Controlling Aphids

If winter is slumber and spring is birth, and summer is life, then autumn rounds out to be reflection. It's a time of year when the leaves are down and the harvest is in and the perennials are gone. Mother Earth just closed up the drapes on another year and it's time to reflect on what's come before.
Mitchell Burgess, Northern Exposure, Thanksgiving, 1992

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In today's tip I'd like to talk a little bit about controlling aphids. Those little black bugs that love to make their home among our plants and eat away at them.

Aphids come in so many varieties it sometimes seems like there's a special one for every plant that grows. But all of them have the same basic habits, and the first line of defense is always the same: attend to the health of the plants. Aphids concentrate their attacks on the weak and sick.

Start by making sure the victim has plenty of water; drought stress is nototious for inviting hordes of aphids. Then try and spray immune-system-boosting liquid seaweed.

Avoid fertilizers that contain a lot of nitrogen; the soft, lush growth it promotes is another favorite aphid target.

First aid for the plants, along with a strong spray of water to wash off stragglers, will usually bring aphids populations down to tolerable levels within a week or two.




Victor K. Pryles
http://www.auhtorsden.com/victorkpryles

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