aphids greenfly

HOW TO CONTROL APHIDS

Prevention

Prevention is better than cure. Protect your roses, ornamentals and other susceptible plants with a Kiwicare systemic insecticide such as SUPER SPECTRUM or SPECTRUM before they become infested. Spectrum products protect from fungal disease as well as penetrating the plant and making the sap lethal to sap sucking insects. Both kill aphids rapidly without any leaf burn or marking.

To get rid of aphids follow these steps:

Infestation Control

Be on the lookout for aphids in spring. They are usually found in areas of soft plant growth.

If your plants already have an infestation you can squash them between your fingers but this might be difficult on more than a few buds. Use a Kiwicare systemic insecticide like SUPER SPECTRUM or SPECTRUM, or a contact insecticide such as MALDISON INSECT CONTROL to spray the affected parts of the plants. Make sure the undersides of leaves and inside curled leaves are treated.

For a great natural and BioGro® certified alternative try ORGANIC INSECT CONTROL or ORGANIC SUPER SPRAYING OIL. ORGANIC SUPER SPRAYING OIL suffocates the aphids on contact but do not spray in the middle of the day as the sun can reflect onto the oil and burn the plant.

Ongoing Control

SUPER SPECTRUM and SPECTRUM can also be used to continually protect your plants from aphids once the infestation is under control. SUPER SPECTRUM is a powder, has a longer effect and is more broadly protective to your plants. Kiwicare SPECTRUM is a convenient to use liquid and will give good protection against aphids.

About

Aphids, sometimes referred to as greenfly, are small, soft insects with pear-shaped bodies and long & thin with sharply bent legs. They can be coloured brown, black, yellow, pink or green.

Aphids survive during the cooler winter months and are usually hidden within leaf/flower buds. They multiply rapidly during warmer months in spring or summer. Aphids can be usually found in clusters on young shoots, flower buds or underneath leaves.

Aphids are sap suckers. Sap is the plant´s food, nutrient and water circulation fluid. When aphids or other sap sucking insects suck sap from a plant, the plant is weakened and there is a risk of the insect infecting the plant with disease. 

Aphids feed on a variety of plants but mainly feed on soft leaves and shoots. Because aphids attack the new buds, the resulting leaves and flowers may never open properly; remaining puckered and curled. Most damaging of all, aphids can transmit serious virus and fungal diseases from one plant to another. A particularly bad aphid infestation often leaves a sticky residue of leaking sap on the plant that will grow a sooty mould, an unattractive fungal growth.

Did you know

Aphids are commonly known as greenfly but not all are green, some are yellow, red, brown or black. Aphids can be oviporous, i.e. they give birth to live young. They can reproduce without eggs and without mating. The sweet secreation aphids produce is food for ants and other insect pests. It will also leave a sticky residue on the plants that promotes growth of moulds including sooty mould.

Aphids are a large group of sap sucking insects of the superfamily Aphidoidea with other sap sucking insects including whiteflies, scale insects and psyllids.

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