Aphids
 

I am having an aphid infestation in my melons now. I had them on my peppers located away from the melons & now they are covering my melons. I tried everything to get rid of them on my peppers, but had to pull them. Any suggestions on how to slow or stop them?

[QUOTE=pauladkins;588279]I am having an aphid infestation in my melons now. I had them on my peppers located away from the melons & now they are covering my melons. I tried everything to get rid of them on my peppers, but had to pull them. Any suggestions on how to slow or stop them?[/QUOTE]

What did you use to try and get rid of them on your peppers? Did you apply it multiple times?

I think permethrin works well, kills about 110%. If you are organic, pyrethrin is the naturally occurring product. It is often combined with piperonyl butoxide which is not organic.

I tried safer soap every day & used Seven. I sprayed them daily with a hose, but they just keep coming back. I have not heard of permethrin.

What strength of Permethrin 10% or 38%?

I have a recipe that will knock them out on any plant and with only a mild pesticide. I use Permethrin which is a good knock down poison with a short life so it has little if any residual effect so I add Dawn dish washing liquid, and food grade diatomaceous earth. The soap helps coat them and kill some of the adults and the Permethrin kills most of the adults but it is the film of DE left on the plant that takes care of the new ones that hatch out. I use about 2/3 cup to 3/4 cup of food grade DE that I mix in some water in a separate jug and shake it well then strain it into my sprayer. I then add the Permethrin (you can certainly use pyrethrin if you can afford it) and 2 TBS Dawn then fill to the gallon level. Of course if you are spraying a large area like I do then you can double or triple the recipe quite easily.

Make sure to spray all surfaces from top to bottom of the plant and even the mulch under them. This spray is also effective on spider mites, stink bugs, leaf footed bugs, and whiteflies. It is better if the spray is used in the late evening to avoid killing honey bees. This will kill almost any insects because the film of DE left on the plant seems to kill most juveniles of any kind that hatch out and crawl through it. It is safe to eat harvested fruit within a day or two but you might want to wash off the film of DE even though it is food grade.

Bill