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Whats this invading my honeysuckle?
dancindufas
Posts: 60
Hi all. Is this this some sort of greenfly? It looks like it buts it's a grey/dark colour. Should I just spray with a pest controller?
0
Posts
Yes aphids
Spray them off with water, pest killers also kill the insects that would eat these, and bees, and every other insect in the vicinity
In the sticks near Peterborough
Oh man... I'll try this tomorrow the whole plant is covered it's horrible. I hate aphids I get them on my roses every year too. Will it still flower?
dancindufus - these are all over my honeysuckles as well. None last year, completely covered this year.
I feel for you! I had a beautiful honeysuckle with gorgeous yellow flowers that I grew up a wall to guttering level.
For three years I spent an inordinate amount of time trying to clear off all the aphids, climbing up a ladder to get to every part of the plant. In the end I decided it just wasn't worth all the hassle and cut it down and removed it because the infestation was so severe. It was just impossible to keep it under control and they were disfiguring the plant.I was so gutted to lose such a gorgeous plant but many honeysuckles are prone to the honeysuckle aphid.
I did find a research paper on the relative resistance of honeysuckles to the honeysuckle aphid, including some that are completely resistant. One day I will choose one from this list to grow.
Evaluation of Lonicera Taxa for Honeysuckle Aphid Susceptibility ...
honeysuckle witches' broom aphid - University of Guelph Laboratory ...
I hope this helps.
Although I have some aphid issues they only seem to get out of control when the ants get involved. Runner beans are the worst! So I try to find the source of the ants and 'encourage' them to move on.
Used to spray with washing up liquid but can't find a benign version anymore, they all seem to contain something detrimental to mine and the plants well being.