My mother always told me not to 'hate' anything (she found the word offensive) so I'm going to revise that and intensely dislike aphids.
Look what they've done to my broccoli plant! They've infested most of the leaves.
They're turning an aneamic yellow. They've having their life sucked out of them - literally.
And why did I sign up to this organic pest control boloney? Pest Oil and garlic spray aren't making any in-roads. As soon as one colony is knocked out ten spring up in their place.
I've even brought Barney my baby praying mantis in from his usual position on the lemon tree to help with the offensive (you may just be able to see his little silhouette on the far left of the picture).
I rail against the use of pesticides in our food but now I have some sympathy for our commercial growers.
Gardeners have a love/hate relationship with insects. They give life and they takeith away.
Sometimes I wish I derived as much enjoyment out of my balcony edibles as they did!
When you only have one broccoli plant growing you get kinda attached to it.. ok.... you get a little obsessive.
I made some market-bought broccoli tossed with pesto and hand-cut pasta last night and it made me even more impatient for my little broccolis to hatch.
I don't know if I will win this battle.
But I sure as hell am not going to give up without a fight.
En guarde Aphids - To the death! (Yours hopefully. Not mine)
Hi Indira,
ReplyDeleteoh bugger, aphids again??? How did your Bugs for Bugs solution turn out last time you had aphids? I used them after seeing your post and i've managed to save my jalapeno bush despite it having a shocker of an aphid infestation.
I've never had success with white oil...it just killed the plants!
I'm totally sold on the bugs for bugs route and next time I wont even bother trying to solve the aphid problem any other way.
hope you get rid of the buggers soon.
Well who can blame them, they must have an eye for good produce.
ReplyDeleteOh the little blighters! We haven't had much hassle with them (don't know why, touch wood) but yes, it's very disappointing when someone(thing) gets to your harvest before you do!!
ReplyDeleteI discourage my girls from using 'hate'- we call it an 'adult word' ;) so you're safe! xx
Your poor plant is obviously fill of nourishment. Hope you find a solution soon.
ReplyDeleteOh, what a bugger, Indira. I, too, am despairing of my organic pest control abilities. Between a swarm of locusts (seriously), persistent powdery mildew, and possums, I've all but given up on my vegie pots for the moment. I am heartened, though, by some of my hardy herbs that seem to be able to repel everything by the mere fact of being...
ReplyDeleteHow on earth did they even *find* one solitary little broccoli plant all the way up there? Good luck in the fight - and I kinda agree on the whole 'hate' thing too, an intense dislike of aphids sounds rational to me:)
ReplyDeleteMy mum used to tell us not to say 'hate' too. And I would go one step further and say it's not the aphids themselves you dislike, it's what they do that you are objecting to! (there is a difference, she says while nodding wisely)
ReplyDeleteBut hopefully Barney will help. Is he the same mantis you showed before?
weirdly i havnt had aphid trouble this year and i found out why today , an elderberry bush had self seeded in my garden and i went to cut it back and it was infested with black aphids , the stems were smothered . the veg garden a mere 12 inches away didnt have a one . totally clear . so i left it . maybe you can plant something on your balcony they love more than your broccoli ?? just a thought .
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