Aphids by the millions......

[DGBAMA]

In the garden this morning.

 

[leverhead]

You're going to have a busy day!

 

[Jitterbugdude]

That's not good. I start spraying soap as soon as I see 1 aphid. I've had aphids like yours before. They totally destroyed several of my plants with their black sticky goo. I'd hit them with soap everyday for a few days in a row. Apply it in the early morning when the plants are covered with dew. It'll help the soap mixture stick.

Of course, you could pack them up and send them to Knucks. He used Admire this year, so maybe see what happens?

 

[Hasse SWE]

Looking like alot of my tobacco last year.. Not funny to see.. Can't remember they attacks the stalk, like in your picture but.. I did let em bee one some plant, but the leaf didn't make it.. They turned Braun and started to mould.. I was thinking let em be and then take em of.. Bad idea (but even a bad idea is a idea lol)..

 

[DGBAMA]

This is NOT on my baccy thank goodness. But rather about 20 yards away in the veggie area.

The plant is Jerusalem Artichoke, a root crop, so they are really doing no harm. My baccy got an Admire treatment this year too, and so far, zero aphids.

Actually wondering though if I may have stumbled on a good "sacrificial/bait crop" to attract aphids away from everything else, since the little buggers are not on ANY other plant in my yard. And being a root crop, I am not really "sacrificing" anything by letting them live there.

 

[deluxestogie]

...Jerusalem Artichoke... I am not really "sacrificing" anything by letting them live there.

The aphids not only live there, they multiply there.

Bob

 

[Jack in NB]

Ivory soap liquid, 2-4 tbsp per gallon has controlled mine.

I spray the leaves to run-off, generally in the evening or a cloudy day to avoid the possibility of burning.

I have to repeat as more appear - 3 applications have given me total control.

When I had them on seedlings, I made a gas chamber - a garbage bag inside a garbage can, set the tray inside, gave a good shot of raid into the bag and sealed it. 2 apps a few days apart got the newly hatched second generation.

An entomolisist friend who did her PHd thesis on these critters told me that knocking them off with a spray from a water hose also does them in - tears off their sucking probe.

 

[Hasse SWE]

This is NOT on my baccy thank goodness. But rather about 20 yards away in the veggie area.

The plant is Jerusalem Artichoke, a root crop, so they are really doing no harm. My baccy got an Admire treatment this year too, and so far, zero aphids.

And I was so fascinating about the mid-rib... I think it would make a very nice cigar.. Not so sure any more lol.. Artichoke do I know what it is but never seen plants of.. Don't think it would make it here in Sweden..

 

[LIBERTYCHICKEN]

This is NOT on my baccy thank goodness. But rather about 20 yards away in the veggie area.

The plant is Jerusalem Artichoke, a root crop, so they are really doing no harm. My baccy got an Admire treatment this year too, and so far, zero aphids.

Actually wondering though if I may have stumbled on a good "sacrificial/bait crop" to attract aphids away from everything else, since the little buggers are not on ANY other plant in my yard. And being a root crop, I am not really "sacrificing" anything by letting them live there.

Funny aphids never touch my J artichokes , Red or White ?

If you dont eat them try some 'Bonide Systemic Insect Control' it works great on non-food crops ,and should be in any hardware store. This way the aphids dont breed like hell and get out of control

 

[DGBAMA]

White artichokes, red aphids

 

[Chicken]

so far ive found hornworms... but not the first APHID.

i did use ADMIRE. and so far .. '' im sold on it ''

ive also got 3 inscect traps out. [ but they dont look like they are doing. much good ]

 

[ProfessorPangloss]

so far ive found hornworms... but not the first APHID.

i did use ADMIRE. and so far .. '' im sold on it ''

ive also got 3 inscect traps out. [ but they dont look like they are doing. much good ]

are they Japanese beetle traps? If so, move them into your neighbor's yard. Those things draw from a huge radius.

 

[ProfessorPangloss]

Hey, I was just reading about Admire, and it turns out that it's a neonicotinoid, which is basically wholesale honeybee holocaust. However, if everyone is topping their plants, it's probably okay, because it's systemic, so no flower = no bee exposure, right? I'd love to hear Chillardbee weigh in on this topic and tell me if the above conjecture is reasonable.

In the future, if I'm growing anything not topped, I'll skip the Admire. This probably means planting grow-out seeds *near* treated plants and including a trap crop, like the artichoke. Maybe we're onto something here. Though most people on the forum are fine with using chemicals judiciously, it's hard to argue with the demonstrated toxicity of imidacloprid on bees.

Lu et al. (2012) reported they were able to replicate [Colony Collapse Disorder] with sub-lethal doses of imidacloprid. The imidacloprid-treated hives were nearly empty, consistent with CCD, and the authors exclude Varroa or Nosema as contributing causes.[10]

In May 2012, researchers at the University of San Diego released a study showing that honey bees treated with a small dose of imidacloprid, comparable to what they would receive in nectar and formerly considered a safe amount, became "picky eaters," refusing nectars of lower sweetness and preferring to feed only on sweeter nectar. It was also found that bees exposed to imidacloprid performed the "waggle dance," the movements that bees use to inform hive mates of the location of foraging plants, at a lower rate.[36]


Researchers from the Canadian Forest Service showed that imidacloprid used on trees at realistic field concentrations decreases leaf litter breakdown owing to adverse sublethal effects on non-target terrestrial invertebrates. The study did not find significant indication that the invertebrates, which normally decompose leaf litter, preferred uncontaminated leaves, and concluded that the invertebrates could not detect the imidacloprid.[37]


A 2012 in situ study provided strong evidence that exposure to sublethal levels of imidacloprid in high fructose corn syrup (HFCS) used to feed honey bees when forage is not available causes bees to exhibit symptoms consistent to CCD 23 weeks post imidacloprid dosing. The researchers suggested that "the observed delayed mortality in honey bees caused by imidacloprid in HFCS is a novel and plausible mechanism for CCD, and should be validated in future studies".[38][39]

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Imidacloprid#Bees_and_other_insects

edit: how do I tag the username in the post?

 

[Chicken]

I guess its a oxymoron..but I've seen admire used on watermelon fields...and at the same time they had about a dozen " bee boxes " ( hives?)... To pollinate the field with.

 

[ProfessorPangloss]

I guess its a oxymoron..but I've seen admire used on watermelon fields...and at the same time they had about a dozen " bee boxes " ( hives?)... To pollinate the field with.

Well, they're just sacrificial. They probably assume they'll have to be replaced after each season. One thing I thought was interesting was that bees are fed with corn syrup (itself tainted with Admire) during the off season.