So... Heads up. I've been gardening my much of my adult life. And this is going to be a year of insect plagues. I'm already seeing it in my area. But I wanted to give you the chance to get ahead of this. CHECK your fruit trees and gardens! Stay on top of this.
My area this year we're having a massive aphid infestation that's just starting. It just barely started, and its really extremely weird. We're still having night lows in the 30s where I'm at! very bizarre to have aphids this early. We shouldn't even get aphids. And when we do get them, they shouldn't be this early in the year. We think they also got started by the attraction to an abnormally high flower nectar flow in fruit trees.
These aphids can DESTROY your fruit trees, and damage them permanently. So you want to go check for this and check weekly. You are looking for abnormally curled up leaves. They lay the eggs on the under sides of the leaf. Then they hatch in messy nests that infest the tree and chew up all the leaves. The tree can be killed this way.
Now I'm in the southwest near the rocky mountains. But there are other insect issues that appear to be higher than normal this year also in other areas of the country. Specifically, Arizona is showing higher incidences of africanized bees being more violent this year than normal. So be careful. And choose to be proactive.
Also this isn't a problem you have to throw a lot of money at. You can treat this cheaply with the aphids.
Aphids can be treated with a solution of dishwater and water together. You spray the tree with water first to try to spray what you can off. Then spray the solution. Then alternate. This is how you deal with it. Others have already proven a mixture of water and dishsoap making insects unable to open and close their air sacs on their abdomen properly which kills them. That kind of mix is also less harmful to the soil and plants than other mixtures.
Thank you for reading my comment and good luck gardening this year.
...
Also please help me with this question;
I wanted to double check the right ratios of a spray mixture for the aphids? I have found the following aphid spray reciples. I have used some of these 3 years ago. But I wanted to check to fine tune it; I have used recipe 3 and 4 before but I haven't used the others. But I also don't deal with aphids every year also. Also I have a question if rubbing alcohol can be used with or alone with water for these sprays? Or would rubbing alcohol be hard on the fruit tree leaves when used with a mist sprayer? (Could there be a way to mix rubbing alcohol with hydrogen peroxide and water to be used? And if using rubbing alcohol what would the right ratio be? This especially I'd like to know because rubbing alcohol and hydrogen peroxide are cheap and can get gained easily from the dollar store.) I want to also use something to alternate treatments with the dishwater recipes with; and this is why I have the questions on the alcohol mixtures. (People have used alcohol with snails in the past for example.)
Recipe 1;
1. Dishwashing liquid (preferably biodegradable or gentle on hands)
2. Water
3. Spray bottle
Instructions;
1. Fill a spray bottle with water, leaving some space at the top to add dishwashing liquid.
2. Add a few drops of dishwashing liquid to the water. The concentration should be around 2-3 tablespoons of soap per gallon of water.
3. Screw the cap of the spray bottle tightly and shake the mixture gently to ensure that the soap is well-distributed throughout the water.
ADDITIONALLY; you could and should follow up every few days on this till you confirm the problem is curbed.
My area this year we're having a massive aphid infestation that's just starting. It just barely started, and its really extremely weird. We're still having night lows in the 30s where I'm at! very bizarre to have aphids this early. We shouldn't even get aphids. And when we do get them, they shouldn't be this early in the year. We think they also got started by the attraction to an abnormally high flower nectar flow in fruit trees.
These aphids can DESTROY your fruit trees, and damage them permanently. So you want to go check for this and check weekly. You are looking for abnormally curled up leaves. They lay the eggs on the under sides of the leaf. Then they hatch in messy nests that infest the tree and chew up all the leaves. The tree can be killed this way.
Now I'm in the southwest near the rocky mountains. But there are other insect issues that appear to be higher than normal this year also in other areas of the country. Specifically, Arizona is showing higher incidences of africanized bees being more violent this year than normal. So be careful. And choose to be proactive.
Also this isn't a problem you have to throw a lot of money at. You can treat this cheaply with the aphids.
Aphids can be treated with a solution of dishwater and water together. You spray the tree with water first to try to spray what you can off. Then spray the solution. Then alternate. This is how you deal with it. Others have already proven a mixture of water and dishsoap making insects unable to open and close their air sacs on their abdomen properly which kills them. That kind of mix is also less harmful to the soil and plants than other mixtures.
Thank you for reading my comment and good luck gardening this year.
...
Also please help me with this question;
I wanted to double check the right ratios of a spray mixture for the aphids? I have found the following aphid spray reciples. I have used some of these 3 years ago. But I wanted to check to fine tune it; I have used recipe 3 and 4 before but I haven't used the others. But I also don't deal with aphids every year also. Also I have a question if rubbing alcohol can be used with or alone with water for these sprays? Or would rubbing alcohol be hard on the fruit tree leaves when used with a mist sprayer? (Could there be a way to mix rubbing alcohol with hydrogen peroxide and water to be used? And if using rubbing alcohol what would the right ratio be? This especially I'd like to know because rubbing alcohol and hydrogen peroxide are cheap and can get gained easily from the dollar store.) I want to also use something to alternate treatments with the dishwater recipes with; and this is why I have the questions on the alcohol mixtures. (People have used alcohol with snails in the past for example.)
Recipe 1;
- Several cloves of garlic, minced
- 4 teaspoons of vegetable oil
- 1 pint of water
- 1 teaspoon dish detergent
- Spray bottle
- 1 gallon of water
- 1 tablespoon baking soda
- 2 tablespoons of canola oil (Or other vegetable oil)
- Spray bottle
- 9 1/2 cups water
- 1/2 tbsp vinegar
- 1/2 tbsp dish soap
1. Dishwashing liquid (preferably biodegradable or gentle on hands)
2. Water
3. Spray bottle
Instructions;
1. Fill a spray bottle with water, leaving some space at the top to add dishwashing liquid.
2. Add a few drops of dishwashing liquid to the water. The concentration should be around 2-3 tablespoons of soap per gallon of water.
3. Screw the cap of the spray bottle tightly and shake the mixture gently to ensure that the soap is well-distributed throughout the water.
ADDITIONALLY; you could and should follow up every few days on this till you confirm the problem is curbed.
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