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garlic oil for aphids on roses?
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Posted by estheramgr z8 GA (My Page) on Thu, Apr 14, 05 at 9:33
| I have a miniature rose that has attracted aphids. I have a toddler and don't like the idea of spraying chemical pesticides close to the house.
I've used garlic oil with great success against aphids on herbs like fennel and dill. Does it work on roses? Will it harm the plant?
Help! |
Follow-Up Postings:
RE: garlic oil for aphids on roses?
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| A strong blast of water from the hose is all you need to dislodge aphids. If they are too numerous and tenacious for that to be effective (rare) then you can use an old pair of pantyhose and dust them with plain flour. Wait a half hour and hose the flour off. I would be very leery of unknown oils and roses. Oil tends to burn rose foliage. In Georgia, most mini roses will need regular spraying with fungicides to avoid disease, evn though they may look good now. Hot and humid doesn't agree with most roses and they become leafless. You could choose polyanthas as a substitute, as many of them are very disease resistant and small growers. CHeck out the thread on the Antique Rose FOrum about favorite polyanthas. |
RE: garlic oil for aphids on roses?
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| Thanks for the advice. I have only roses that others have rooted for me or given me as gifts. Since I'm on a strict budget, I can't afford to replace them all. I'll try the water spray solution. The problem is pretty mild, so hopefully that will help. |
RE: garlic oil for aphids on roses?
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| I have had good success with hitting aphids with a jet of water, too---had to do it daily for a few days, but they're pretty much gone now. |
RE: garlic oil for aphids on roses?
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| Esther, I have used garlic oil for two year now with good results. However! I do keep a close eye on temps and there are a couple of roses in my garden that didn't like it at all, Mutablis being one of them. All roses did recover but they did let me know they didn't like it. I later found that many of the old garden roses don't like sprays of any kind and these are mostly what I have. The hybrid teas don't seem to mind the garlic oil at all. But again I must stress that I paid close attention to day time temps and I tried to spray in the late afternoon. I personally like using garlic oil. I do keep in mind though that while it is safer for us, it can still kill beneficials so I try to use it sparingly and with some common sense. |
RE: garlic oil for aphids on roses?
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| Get some lady beetles and release them in your garden. They'll eat aphids, mate and fly off, leaving their eggs to hatch in your yard. The eggs will be on the underside of the leaves and when they hatch, the immature bugs look like tiny little red/black alligators. Theyeat tons of aphids. The best part of lady beetles is that each generation lays eggs in your yard and the offspring will come back to your yard to lay their eggs as well. Once you have them the only way to drive them off is to use harmful chemicals on your plants. Lady beetles are great to have, although the initial cost for them is a little high. Cheryl |
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