Kill aphids while preserving bees.
Every year, it starts again. They are everywhere, all the plants in the garden seem to please them. They bite them to feed on their sap, inoculating them with all sorts of diseases in the process. The phylloxera that ravaged part of the French vineyard in the 19th century was transmitted by an aphid called phylloxera. There are about 250 types of aphids of all colours, brown, blue, pink, red, yellow, black or green.
How to get rid of it without using pesticides
I recommend that you treat as early as possible, as soon as aphids appear.
Three products are very suitable for spraying . They are used in organic farming. Do these treatments at the end of the day when bees, butterflies and ladybugs are no longer active.
- Black soap diluted to 5%. Choose a natural soap, without dyes or chemical additives. Add 5% rapeseed oil which will act by suffocating the aphids.
- Comfrey manure , to make yourself. It is a variety of plants, some of which are very interesting for their medicinal qualities and others because they are very effective fertilizers or repellents to fight against aphids. The recipe: the right variety for the garden is "Bocking 14 E". Chop 1 kg of comfrey leaves, macerate for 15 days in 10 liters of water in a covered non-metallic container, stirring every day. After filtration, you will have obtained this famous comfrey manure. Use as a spray diluted to 10%, preferably at the end of the day.
- Nettle manure , to be made yourself, like comfrey manure.
Another way is to water with a jet strong enough to knock the aphids off. They will be unable to climb back onto the plant.
Another very simple and effective method if you don't have a large garden is to remove the aphids by hand, by dropping them or crushing them on the stems of the plants.
As these organic and environmentally friendly methods do not deposit any poison on the plants, it will be necessary to monitor the development of aphids every day. But this does not last long, 10 to 15 days at the beginning of the season.
The earlier these treatments are carried out, immediately when the first aphids appear, the quicker and more effective they will be.
