This weekend has been a battle with the little insects that think of my plants and flowers as delicacies. We have had a very wet spring and early summer, so the slugs are thriving and the mosquitoes are biting. I thought we were doing a pretty good job keeping up with these little critters, and then I went and looked at the only rosebud that is on my struggling rose bush. It’s struggling because I decided to transplant it this spring, and didn’t do it with much tender loving care. In spite of that, it has forgiven me, and new green leaves and shoots are growing each day. I am hopeful that there will be pretty red blooms starting soon.
I went outside and saw the first rosebud today, and all the way down the tender new stem there were aphids, not just a few, the whole stem was completely covered. So I came in and put together a solution of water and white vinegar, and sprayed the little bugs…I think it is supposed to kill them…and strange as it sounds, I don’t like killing anything, even little aphids, but it’s the rosebush or them, so we are going to give this natural solution a try, and see how it works.
I’ll let you know. Hope you are having a wonderful 4th of July weekend!
What percentages of water to vinegar did you use? I have also heard that soapy water will work. Have you tried that?
July 7th, 2009 at 10:55 amHi Pat, It was 2 parts vinegar, 1 part water. It doesn’t seem to be getting rid of all of them, so I will try what you suggest, I’ve heard that too.
Thanks for stopping by, Pat.
July 7th, 2009 at 9:53 pm