Aphids

Aphids, are the sap-sucking insects, commonly known as Greenfly and Blackfly, they are also Pink, Brown and Yellow colour, the fluffy white woolly bugs also aphids. These insects multiplies quickly. They are the worse enemies of plants which not only suck the sap but also infect the plants with various diseases. They weaken the plants by sucking the sap and transmit plant viruses which disfigure the shape of plants with their honey dew deposits. If they are not got rid of immediately, it will not be easy to control  and they will rapidly increase in numbers and take over all the plants in garden and distort the growth of plants. Theses insects are active in Spring to late summer on garden plants, and all year round outdoor indoor plants. There are many various species of Aphids, most common types of aphids such as Greenfly and Blackfly and the fluffy white woolly aphids feed on foliage, stems and flower buds. They occur on newly shoot stems, flower buds and leaves. Some species also suck sap from roots.

They can effect all the plants, including roses, ornamental, fruits, vegetables outdoor, indoor plants and the plants in greenhouse. They also active through out winter. I saw and eliminate them in about 0° c. This harmful tiny insect even distort the flower buds as they did to our roses which couldn’t bloom, got disease and dead.

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How to get rid of Aphids

Plant Bugs like Aphids also commonly known as Greenfly and Black fly is not  hard to get rid of or control if they are spotted in the very beginning when they started appearing on your plants. But if you delay, they will so quickly multiply and spread to all plants in your garden, then they will become difficult to get rid of them and to control them. They always attack on new shooting leaves and buds.

There are various pesticides to kill these bugs but I found them not very effective and also some of them are harmful to the plants, other good and pollinator insects as well as human’s health.

I always use water jet to wash them down which is more effective and does not cause any harm  to the plants. You need to carry on this process

for about 10 days. After you washed them down inspect your plants regularly to check if any more aphids appear on your plants. If you find more, wash them again. This process will gradually reduce the amount of these aphids, then eventually your plants will be clean from these creatures but, they will come again, again and again. There is no end of these aphids. They are active all year round. You need to inspect your plants, specially roses regularly. Only thing we can do about it is minimize the damage. Aphids and all other insects come only on healthy and well growing plants, specially on new shoots.

But, remember do not try to eliminate these insects completely forever because we still need few of them for beneficial insects in order to keep nature in balance. Beneficial insects are predators and they are the one who make soil, give soil nutrients, keep soil healthy and to live they eat these sap sucking insects.

Therefore we should just minimize the infestation and leave the rest for beneficial insects. But, this does not apply to Vine Weevil Beetle or other insects like this. We should eliminate them as soon as We see.

Please note: If you notice the Black Spots on any leaf then cut that leaf first before wash down Aphids, because those Black Spots are Plant Disease which is called Diplocarpon rosae. It is a fungus and quickly spread. If it gets wet, will infect to other leaves. Then you will have another cumbersome problem to resolve.

The following image gallery is of distort roses, there are lot more which I will upload later. 

These pictures of our roses which were infested with Aphids and later got disease which I believe that this disease transmitted by Aphids.