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Aphids on my sweet peas
DickieLeysh
Posts: 27
Hi all,
Any sweet pea experts that can offer some good advice. Last year my soapy water mix seemed to damage the flower petals by drying them out. In fact, my Fairy dish soap seemed to dry out the petals better than the aphids! Not good, so before they suffered the same as last year, I wondered if anybody had overcame the same situation.
Thanks in advance. 
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I'm trying a home-made garlic spray this year, as the aphids are ruining my Pansy and Viola flowers and have now found the Peas.
The recipe I'm using is two of cups water with two whole bulbs of garlic (it seemed to be a very popular and effective recipe when I was looking it up). Bring the water to a boil and then grate in all of the peeled garlic. Boil for roughly a minuet while stiring and then leave the mix, lidded, for 24 hours or so. Pour through a sieve into a fine spray bottle, and if you want add a tiny bit of washing up liquid, but it really doesn't need to be much. Add to plants at least one or twice a week. Over time the garlic will be absorbed into the plants boosting their own defenses... apparently.
A word of warning though: 1, your house will smell really garlicy! 2, so will whatever pan you use, so you may want to go buy a one especially for this. Doesn't effect whatever else you cook in it though and the smell does fade.
Well I've never come across that method, Blue Dragon. I will definitely give that a go. I assume it won't affect pollinators in any way as it's natural.
Thanks a lot, I'll let you know how it goes...
I can't imagine so, Dickie.
It gets absorbed into the plant and therefore makes it unpleasant/toxic to little sap-sucking pests such as Aphids. It's just a way of using the same defenses as the Garlic plant itself uses against pests. It's not supposed to effect the taste of veg, fruit or herb plants so I can't see that it would effect the pollen or Insects such as Bees.
This is just what I've been learning though, so I hope I'm right : /
What I can say for sure though, is that since I've been using it I do defiantly have much fewer Aphids on my plants and much less damage and the poor Pansy that was in a bit of a state because of them is now recovering nicely and is growing lovely big flowers again : )
Think you may have overdone the amount of soap you added DL! A tiny drop in a spray bottle is all you need. A jet of water will also get rid of them but on sweet peas it can often be a bit too heavy handed. You can also wipe them off with your hand.
If you encourage birds into the garden they'll also do the job for you. Hanging a little feeder nearby will get them in the right area and they'll eat the lot - blue tits and great tits in particular. Perhaps you could give that a go for next year
I live in west central Scotland - not where that photo is...
Will the sweet peas smell of garlic
For a very short while after you spray them the plants do smell garlic-y, but it does fade quick in the outside air. The smell doesn't seem to get 'stuck' in the leaves or anything like that.
I've personally never heard of anyone using a garlic spray for aphids - usually just for slugs and snails. Sometimes you get an infestation in spring if it's warm and wet and everything is growing at a great rate, but it balances out once birds have young to feed. Wiping any large amounts off when you see them will help - some plants are more susceptible anyway so just keep an eye out for them.
I live in west central Scotland - not where that photo is...
Joe Swift actually mentioned it as a natural method a little while back on Gardener's World. Admittedly I can't remember where he was, but it was some formal gardens somewhere. He told you how to make and use it.
I'm having great success with it, I have to say. Very impressed : )
I use the birds as pest pickers too Fairy, just a few on my bush roses that they miss, the climber they ramble through for hours! I hand all my bird feeders from the climbing rose, the cats keep away cuz of the thorns and all my aphids get munched! Win, win!
The few that get on my bush roses I use soapy solution too, very weakly diluted, morning and evening but just on the fresh growth.