The other day I noticed signs of aphids on my Brussels sprouts. All of the brassicas will get them if given enough time in the garden. I might have swarms of hoverflies, wasps, and preying mantises in my garden, but I cover the brassicas to keep out the dreaded white butterfly. So all those beneficial insects don't do me any good when I keep them out.
Get off my sprouts!So I have to spray. I use liquid soap to kill them. Dr. Bronners is my current soap of choice in the house, so I just use it in the garden too. I used a quarter cup per gallon. I could go as far as one more tablespoon, but we will see how this dilution works. To work, you have to totally cover all the aphids, which means getting to the underside of the leaves where most of them are.
My old sprayer was failing, so I got a new one this year. I like that it is smaller - one gallon as opposed to two, but my last one had an angled sprayer which made getting under the leaf so much easier. This one does not. So I have to lift each leaf to get to the insects. While I was at it, I checked the broccoli, which is the only other brassica that will stick around all summer long. I found some on one leaf, which I sprayed, but the rest seemed clean. For one leaf I could probably just wipe them off. It is what I do for the growing point of my espaliered apples. I just squish them with my fingers.
I also tested the soap spray on the raspberries just to make sure they don't mind the soap. They were just fine the next day. Mites are hurting the poor things. If I have extra spray next time I do the Brussels sprouts, I'll spray the raspberries too. I'm not as worried about the mites as I am about the aphids. The aphids will spread and infest every sprout if I'm not careful. They make it inedible. The mites will slow my raspberry production down, but mites aren't big pests here as we tend to be wet.
I'm hoping I won't have to spray the broccoli again. I found one of my myriad preying mantises and put him under the broccoli row cover. I hope they eat aphids, but what are the odds it will eat all the spiders first? Mantids aren't very discriminating when it comes to eating.
My Brussels sprouts were also trying to burst out of their cover. So I sewed up a bigger one for them. If this gets too small they are out of luck. I don't have supports that are taller, but the cover is so light it shouldn't matter. The cover is nice and loose and the sprouts could push it up another foot if they want.
I'll probably have to do something similar soon. Aphids are such a big problem these days, and they seem to be a lot more resistant to chemical sprays than they ever were, so the soap treatment is probably the best way to go.
ReplyDeleteI didn't have any issue with aphids on my broccoli plants last year, but I only grew them in the later part of the summer. I have seen some aphids on a couple of the chamomile stems (the ants were farming them) and one of the fava plants, so I just cut off the infested tips. I'll have to get myself one of those sprayers - I was thinking about it last year but never did get around to it.
ReplyDeleteI don't generally see aphids in my garden, except for the black aphids that magically show up when I plant fava beans. I think the soap spray is the best way to go for them
ReplyDeleteI'm glad to know there is a solution (hah, that's sort of a pun!) for aphids. Makes my hair stand up on end just thinking about them! I'll certainly keep this in mind, thank you. One question: when you harvest, do you have to make an extra effort to remove any soap residue?
ReplyDeleteI don't. It usually just washes away with the first rain. Or when you wash your veggies it rinses off then too.
DeleteThanks - good to know!
DeleteThe aphids on my broccoli were unfazed by soap spray. I had to take out the worst infected plants and then after a couple more attempts to soap them off the remaining plants I had to resort to Pyganic (pyrethrum based). That seems to have finally worked. One thing I learned is that you can't simply spray them off with water, I tried that and watched the aphids just climb right back up into the plants.
ReplyDeleteOh, my! Why does there have to be so many little bad critters to take the joy out of gardening! Nancy
ReplyDeleteHi Daphne,
ReplyDeleteI am SO impressed by your garden and its rowcovers.
I tried using re-purposed white sheer curtains as row covers last year. I ripped out all the seams and resewed them to the right size. But after that, I think it doesn't let enough light through.
Maybe others have already asked, but where do you get your fabric for your row covers? Do you have an inexpensive source? (Sorry if someone already asked this question, but I couldn't find the info here)
The white ones are expensive and from Australia.
Deletehttp://www.veggiecare.com/products.html
They are in their fourth year now and are seeing some holes already, but still they are pretty sturdy.
The lighter looking ones are fabric netting from a fabric store. Like tulle but with bigger holes. This is really cheap at about $1/yd, but it is also very fragile. I treat them very carefully and still have to repair holes that I make. They don't really last more than a year. I do save the ones I use for the spring spinach as they only see the sun for a couple of months. I figure two uses works for that. But the fabric is not UV stabilized. It isn't made for this use, so is hardly ideal.
Time to hit the fabric stores! $1/yard sounds great and I wouldn't expect it to last long - one season would be OK. Did you luck out and find a sale?
DeleteI saw netting at JoAnn's last week, but it was about $3/yard. Sure would like to find a cheaper source!
Nope online:
Deletehttp://www.voguefabricsstore.com/Wholesale-Fabric-Nylon-Netting-Brown-40-yds..html
I buy the brown which fades to green. And I buy it in bolts, so it is cheaper. I use enough of it.
Oh and I also often sew it up so it is wider. It doesn't come in bolts wider than 6' and I often need 8'. For the Brussels sprouts I used 12'.
DeleteThanks so much for all the help! Netting has been ordered :-)
DeleteAphids have been extra prolific this year
ReplyDelete