How to get rid of aphids on flowers in the garden and indoors

Pests of different types can appear on flower crops growing in the garden. Aphids can often be found - a colony of small insects grows on the flowers. Affected plants lose their attractiveness, buds and flowers become deformed, which does not add beauty to ornamental crops. How can you help flowers if aphids have appeared on them?

Why aphids are dangerous on flowers in the garden

There are more than a dozen species of this pest, which can parasitize on garden plants, but mainly three of them settle on flowers:

• green,
• yellow,
• black.

Green prefers roses and chrysanthemums.

Aphids are very fertile, under good conditions for existence, they can produce several generations in one summer, and one female in her short life is able to give thousands of her own kind. Therefore, it is not surprising that pests, having appeared on a plant in several copies, very soon form a whole colony on it.

Aphid larvae grow quickly, only 2 weeks after birth, they become sexually mature and can produce offspring themselves. When the number of aphids on one plant grows so much that they lack food, individuals with wings appear, which find new plants. In the fall, aphids hibernate in order to start reproducing again in the spring.

In addition to aphids, ants can be seen on flowers - they feed on its sweet secretions and for this they are engaged in breeding a colony.

So, what are these small insects dangerous for?

• The harmfulness of aphids is expressed in the fact that they suck sap from plant tissues, and they prefer young leaves and growth points, buds. As a result, they weaken the flowers, their leaves are deformed, curled, lose their bright green color, stop growing, and the tops bend. If there are a lot of pests, the buds may not even bloom, and the presence of aphids will not make the already opened flowers more attractive.
• A sooty fungus then spreads on the remains of secretions.
• And the aphid itself is dangerous in that it carries various infections, additionally harming crops. Especially from aphids, not yet matured seedlings and young plants suffer.

How to determine if there are aphids on plants?

Knowing that the pest loves to feed on the tops and buds, it is necessary first of all to examine them.

• It is not difficult to see flower aphids, although they are small in size. Insects sit quietly on the leaves and do not run away anywhere, even if you touch them.
• Next to them, you can see a white bloom - these are the shells of the larvae discarded after molting.
• A characteristic sign of the presence of aphids is that the surface of the leaves and flowers is covered with a shiny, sticky liquid. This is the sugary secretions of insects.

After detecting a pest, it is urgent to take measures to save flowers.

How to fight?

A lot of means and methods for the destruction of aphids have been developed. It is impossible to name any one, universal, often it is worth using several different options for greater efficiency.

If there are still few insects, it makes sense to try to remove them mechanically, that is, collect them by hand or rinse them with water from a garden hose. But this method does not give one hundred percent result, because there is a possibility that not all insects will be washed away.

Folk remedies

It is necessary to start the fight against a pest that has settled on garden flowers with folk remedies, and not chemistry.They are not as effective as industrial chemicals (and most likely will have to be processed several times), but they are still quite effective.

You can get rid of aphids on flowers using the following means:

• Soap solution. It is prepared from 150 g of solid (household or tar) or 150 ml of liquid soap per 10 liters of water. The flowers are sprayed with liquid for 2 days in a row.
• Ash solution. Cooking recipe: Dissolve 1 part of ash in 10 parts of boiling water, then leave to infuse for a day. Then add the same amount of water to this infusion, for adhesion - 50 g of soap, and stir. It remains to strain through cheesecloth - and you can spray on flowers.

You don't need to insist on the ash, but simply sprinkle the flowers with sifted powder. Before that, they need to be doused with water so that the ash sticks to the leaves, and does not sprinkle. The benefit of using ash lies not only in the fact that it destroys aphids, but also in the fact that it feeds the flowers and deacidifies the soil under them.

Infusions of plants to combat aphids

In the garden and vegetable garden there are plants with insecticidal properties. On their basis, you can prepare infusions for spraying:

• Garlic. Chop 2-3 heads of garlic, add 1 liter of water and leave for 24 hours. Then 2 tbsp. l. funds, 1 tbsp. l. soap or 2 tbsp. l. add vegetable oil to a bucket of water.
• From tomato tops. Take an equal amount of leaves and hot water, leave for 3 or 4 hours, filter the infusion and spray the bushes.
• Chamomile. You will need to insist in a glass of boiling water 2 tbsp. l. dry chamomile flowers, then strain. Pour 1 liter of warm water into the liquid, stir.
• Hot pepper. Take 100 g of pods, pour 1 liter of boiling water. After insisting for a day, pour the infusion into a bucket of water.
• Tobacco. Insist 0.5 kg of dry tobacco in a bucket of water for 2 days.
• Onion. In 1 liter of boiling water, insist 30 g of husks for 6 hours. Add soap or vegetable oil to the infusion.
• From celandine. 1 liter of boiling water, pour 100 g of dry grass. Insist 1-2 days.
• From wormwood. Take 3 kg of grass, grind and pour in a bucket of water, leave for 1 day.

