Gardening is one of the most common hobbies in the world. In fact, at least six out of ten people will be interested in gardening, confirming the fact that it’s a highly popular hobby. People grow all kinds of stuff when gardening – from flowers to vegetables to fruits, covering a whole wide range of plants. Although gardening can be relaxing, enjoyable and rewarding, it’s not without it’s frustrations. One such frustration is a common pest known as an aphid.

What are Aphids?

Also called plant lice and greenflies, aphids are small insects which eat plants. They belong to the super family Aphidoidea. They are one of the most destructive plant pests. They suck the juice out of the plants by piercing them. Common in the temperate regions, there are about 4,400 species belonging to 10 families. The most common family is the Aphididae. They come in different colors and sizes. The size ranges from one millimeter to ten millimeters and the colors vary from red to green to black to brown to yellow. Almost all species have a fat, pear shaped body and antennae with as many as six segments. Many species of aphids are monophagous, feeding on only one plant species.

Being this destructive, the avid gardener will certainly wonder to his or her self: How can I get rid of aphids? There are definitely ways to prevent the eventual attack by these pests, several of which are detailed below:

Pay Attention to your Garden

Start by doing frequent checks on your garden. It always helps to spot them early before they start colonizing. One aphid can produce as many as 80 offspring in less than a week and is capable of repeating this procedure several times. Check new plants and transplants for aphids.

Spraying water on plants is another way to check the growth of aphids. When water is sprayed on the plants, the aphids get dislodged from their places of hiding and once this happens, it is difficult for them to attack.

Don’t Overuse Fertilizers

Care should be taken regarding the amount of fertilizers used. When excess fertilizers are used, aphids grow very easily. Therefore the use of fertilizers should be kept to a minimum and only used when absolutely necessary. You can also talk to one of the staff at your local garden center – perhaps there is a more organic-type fertilizer that will not promote the spread of aphids.

Doing Surgery on Your Plants

It helps to remove the part of the plant containing aphids. Either remove it by hand, wearing gloves or by using a sharp stream of water. This process does not solve the problem immediately but slows down the speed of growth of the aphids. If you can persistently tear away the leaves with the aphids and get rid of them by hand, they may slowly start to disappear and eventually find plants in someone else’s yard to mess with. It’s a dirty job but it can work!

Keep the Ants Out

Make sure your garden is free of ants. Ants love the “honeydew” which is the sugary sap secreted by aphids and they feed on this. Ants will thus help keep the aphids alive by feeding on their predators. You can keep ants out with some gardening-safe ant poison or even some homemade traps to lure them away from your plants and/or garden.

Homemade Sprays/Oils

Spraying eucalyptus oil on aphids helps. The oil itself will not kill the aphids, but it aids in discouraging them from being around your plants. One method that actually will kill aphids is by making a mixture of household items and putting it into a spray bottle. Form a non-toxic mixture of dish washing soap, water and eucalyptus oil; spray it on the aphids and they’ll be dead shortly thereafter.

Get Rid of Aphids Naturally

Natural enemies of the aphid include the ladybug and lacewing. They are very effective in killing the aphids. Ladybugs can be easily purchased from shops. Both the adult ladybugs and the larvae enjoy feeding on the aphids. Care should be taken as to when these ladybugs are released. They should be released only after sunset. This allows them to stay on the plants. If it rains, the bugs tend to leave the plant. So the time of release is of critical importance. Wrens, a type of bird is also known to feed on the aphid.

Neem oil, extracted from the neem plant is also a very good repellent of the aphid. They kill the aphids without affecting useful insects like the ladybug.

Following the above mentioned techniques makes it easy to get rid of destructive aphids and keep your garden clean and healthy!