i'm going to to go with the hose pipe and long term flying ninjas i think i have researched great tits and indeed their favoured snack are aphids, there is a large woodland behind where i live and i hear plenty of great tits and get lots in the back of my garden so i'm going to add a bird box (their preferred type of feeder) and add some nuts their preferred delicacy and hopefully they will come and learn that my very large rose bush is in fact a michelin star. only thing im concerned may be an issue is my front garden is on a busy ish A road.
i did hose my rose bush this morning on a high pressure and no damage to the bush but the aphids were nowhere to be seen, for now, they have wings so they may return this evening i will check after work.
I made a spray solution for Blackfly, with garlic and washing up liquid,I can't remembrance quantities but I think it was a googled recipe. It worked well.
The whole truth is an instrument that can only be played by an expert.
Perhaps I can try, at least, to persuade you in another direction - do nothing ! there is really no need to spray roses for aphids, most roses are more than capable of growing through the infestation. My roses can be covered in aphids, I do nothing to them. All this business of spraying is totally unnecessary - try not doing it, and eventually you'll learn to manage without it. The whole business of spraying for this and that is a con - don't fall for it.. I have over 70 roses in my garden, never sprayed, and I've not sprayed a rose in 35 years....
Perhaps I can try, at least, to persuade you in another direction - do nothing ! there is really no need to spray roses for aphids, most roses are more than capable of growing through the infestation. My roses can be covered in aphids, I do nothing to them. All this business of spraying is totally unnecessary - try not doing it, and eventually you'll learn to manage without it. The whole business of spraying for this and that is a con - don't fall for it.. I have over 70 roses in my garden, never sprayed, and I've not sprayed a rose in 35 years....
i don't plan on using pecticides of any kind i am spraying with the hose as my rose buds are being decimated, the plant will survive i have no doubt, it's huge and very established but it's losing its vigour and not flowering nearly as much as this time last year. also i have put a few new rose bushes in not so well established which we're initially not infested but they are starting to suffer. i also have bloody caterpillars too one of my new rose bushes had a single bud first time flowering and now it has a hole right through it, down to the caterpillars little blighters..!
i've added a bird box to my garden with some quality nuts in, just need to wait for the birds to learn now that there is a good source of food in the box and in the bush right next to it.!
Perhaps I can try, at least, to persuade you in another direction - do nothing ! there is really no need to spray roses for aphids, most roses are more than capable of growing through the infestation.
That's very good to know Marlorena! I only spray water.. but I feel better knowing it's okay if I don't keep up with it.
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