No more Aphids on Milkweed!

The absolute best way to control aphids on Milkweed is actually the easiest way . . . and honestly can be the most difficult too. It is the easiest because you do nothing, just let the natural predator populations build up to where they eventually clean up all of the aphids (and they will). It can be the most difficult because in the early stages when it looks like this method is futile, and appears that the aphids will certainly ruin your plants . . . it can be tough to stay the course. Disclaimer: if your plants are growing in a location where pesticides are used, and/or if there are limited populations of natural aphid predators in your area, this method may not work. Know this: Lady Bugs are the best known and most easily seen aphid predators, but there are dozens of others, and several of them you most likely will never see or notice. If you intervene, even by only washing the aphids off with plain water, you upset the balance and greatly diminish the progress and end results of the natural predators, especially all of those you can't see. I have implemented this method multiple times in three different states (Ohio, South Carolina, and Florida), and things have gotten really ugly, but the predators have always won the war! In fact one of my early tests in Ohio not only had tons of aphids on Common Milkweed, but the plants were covered with black sooty mold from the sugars produced by the aphids. It had been four days since my last visit to the site, and when I showed up one day, there was not an aphid in site, and the black sooty mold had cleared up completely after the next week or two.