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Talkback: Aphids

i have bought three gooji berry plants of you 2 years ago and i have not had one berry on them so far is there something i am doing wrong. i have had no information on how to look after them
hope you can help me on this.
mrs beryl shally
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Posts

  • I have heard that boiling up rhubarb leaves and straing liquid after can be an effective deterrent with aphids, I dont know if this is true but I am giving it a try, I would like to find out more about other plants that i can use as a liquid or other deterrants in pest control if anyone can.
  • May try that myself,I have a rhubarb patch,does anyone know if boiling up the leaves will be effective,on red spider mites???
  • I have been told about this in the Pays de la Loire in France. I've tried it and it successfully killed black fly on Dwarf Green Beans with one application. Recently I've used it on green aphids on a young apple tree, will wait and see what happens. I was told to boil up the leaves, strain off the liquor and store, then dilute about 8 parts water to 1 part liqour to b sprayed ontp affected plants.
  • if i use a chemical rather than organic method on my broad beans this year, would it be preferable to use a befenthrin controlled method or a systemic controlled method. Lat year the aphids were vertually uncontrollable and none of the organic methods seemed to be successful.
  • My grandfather was a gardener on a large estate in Dumfriesshire and I remember spending holidays there as a child and there were always tubs full of rubarb leaves left to soak in water that he then drained off to use as an insectacide, it obviously worked for him. Not sure how potent it is but I do know the leaves are posionous so be careful when handling.
  • Any idea of quantities of rhubarb to water and subsequent dilution factor. I always wonder about these organice solutions, they never seem to have scientific recipes..... My blackcurrants are infested, I've squashed a few million today, but found some other little maggot/mini caterpillar like creatures about 2mm to max 10mm long varying in colour from almost translucent white to same with brown markings. Was hoping they were ladybird larvae, but definitely not, now I've looked at the net.
  • If you know a smoker, i've heard that soaking cigarette stubs in a watering can for a few days draws out all the poisons which you can then strain and spray on the offending pests.
  • I've got a veg patch for the first time and have got ants 'farming' aphids on a couple of my broad bean plants! I want rid of the aphids but don't really want to harm the ants - I'm guessing the rhubarb leaf solution would poison both?
  • Clarmallagh, I think the little larvae you found on your blackcurrants may be hoverfly larvae, which will eat the aphids.
  • Re. this business of getting rid of insect pests I can report that having read your advice about the rhubard solution it has worked for me a treat against greenfly. They seem to shrivel up. My real problem is blackfly and the rhubard is not doing the trick here. I have tried 2 different chemical solutions but also to no avail. The blackfly are killing my rose buds off at an alarming rate. What can I do?
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