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aphids

owd potterowd potter Posts: 979
edited May 2019 in Problem solving
Hiya all.
My Lupins were looking strong and lush, but since last week have been completely infested with the pesky little green buggers, and the leaves are now beginning to look dishevelled. 
Any suggestions how to eradicate these pests?
Owd
Just another day at the plant...

Posts

  • LynLyn Posts: 23,190
    Washing up liquid diluted in a spray bottle. 
    Gardening on the wild, windy west side of Dartmoor. 

  • owd potterowd potter Posts: 979
    @Lyn
    I remember my Gran doing that more years ago than I care to recall. 
    Thanks for the reminder (the tip and of triggering the thought of my wonderful gran)
    Owd 
    Just another day at the plant...
  • LynLyn Posts: 23,190
    The olduns are the best😀
    Gardening on the wild, windy west side of Dartmoor. 

  • BobTheGardenerBobTheGardener Posts: 11,385
    If they are Lupin aphids, which are specific to lupins and a fairly recent invader, they are extremely damaging and very persistent, so best to check and spray every day.  Those are easy to identify as they are much larger than normal aphids and are grey.
    Old thread:

    A trowel in the hand is worth a thousand lost under a bush.
  • PurplerainPurplerain Posts: 1,053
    I had them one year on an old lupin and it was an extreme infestation. I dug it up and threw it away. Now I replace my lupins every second year and have had no trouble since. They don't seem to attack young lupins in my garden.
    SW Scotland
  • LynLyn Posts: 23,190
    I sow a few lupin seeds every year, they do deteriorate after a few years so I’ve always got replacements. 
    Gardening on the wild, windy west side of Dartmoor. 

  • B3B3 Posts: 27,505
    I'd love to grow lupins but they're slugs' delight in my garden so I've given up.
    In London. Keen but lazy.
  • owd potterowd potter Posts: 979
    Thanks guys,
    Most of our Lupins are second year plants which I raised last year from seed.
    So I'd better tool up for war then and mix up industrial quantities of the soapy avenger and keep my sprayer pumped for action!, as I'm not about to give up on our Lupins which are one of our favourite flowers and a staple of our cottage bed. 
    @BobTheGardener, thanks for that Bob, wasn't aware that there were different ones, these are my disgusting little darlings, which appear to be causing new leaves to curl up and wither and are all over the flower spires which are now forming. I sprayed twice yesterday but they are still with me...bless.
    BTW, sorry to post such gruesome images at breakfast time...


    Just another day at the plant...
  • BobTheGardenerBobTheGardener Posts: 11,385
    Yep, those are american lupin aphids - hope you manage to get them under control!
    A trowel in the hand is worth a thousand lost under a bush.
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