enough to give the Ladybugs something to feed on. I put them out at night and be sure there is water arround. I usually just spray water over the Roses to have some water for them. I put them out at night at the base of the plants because they don't fly away as fast. What you are really trying to do is get them to stay around long enough to lay eggs. The eggs hatch into nymphs that look like mini stripped lizards. These are the real Aphid eating machines.

I generally have to buy Ladybugs for a few years untill I get a population that stays over winter. Then I am home free.

The other predator is encarsia wasp. No, these aren't the size of yellow jackets. They are about the size of small grains of ground pepper. They ley eggs inside the Aphid and kill them from the inside. Aliens anyone??

You can recognize the damage if you see bloated Aphid mixed in with live aphid. When the Aphid dies you see a tan husk with a small hole at the back end. This is where the new adults emerge. I looked over my roses this morning and I am already seeing encarsia wasp evidence.

While I am waiting for the predators to kick in I hand wash off the Aphid to reduce the damage. It generally takes two three weeks for the population to start to drop. After that I have no more rose aphid problems all season.

This seems to work best on green Aphid.

We sell the Ladybugs but the encarsia wasp seem to be around everywhere. If you wait!

Happy Organic Gardening.

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