On Fri, 18 Apr 2003 05:01:32 GMT, Mike wrote:



Your comment intrigued me, because my father plants a garlic bulb on either
side of every rose and he has no aphids or spider mites.

This is interesting, Mike, and I think goof evidence that allium might
indeed repel them. What else does your father do, do you know? Hard
sprays of water, etc? That is the only other question I would ask.



I knew I had read
somewhere about studies being done on the effectiveness of alliums as
companion plantings, so I dug through my books and found this:

On page 61 of "Fool Proof Guide to Growing Roses," Field Roebuck states:
.....

He didn't mention what study/where


He never does. Field Roebuck appears to think one should accept
anything he says just because he says it. When challenged, one is
presented with the "fact" that this man has written a BOOK. He has
been wrong on so many counts, and has claimed so many patently false
things, I tend to discount everything he has to say.



, so I did a search on the web for
study/aphids/alliums/roses and found mention of two studies done by
Universities here in the US.

University of Rhode Island:

http://www.uri.edu/ce/factsheets/sheets/compplant.html

Cornell University:

http://www.cce.cornell.edu/suffolk/g...c/complant.htm

Unlike Mr. Roebuck, who stated it is unknown how alliums repel pests, both
these universities state that these companion plantings work by disguising
the smell of the roses.


This is neat! But isn't the wild garlic that grows all over my
property an allium too? It springs up beside my roses everywhere, and
when I pull it the bulbs rarely come up.


Both say pests locate your roses by smell and the
strong smells of these alliums prevent them from finding your treasures.
However, I don't know how that would rid an already infected rose of spider
mites, as Mr. Roebuck claims in his book. Your claim of aphids being
attracted to chives would also seem to suggest that it would only further
tempt the little stem-suckers and make the problem worse.

[..]

I love the way this group forces me to do research!

We appreciate it, too, Mike. Thanks.

Mike
z8TX