YMC wrote:
Hi,

Having used the eucalyptus oil home made spray for over a month now... it
works. But...
I've found that the aphids seem to be coming back, especially on one Iceberg
whites. However the Mr Lincoln rose seems largely immune to the aphids
including the older 15 year old "Peace" rose.

The oil I think must still be killing them as you can see the dead black
aphids on the rose stems.

I increased the dosage 3 fold - using 3 small capfuls (teaspoons) instead of
one.

Perhaps its due to the hot weather we've been getting - more aphids seem to
be popping up. I had to spray the roses three times this week. Nonetheless,
it seems to be effective on most of the roses - and it does smell very
pleasant and its also easy to work with.

I have about 10 roses - roughly 10 years old.

I'm deploying an AQUA rose spray I bought from Bunnings - 1.5 litres for $3
and its even got metal parts for the plunger and nozzel. I'm amazed - 15
years back the same type was well over we10 times the price. I use one or
two fills for the roses. Easy to apply.




I tried the suggestion of smearing vaseline around the stems of the
roses, but it didn't work (probably because I hadn't got much vaseline
left and didn't use enough for it to be effective). Instead, I tried
smearing with Vicks (of which I have a huge pot, being the mother of two
excessively snotty children). Guess what? No more aphids! I am *such* a
happy camper and thank the original vaseline poster (sorry, I forget who
you were) from the heart of my bottom! ;-D

PS. It's the ants, see. They cart the aphids up to the rose tips and
'farm' them for their honeydew. If you can stop the ants, you stop the
aphids! So, if the rose bush is in contact with anything the ants can
march on, find a way to make a barrier (vaseline or Vicks should work)
or tie the offending branch back. Good luck!

--
Trish Brown {|:-}

Newcastle, NSW, Australia