It is necessary to spray the plants from all sides so that all leaves, shoots and stems are wet. So you will surely be able to destroy pests. When processing folk remedies, you can not achieve the goal at once - you need to spray the flowers again.

You can sow chamomile, lavender, calendula, catnip, mint next to flower areas, plant garlic, horseradish: aphids do not tolerate the smell of these plants.

Birds and insects

Aphids have natural enemies that readily eat them. These are sparrows, titmouses, robins, beetles and other species. It's easy to attract them to the garden: you need to install feeders and drinkers on the street - birds will soon appear.

Do not mind eating aphids and some types of insects - well-known ladybugs, hoverflies, lacewings, ground beetles, wasps, etc. They are attracted by certain plants that should be planted near the garden or flower beds. You need to get rid of ants in order to prevent them from growing aphids.

When choosing a biological method of protection, you cannot use industrial insecticides, which can also poison garden defenders.

Insecticides

The most effective way to fight aphids is by using agrochemicals in the garden. Although they are toxic, they act quickly, reliably destroying pests. In addition to performance, they also differ in a long period of protection (approximately 3 weeks).

You can process flowers with such preparations:

• Calypso Spray
• "Tsvetolux",
• "Antiklesch Max",
• "Karbofos",
• "Akarin",
• Fitoverm,
• "Tanrek",
• "Aktara",
• "Kinmix",
• "Karate",
• "Spark",
• "Actellik",
• "Inta-Vir",
• Floristin,
• "Aktofit" and others.

Spraying is carried out at the first sign of a pest. Working solutions are prepared according to the instructions for the selected drug. It is recommended to alternate preparations throughout the season to avoid the aphids becoming addicted to one of them.

Prevention of the appearance of aphids on flowers

It is much easier to prevent the appearance of a pest in the garden than to find means to get rid of this scourge later. What do we have to do?

• From the very beginning of the growing season, inspect the plants every week in order to identify the pest in time.
• Weed areas in the garden and vegetable garden where weeds can grow: they can also feed on aphids.
• Cut off dried shoots and leaves of flowers.
• Feed flower plants with mineral fertilizers or organic matter. This will enhance their ability to resist pests. At the same time, it is impossible to overfeed the plants, because it is these aphids that are chosen in the first place.
• Water the flowers systematically: lack of moisture weakens them and makes them vulnerable. To reduce the amount of watering, the soil surface around the plants should be mulched.
• Destroy anthills and ants. Thus, the number of aphids can be significantly reduced.
• Attract beneficial insects and pest-eating birds to the garden.
• During the autumn cleaning of the garden, carefully remove all plant residues and burn them. It is recommended to put them in the compost heap.

A set of measures to prevent the appearance of aphids in the garden will help protect flower crops from this common pest.

Aphids on indoor flowers

Aphids can also appear on plants grown in indoor conditions. Mostly this is an indoor view, but others, street ones, can also be found.

Pests affect all parts of plants. How do they appear in the house?

• If this is a new, recently acquired flower, then it could have been infected even before moving to the owner's dwelling.
• A pest can enter the premises from the street through open windows and doors.
• Can be carried from the garden on tools, hands or clothing.

At the first signs of damage, you need to remove the affected plant from the rest and put it separately so that the aphids do not move from it to healthy flowers. After that, it must be sprayed from a spray bottle with one of the folk remedies or an insecticide solution. After a week, repeat if once is not enough. The number of treatments will depend on the degree of pest infestation. After "recovery" the flower can be returned to its original place.

Preventive measures: timely feeding and care, inspection of new plants for the presence of pests or diseases.

Aphids on garden or indoor flowers can appear at any time, in any period of the season from spring to autumn. If you do not take urgent measures to destroy it, it will quickly multiply and cause more and more significant damage to plants. Fortunately, there are many folk and chemical remedies that will help you quickly destroy the aphid colony.