I know what you mean. i have a litte greenhouse, so I am always on the lookout for bugs. Even bought myself a magnifying glass, so I can see them better and sooner. This year ok....so far. i have been known to spray RAID in the air. But the best is still, to knock them off with water.
Good luck with you war.....Hope you win.

I've had good luck with an aerosol spray called Dr.Doom in my greenhouse. Dr doom is a botanical made from chrysanthemum, contains Pyrethrins.

A......

My suggestion for total annihilation? Take a large garbage bag and cut out the bottom. Envelope the crown of hte plant and spray pyrethium as much as you can and then tie the bag openings. keep it tied up for several hours and let the poisons kill every little creature.

I tried this bag and spray method on a my 5 1/2 ft tall bay tree topiary which was infested by scales. It worked.

Ianna

Thanks for the suggestions! There isn't much I can do till they go outside. I've got too many brugs to spray them all with the baggie method, and I'm just worried about the seedlings, cause they are so little and delicate still. Too many aphids can do serious damage, and so could handling the seedlings too much. I wish I had a greenhouse, I would buy ladybugs and other beneficials, I'm sure that would take care of the problem. Unfortunately, I don't think my husband would appreciate it if I let a bunch of ladybugs loose in our dinning room, which is basically my growing room in the spring. So it's soapy alcohol water and diligent spritzes and squishes!!
I really thought this year I'd managed to avoid them, my brugs seemed fine till a few months ago. And I think I've located the brug that is the main carrier. This summer it's going to get a serious repotting with new soil!

I long ago lost the ick-factor when it comes to squishing aphids. I don't exactly like it, but I do squish on site and worry about gross fingers later.

One thing that I find is really good for keeping them under control is neem oil. I find it stinks to high heaven, so you probably don't want to be spraying it inside, but in the fall, before plants come in I spray the heck out of them. I rarely see a bug of any kind before February, and even then I can keep it under control by spraying the worst bug attractors with neem again in the shower - that way the smell can be vented outside!

I just took about half my plants outside for another spray festival and that should keep things from getting out of hand for quite awhile.

Someone once mentioned that they put on cotton gloves of the sort you can buy at a drug store (for excema) and dipped their gloved hand into a bug spray solution and then ran their hand over their big plants. I've never tried that, but it might be worth it if you can't spray. You probably only need to do the tips of the plants.

BP

If you want to do the cotton glove method, you should wear rubber gloves first, then the cotton gloves. You do not want the insecticide of any kind sitting on your skin. I saw this mentioned somewhere too!

Good point. I was thinking about doing it with only neem oil, which is quite safe on your skin (it's used in cosmetics and even taken internally as a remedy for several problems), but even for that it's probably not a bad idea. Neem oil is pretty stinky!

Pyrethins are actually quite toxic and skin contact should be avoided. Ianna's big baggie method is probably the best way to use that indoors, if one absolutely cannot haul the plant outside for safer spraying.

BP

Boy do I understand what you are saying about those fat little bugs on your little seedlings. I have a small greenhouse indoors in the early spring and somehow ended up with them in my little greenhouse also. Now I have them in the largee greenhouse outside and i am affraid of what they are going to do now to my other plants. In past yrs i have sprayed water and soapy water on them and its lots of work as my greenhouse is large! Somoneone told me aobut lady bugs and so now i wonder:::: Does anyone know where you can buy ladybugs in canada for using in a greenhouse? Are they expensive ? My email is benji_mum@hotmail.com ..if you have any ideas for me. Thanks!!

Now that the plants are going outside most of the time (only come in on cold nights) Mother Nature seems to have done her thing, once again. I have to admit that I sat outside on one nice warm day, and groomed all the tomato seedlings by hand, squishing and picking them off each and every plant, so that probably helped. A fun way to spend an afternoon. My neighbors must think I'm nuts. See the crazy lady out in her yard, talking to her plants again. Oh, look,now she's petting them! So glad I can finally put them outside, although it's not so fun bringing in the 30 or 40 flats at night.

This is what I have learned from a great gardener no longer with us.Leave all the aphids alone and don't disturb them at all.( I know I had a very hard time with it initially) The lady bugs need to see lots of them around to place their eggs where the food is.It took me few years to built up the lady bug population and now they totally take cAre of the problem.As I said not easy to just ignore them but the lady bugs only put the eggs where food is plentufull.Now I actually welcome the buggers so There is more food for the lady bugs.I loose few things due to aphids but I still won't touch them.It works...

sammyqc

I had to have a bit of a laugh about you carrying in all those flats and plants.
I did it for years as well
Now I am getting wiser, as in older, and start the seeds right in the ground and cover them a bit and put the pots outside in early May and put plastic sheet over them suspended by the clothes line. I leave the plastic on all the time Used to take it off and put it on but to much of a struggle to do so. I put all the pots under the clothes line in a big group and then just throw the plastic sheets over the line and entire group of pots
It doesn't look so good and I can't use the clothes line for a bit but it is easier and seems to work fine

I, like yourself, love Brugmansia as well

Necessity is the mother of invention

I still do though, carry these hugs pots to the basement, in the fall and upstairs in spring. Haven't found away out of that yet