Get Rid of Aphids: Fast and Easy

If you're looking to protect your plants from aphids, you have all sort of allies in the garden: ladybugs, hoverflies, wasps, etc. Sometimes, the damage to your plants is so severe, that you can't wait for beneficial insects to do the job. In this video, I'll survey a few of the less toxic methods of killing aphids.

If you find these videos useful, here are a few things you can do to help us out:

Photo credits:
Plant infested with aphids photo by Ivan Radic CC BY 2.0
Aphids on broccoli photo by Fir0002 (Wikimedia Commons) CC BY-SA 3.0
Aphids on rose bud photo by Jamain (Wikimedia Commons) CC BY-SA 3.0

[Craig_Humphries]

Thanks for the video. Great information. Last year, I decided to leave the masses of aphids on my garden roses and see if beneficial insects really would turn up and make a difference. At one point I figured that the ‘experiment’ had failed. However, Just a couple of days or so later, a flock of house sparrows turned up with their young. With no exaggeration, they removed virtually every visible aphid within less than two days from approximately 15 rose plants - I’ve never seen anything like it before. The birds then left and the aphid problem didn’t return (presumably the beneficial insects took care of the rest)

It was really quite amazing to see nature find its own balance. Hope it works out the same way this year. Thanks again for your great content!

[elsagrace]

Thank you, Jason. I was thinking the aphids would just crawl back up my artichokes after I blasted them of with the hose. Now I know they can’t. I feel very happy about that. The lady bugs have arrived now so I can stop with the hose blasting.

[gardeningjunkie]

I always had a really huge aphid problem until the ladybugs would finally make their way to my garden. Then I watched a video where the guy said it is caused by high nitrogen in the soil, especially from pets "fertilizing" in that area. So I've been really careful about fertilizing correctly this year and also removed all of last year's foliage early in the season. This has made a huge difference. I'm so scared to even type this because I don't want to jinx myself, but NO aphids this year!

[cristoferahrens]

Go with 5 grams of baking soda to one liter of water and spray on infested areas of roses or other plants. Very common and effective remedy (we use in europe) that is commonly used in north america as well.

[intuitivediane]

1. Use high pressure hose (put them onto soft tips of plants). 2. Use insecticidal soap 3. Horticultural oil apply direct to aphids (go under leaves) - apply cooler part of day. 4. Neem oil slow acting - apply during cool weather. 5. Last resort toxic. Will kill all insects

[jessicawery]

Thanks for providing a reason for spraying aphids off. I had always wondered how just knocking them off was even a strategy. Good to know they are too slow and dumb to make it back.

[xiomaramartinez]

Thanks for sharing
Long time using Neem oil in my garden… lesson learned.
Blessings

[jjl]

I have been using dish soap for many years. 3 drops soap in 500ML water. This formula need to spray for at least 5 days to see some effects. And it is safe for all my plants. I even use it regularly on my house plant to control spider mites.

[haitch]

I've found neem oil very useful on my roses, it does take a while to kill the aphids but they stop causing damage and the ants stop farming them. The other great benefit for me is that I haven't had blackspot or mildew either since using Neem oil.

[summer._._.]

I learn so much from you. Thank you for teaching us so much about gardening, especially me, being a new gardener. 😊 🌹

[herbertvanderhofstad]

I take some tobacco and make thea out of it. Fill the spray container with water and put the tobacco thea in and some soap . Works perfectly

[backyardprovence]

I have a beautiful Weeping Judas that just gets attacked every year for weeks on end by aphids. Been using Pamolive dish soap with water to spray on the tree, but I have to do this all spring long and into the beginning of summer. I've also put a lot of ant killer at the base of the tree. I feel like this is such a temporary fix because the aphids keep coming back throughout spring and summer. Thanks for these new suggestions! I'm hoping one of them will work better.

[twotonenavy]

Thank you for all the great information! I always learn so much from you!
Could you PLEASE make a video on dealing with Rose Slugs (Rose Sawfly Larvae)? They decimated several of my roses last year, and I’d hate to see it happen this year. 🌹

[achillies]

I’ve used 3 parts methylated spirit and 1 part kerosene when I was a kid. Seemed to work well. Just remember to not smoke while using the mixture.

[ravensby]

My first year planting potatoes I got bugs bad. I smooshed a bunch by hand and gathered them up due to YouTube video suggestions. I finally had someone grab me some chemicals. After reading up on it and generally not liking chemicals I prayed.

A small flock of birds landed in my garden the next morning and that was that.

This year I installed a bird feeder next to the large rock in the center of my garden as a thanks.

So if you in good with God, give that a shot; worked for me.

[wiwinarman]

Useful information and great knowledge I’ve seen on YouTube on this subject, Thankyou for sharing ❤

[franciscomilos]

Ants and aphids hav a Beneficial companionship together, I noticed when I was growing okra and the ants were protecting the aphids, I learned that the ants squeeze the aphids lightly to extract sweet sap liquids. So the ants would kill off predators and the aphid population on my okra boomed, I had to use deadlier methods unfortunately after that

[Lykzabet]

I use a mix of Dr Bronner’s Castile liquid soap and neem oil down here in Oz. Seems to do the trick 🇦🇺👍

[mike]

I used neem oil on my roses and boy did that plant take a hit. Didn’t know temps played a role.

[missbeans]

Would love insight on leaf miners too!