A week ago we noticed the beginnings of an aphid infestation on some of our romaine lettuce and one small slug. The honeymoon is over. The garden critters have found us.
After researching on the web and finding several home remedies for aphid control (soap + mineral oil + water in various proportions, in a pump-spray bottle), we decided to go with a commercial spray this time around, two of them actually, one with soap and one with pepper, both supposedly friendly to organic gardens.
To compound the issue, it's been raining, drizzling, cool weather, more like April than July. The rain washes off the spray and the aphids continue to thrive on our lettuce. We'll keep spraying.
In the meantime, Robin learned a good trick from our gardener neighbor. To wash the lettuce, fill a large bowl with water, sprinkle 1/4 tsp. of sea salt on the water and stir, and then rinse the lettuce leaves in the salt water. The aphids just fall right off, kaput. All of them.
1 comment:
I've never bought a spray for my aphids, a couple drops of dish soap to a whole spray bottle of water usually does it. But avoid spraying during the day .. evenings work best when plants are out of the sun.
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