Your wondering how to get rid of aphids. One of the best ways to get rid of aphids that have infested your flowers next to using a pesticide of some kind is to use soap spray. The picture that is included with this post is from our garden and the flowers and the leaves were just infested with aphids by the thousands. Not only is it not a pretty sight, but the flowers and the plants will also quickly show signs of stress if something is not done quickly. By stress we mean they will begin to turn brown and eventually die if something is not done about all of these aphids. If the leaves begin to curl you probably have aphids on the inside of the leaves. Just uncurl the leaves to check them out and confirm what you already know is attacking them.
When you first notice aphids on your flowers, it can be a bit sickening to see so many of these insects crawling around. While it is not nice to look at, they will not hurt you in any way. You just need to get on with the job if removing them.
How to Get rid of Aphids – Use a Soap Mixture
We tried using soap with some success. They were reduced but not totally eliminated and we had to use several treatments before we really made an impact on the number of aphids on these flowers. You will want to use a spray bottle that is leftover from some other liquid. Make sure you clean it out and rinse it thoroughly before using it for the flowers. You do not want to accidentally kill your flowers by spraying Windex or some other liquid on them which would be harmful to the plants. Once you have your spray bottle follow the directions outlined below and be prepared to apply several applications of the mixture to the flowers to get the best results.
Mix the following in a spray bottle:
1/4 cup vegetable oil
2 drops of liquid dish soap
4 cups warm water
Shake well, and spray the leaves and stems of infected plants. Also spray the surrounding plants to get rid of a current aphid problem. Spray weekly to keep new ones away. Also, spray the top side of the leaves and flowers as well as the underside. There are just as many aphids on the underside of the flowers and leaves. You need to get rid of all of them to ensure that they do not harm the plants.
Safety tip: The first time I made this solution I used way too much dish soap. It burned the leaves of my flowers. You really only need a couple of drops of soap in the spray bottle. You may also need to apply the soap mixture several times and soak the leaves each time.