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Garden Aphids Control Methods – A Complete Guide

A Guide for Garden Aphids Control Methods

Hello gardeners, today, we discuss the topic of “Garden Aphids Control Methods”. What are Aphids? Aphids are the tiny soft body insects that feed on plant leaves mostly. They are pear-shaped green or brown or black in color. The Aphid insects suck the cell sap of the plant leaves. They move slowly on plant leaves. Adult aphids are wingless. Aphids are called with various names like green flies, a plant louse, etc. Aphids size about pinhead. On the abdomen region, there is a pin-like project known as cornicles. They are the most common insect pests in the urban gardens, home gardens, and poly houses and greenhouses. There are about 1500 to 1600 species out of which 80 to 90 species of aphids cause damages to plants. Aphids live mostly in shade areas. As many of the urban gardeners are facing the problem of aphids infestation in their home gardens. We have come up with this article on How to Control Aphids at home gardens or urban gardens. In this post, we will let you know how to differentiate aphids from another aphid-like insect, the life cycle of aphids, how to find out the symptoms caused by aphid damage, organic control or management of aphids and chemical management of aphids.

Garden Aphids.
Garden Aphids.

Aphids are the insects that belong to Hemiptera order and class Insecta which most insects are the sucking plant pests. For a healthy garden, one must be aware of garden aphids control methods.

Read: How To Grow Amaranth in Pots (Thotakura).

How to find Aphids on Urban garden plants

  • As they are tiny and green it is easy to find them. The color may vary from light yellow to green.
  • Presence of cornicles on their body.
  • We can find easily by observing the colonies.
  • Some of the aphids are commensalism with the ants.
  • Aphids have 2 pairs of wings and three pairs of legs.

The life cycle of aphids

Aphids are the insect pests that have a complicated life cycle. The wingless mother known as stem mothers reproduces without fertilization known as parthenogenesis. These stem mother cells give birth to young ones which further fly on to the new host plants feeds on them. In the late summer or early winter, these insects give birth to male and female aphids. Aphids have egg nymph and adult stages. Eggs of aphids are elliptical or oval in shape with pale yellow to light green color that may further turn to black color. The Nymphs are wingless green to yellow in color. They secrete some wax gland secretions from their body during adverse environmental conditions known as woolly aphids. These secretions attract the ants and the ants feed on this gell secretions and protect the aphids from various insect predators.

Symptoms produced by Aphids infection

  • The symptoms of aphids infestation can be easily seen in the plants.
  • Colonies in clusters are seen on the infested plant stems, leaves and buds.
  • On young shoots, distortion and wilting are seen.
  • The premature death of the seedlings.
  • Yellowing of the leaves.
  • Honeydew secretions on the heavily infested plants leave or stems.
  • There are also some symptoms like mosaics, chlorosis, gall formation, stunting that are indirectly caused by aphids as they act as a vector for many plant disease-causing viruses.

Economic damage to garden plants

  • Most of the Aphids cause damage to garden plants by sucking their leaves cell sap which directly affects the photosynthesis and leads to death or economic damage to the infested plants.
  • In addition, some aphids act as a virus vector where the transfers plant disease viruses like alfalfa mosaic virus, Cucumber mosaic virus or CMV, PVY or Potato Virus Y which causes heavy and severe damage to the plants.
  • Aphids almost transmit 40 to 50 plant viruses.
  • There are also some quarantine viruses where aphids transmit.

Management of Aphids in Home Gardens

Although it is difficult to control or kill Aphids, proper integrated pest management (IPM) practices may ultimately lead to effective control and management of Aphids in Home gardens as well as in Poly houses and greenhouses. It includes Biological control using various insect predators and organic control of aphids and chemical management of aphids.

Monitoring of Aphids in Urban Garden

  • Monitoring plays an important role in urban gardens. Rapid checking for Aphids at an early stage may have higher chances to compete for control of Aphids in the urban gardens.
  • The early you check, the early you can eradicate the Aphid insect pests at less cost and investment.

Read: How To Apply Neem Oil for Your Garden Plants.

Organic control of Aphids or Natural control of Aphids

  • It includes spraying of various natural leaf extracts or plant-based extracts.
  • It is also known as a natural control of Aphids.
  • Spray Aphid repellent sprays like Garlic spray and neem leaf oil spray or neem oil @ 2 to 5 % based on the incidence that controls the Aphids to an extent at home gardens.
  • Use yellow sticky traps for every 100 plants that control Aphids naturally.
  • Grow trap crops around the greenhouses.
  • Natural enemies lacewings also act as a predator on Aphid insects.
  • Release or mass produce various Aphids predators or parasitoids like ladybird beetles and Aphidiuscolemani that control the Aphid insect pests naturally.
  • There are also some parasitic wasps that lay eggs on aphids that ultimately kills the Aphids.

Nonchemical methods to control Aphids

  • It includes the use of aphid or virus-free seedlings in the urban garden.
  • Use screens at greenhouses or urban gardens to control Aphids.
  • Use Aphids transmitted virus free cultivars.
  • Grow trap crops like plants that attract various natural enemy insect predators that feed on the aphids.

Chemical to control Aphids in Urban gardens

  • There are many and various chemicals that are available in the market that effectively controls the Aphid pests at urban gardens. However, never go for heavy doe spray of these chemical insecticides in the urban garden. Even if you use, spray at fewer concentrations of insecticides and use nose mask, gloves while spraying f chemical insecticides at urban gardens.
  • Seed treatment of the urban garden seeds with synthetic chemical insecticides like imidachloprid @ 10 ml per kg seed or thiamethoxan @5gm per kg seed.
  • However, you can also spray NSKE or Neem Seed Kernel Extract @ 5% whenever you see Aphid incidence in your urban garden. Spray imidachloprid or chloranthriniliprol @ 0.5 to 2% on infested urban garden plants.
  • In addition, you can also go for stem smearing of the Aphid infested Urban garden plants with Imidachloprid 17.8 SL 1 ml + 20 ml plain water.

That’s all folks about garden aphids control methods.

Read: Nematodes in Agriculture.

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