How to treat parsley from black aphids so that the greens remain edible?

Such an attack, like a black aphid on parsley, can ruin the mood of any gardener. The situation seems hopeless to many. Greens go to the table, which means that you cannot process them with chemicals. But you will not eat such parsley, inhabited by insects. Aphids are especially common when growing this crop in pots on a balcony or at home. The problem is really serious, but there are solutions for it.

How and why do aphids start on parsley?

If you have a black aphid in your garden, look for ants nearby and even a whole anthill. The symbiosis of these two species of insects has long been known to everyone. Ants feed on aphids, so they take care of a good diet for their nurses, transferring them to plants with the juiciest and tastiest leaves.

Aphids are invisible at first - insects colonize 1-2 leaves. But then they multiply so rapidly that a large colony is formed from several individuals. Over a season, more than ten generations are born and grow to sexual maturity. The females each lay hundreds of eggs.

A large army needs to be fed, and parsley is perfect for this. Aphids feed on young, still delicate leaves. It is easy to pierce them with a proboscis to suck out juices. In parsley, these leaves are constantly growing from the center of the rosettes.

But for active reproduction and development of pests, ant protection and nutrition are not enough. The third necessary factor is favorable weather. These insects reproduce and grow especially actively at a temperature of +25 ° C, they also need high humidity.

Why are parsley aphids dangerous?

Aphids are a great threat to any plant. The number of these pests is growing exponentially. Larvae and adults cover the entire reverse side of the leaves and the surface of the stems with a continuous layer, pump out cell sap from the tissues. The plant loses its vitality, does not grow and slowly dies.

In addition, aphids can infect parsley with fungal and viral diseases through the punctures they make. Pests spread the infection on the proboscis, abdomen and paws from diseased plants. In this case, it will be necessary to fight not only with insects. The plant's chance of survival tends to zero.

A serious problem can be avoided if the first leaves infested with aphids are noticed in time. It is enough to carefully cut them off and burn them in a grill or oven. And, of course, we must drive the ants out of the garden.

If the moment is missed, then a long and exhausting struggle awaits you ahead. After all, new hordes of pests appear and grow from eggs every day.

Folk remedies for aphids

You will have to use harmless folk recipes if aphids appear at the beginning or in the height of the season. After all, the greens are still planned to be cut and harvested for the winter.

List of aphid remedies and recipes recommended by experienced gardeners:

• A solution of ammonia. Pour 1 tbsp into a 1.5 liter plastic water bottle. l. ammonia (10%). Add a teaspoon of Green Soap (or any liquid soap). Slip on the spray attachment, loosen it up and brine the parsley.
• Soap solution. Dissolve 100 ml of any liquid soap or 300 g of pre-grated household soap in 10 liters of water. Process the parsley.
• Ash and soap solution. Pour the ash (150-300 g) with hot water. Add 40 g of liquid soap to the cooled, but still warm infusion. Strain before treating aphids.
• Infusion of potato tops. Take 1 kg of green or 700 g of dry potato tops. Grind and fill with a bucket of boiling water. Insist 3 hours, strain and sprinkle with parsley.



• Infusion of onions. Chop 200 g of onions together with the husk. Pour 10 liters of water. After a long infusion (12-18 hours), strain and sprinkle the parsley.
• Infusion of garlic. Insist 200 g of chopped garlic in 1 liter of water for 5 days. To get rid of aphids, it is enough to dilute 25 ml of this infusion in 10 liters of water and spray the planting.

The agents listed here, unlike chemicals, do not provide a long protective period. They are not absorbed or stored in the leaves; they act only at the time of processing. Therefore, spraying must be repeated every 5–7 days in order to destroy newly born eggs, as well as insects that have survived after the previous spraying.

Moreover, it is necessary to thoroughly moisten all places where pests have accumulated, that is, on the back of the leaves. Folk remedies have only a contact effect, that is, with direct contact with insects. They burn them, disrupt respiratory processes.

Chemical insecticides - you can, but be careful

There are many effective insecticides against aphids: Aktara, Karbofos, Hostakvik, Tanrek, Confidor, etc. Each chemical preparation has a waiting period - from a week to a month. That is how long the parsley cannot be eaten.

Two processing options depending on the season:

• Summer. Cut off all the parsley. Wash it thoroughly from the aphids with tap water. Use for canning, freezing, or other culinary needs. And treat the bed with the drug. Wait for the period indicated in the instructions and start collecting greens again.
• Autumn. If you have perennial parsley, you protected it all summer with folk remedies, then in the fall you can harvest the last crop, and treat the garden with chemistry.

Prevention of aphids on parsley

We grow parsley every season. Therefore, faced with a problem once, many gardeners think about its prevention.

To prevent black aphids from reappearing on greenery, you can take the following measures:

• Fight ants. Drive them away from the site, destroying anthills, or let them live only in remote corners of the garden. Popular ant remedies: Dohlox, Anteater, Medvetox, Thunder, as well as pencils and adhesive tapes.
• Plant repellent plants next to parsley: lavender, mint, onion, garlic, chamomile.
• Loosen the aisles regularly. The eggs and larvae of aphids are also found under the lumps of earth. By turning them over, you break the favorable conditions for the parasites.
• Attract birds to the area by hanging feeders in the trees. The method is not suitable for households where cats live.
• Take care of beneficial insects - enemies of aphids: ground beetles, ladybirds, lacewings. Bring them to your parsley garden.

Aphids on parsley are a serious problem. Individuals of different ages live on the infected leaves. In addition, eggs are laid in secluded places, which are not afraid of even strong chemicals. Therefore, it is better not to allow pests to populate the beds, remove infected leaves in time and fight ants.