Aphids - the hobby gardener's pest

There are several hundred species of aphids just in the Nordic countries, and many species can produce multiple offspring per day. It doesn't always require a male - females can sometimes clone small copies of themselves without being fertilized. When it becomes too crowded on a plant, offspring with wings are born, easily moving on to new plants. Aphids can quickly take over an entire area as a result.Aphids shed their skins, and a first sign of aphids is precisely their white skins lying on the leaf. The aphid itself often sits on new shoots and on the underside of leaves. Sometimes, one can see how the leaves have curled up, indicating that the aphid has injected poison into them and thus hinders growth.Can lead to fungal attacks. In addition to weakening plants by sucking nutrients out of them, aphids leave behind excrement, called honeydew. Airborne fungal spores can attach to this excrement, potentially leading to fungal attacks on the plants, such as sooty mold.Certain ant species love the sweet honeydew and like to milk the aphids for it. In return, they protect against predators such as ladybugs. Despite aphids being a nuisance for gardeners, there is fortunately a lot that can be done to combat them.Encourage beneficial insects to thrive.To keep the number of aphids at a reasonable level, it is important to control infestations early on and to assist their natural enemies, such as ladybugs, lacewings, parasitic wasps, hoverflies, and aphid lions - they all consume aphids in large quantities.With beneficial insects in the garden, aphids rarely become a problem. What the beneficial insects want most of all is diversity. If you cultivate many different plants and flowers, you create an environment where aphids struggle - and not just because you are assisting their enemies. Aphids actually prefer monocultures, the opposite of diversity. When only one type of plant grows in a large area, they have unlimited access to their favorite food. So mix and match freely in open fields and flower beds.Another way to help beneficial insects is to provide homes for them. There are nice ladybug houses you can buy, and lacewings like to hide in a moist, rolled-up newspaper. Place them near aphid colonies, and they will soon be on the hunt.

Keep the plants strong and healthy, aphids often attack weak plants. Therefore, it is important to keep the plants in good shape, so they can better resist attacks, for example by fertilizing regularly and maintaining watering. Dehydrated plants are more attractive to aphids as they have a higher concentration of sugar solution. They are more likely to appear when it is dry outside.Non-toxic methods,Insecticide against aphids is a bad idea as it also kills aphid predators, such as ladybugs. These predators take a long time to come back, while aphids reproduce quickly and become even more numerous. Paradoxically, aphids increase in the long run if you try to poison them. This also applies to mosquitoes and many other pests.A homemade solution like water and soap is more gentle but still effective if it hits the aphids directly.Recipe for soap water against aphids:1 dl soap (green soap)4 dl water(Possibly a few drops of rubbing alcohol. It dries out the aphids, but can also cause burns on the plants if it is sunny outside. Often, just soap is enough.)You can also crush the aphids or simply spray them away with a strong water jet - the predators will eat them up on the ground. Infested parts of the plant can also be pruned in some cases, such as on broad beans where they often gather in colonies at the top.Another tool is a sticky trap, which can be placed among the infested plants.

7 tips to combat aphids:Provide a favorable environment for predatory insects by planting a variety of plants, such as marigold, dill, and yarrow.Spray the plants with soapy water, or a few drops of rubbing alcohol. This both suffocates and dries out the aphids.Rinse the aphids off the plants with a strong stream of water. If you have plenty of predatory insects in the garden that can eliminate the aphids when they fall to the ground, this method works well.Squish the aphids with your fingers, or roll a lint roller over the plant.Trim away heavily infested parts of the plant - if possible without harming the plant.Consider removing the aphids' protectors, ants, if you see their nests near infested plants.Acquire beneficial insects. In greenhouses, tunnels, and enclosed spaces, you can use beneficial insects such as ladybugs, aphid parasites, and gall midges. Of course, you can release them in the garden, but there is a high chance that they will simply disappear.

Aphids are a natural part of a garden, and completely eliminating them is difficult. Aphids will always appear from time to time, thanks to their exceptional reproductive ability. But fortunately, they are relatively easy to deal with, so try out some of the advice above - and good luck!

WRITTEN BY Liselotte Roll, Swedish garden inspiration, journalist and author of books about nature, cultivation and animals, such as "Earth", "Cultivate for Insects" and "Chickens as a Hobby".