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Old 16-04-2017, 04:34 PM posted to uk.rec.gardening
Bob Hobden[_6_] Bob Hobden[_6_] is offline
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First recorded activity by GardenBanter: Jan 2017
Posts: 211
Default Aphid remedies please

On 16 Apr 2017 10:22, (Nick Maclaren) wrote:
In article ,
Bertie Doe wrote:
A 5 year old bougainvillea is suffering rapid leaf loss. Close

inspection
shows aphids to be the villains. It's planted in the soil of the

allotment
greenhouse.

Main concern is preventing the aphids migrating to the newly sprouted
seedlings, in trays of compost, nearby. I need to spend some time

today with
soapy water and brush them off.

Q. Can anyone suggest a spray deterrent, to prevent future attacks?

I've
tried various insecticides in the past (can't remember their names)

with no
luck. TIA.


Bluntly, no. I use horticultural soap, which has the advantage that
you can spray until they drip, as often as you need, but you can
also use dilute washing-up liquid with a squirt of meths in it.
That doesn't stop anything invading, but works well on aphids, if
the plants are small enough to spray completely.


Whilst we are on about sprays, what do you all use against Scale
insect? Somehow they seem to have invaded a number of our house plants,
(lots of different orchids and and anthurium). They are also a pest on
our citrus trees but that is "normal".


--
Regards
Bob Hobden