They are the first hurdle you will face when gardening, especially f u start gardening in spring.
U wont even notice them for a few weeks, then ur plants will look sickly, all the new leaves curled up, even burnt up. If u really peer under the leaves and look closely , u'll see these ugly B!@#!@#s.
What do u do? U go buy hi-tech pesticides - equip yourself with gloves, a mask if u please, spray away to glory. Blast off these buggers. feel like a super hero may be... Next day ull find all them all burnt up black specs on the leaves and feel satisfied.. and in a week youll see some nice succulent new growth too! Now you can smile smugly, put your foot up on the table, relax with a cup of tea? ha ha!! you wish.
Just another few days, all ur new growth is curled up again and this time around if u really really peer under the leaves may be with a microscope, u'll see them- baby bugs!!!! so back you go - to your laser gun to Zap off the baby B#!@^&@s??
You could be doing this all summer and all ull have is a few inches of poor growth and a bad bad allergy from all the chemicals and the fluff from mealys... but all the mealys and aphids safely back on your plants !!!!
This is what happened to me last year, when i started to attempt to garden. Frustrating!!
Well I did solve the mystery - thanks to the internet. The culprit(s) are Ants!!! Ants herd and rear the aphids just like we herd cattle. It is amazing how nature works. Aphids sucks out the plant sap, on the new growth and they excrete honey due- full of sugar. This is where the ants come in- They feed on this honey due. Its not just that..- aphids are not very mobile, so Ants carry them to new growth from plant to plant. Ants care for the aphid young in winter . ( in their nest? may be, i think so, cause I blasted every bit of the plant but there were new babies every time) and protect them from predators!!![SEE PICTURES]in return they milk the aphids and store the honey dew!! Ants supposedly even use some drugs to control aphids!!! Ants are even known to cultivate fungi in their nests!!!![see link] we think we are the only advanced creatures on this earth :P
Anyway if u want to get rid of Aphids, first get rid of ants( some ant powder) then spray the aphids with soap water and Neem oil, twice a week for 2 weeks and then once a week for a month and then as necessary,yeah that simple. u need to take care to spray throughly under the leaves tho. This even takes care of spider mites- which are not killed by pesticides.
Now we know, we have to deal with the Pak Govt before we can get rid of Taliban! :D
few links..
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