[permaculture] challenge: indoor aphids
rselder at comcast.net
rselder at comcast.net
Tue Nov 10 12:35:21 EST 2009
Another go about aphids... To me, this says the plant is stressed in it's situation OR is the only aphid-edible plant in the enclosed area.
Using best care practices of course, you could re -research the needs of the plant and assess what care it is receiving. Indoor plants often dry out severely... Many times the soil is so dry it repels the water around the rootball into the catch tray and the plant continues in a stressed situation. My favorite "best watering technique" is to soak the plant completely. I place said plant in a tub or sink... let it sit for 30 minutes in water at least at half-pot depth, then allow it to completely drain. Once a week seems to work well for most of my plants. Some plant prefer more water, more often. Soil, light, placement indoors, washing leaves (preferably with rain water,) exposure... all these aspects can help a plant thrive or be a source of stress. Like a limping elk, a stressed plant sends out signals to the aphids (wolves) and they all gather 'round.
If you are in a warm climate, you could place the plant outdoors where nature's army will help with the aphids and get a meal at the same time. This works for my plants that summer outdoors... nature comes in and does the once-over for them. They love it! You could perhaps bring a few local lady bugs indoors? (Please don't buy "harvested" aphids!) PUt them on the plant and, who knows, maybe they will stay and lay eggs!
Lastly... if the plant is severely infested and miserable beyond repair... Put it outdoors on a sunny afternoon and let it die a natural plant death.
Love & light & keep the faith!
Becky Elder
----- Original Message -----
From: gavinraders at gmail.com
To: "permaculture" <permaculture at lists.ibiblio.org>
Sent: Tuesday, November 10, 2009 9:52:44 AM GMT -07:00 US/Canada Mountain
Subject: Re: [permaculture] challenge: indoor aphids
Just check on your plant once or twice a week to spray them off. That will keep them under control.
Sent from my Verizon Wireless BlackBerry
-----Original Message-----
From: paul wheaton <paul at richsoil.com>
Date: Tue, 10 Nov 2009 08:41:28
To: permaculture<permaculture at lists.ibiblio.org>
Subject: Re: [permaculture] challenge: indoor aphids
Yes, that knocks off a good 90%.
The trick is that the reproduce like gangbusters and will be back quickly!
On Tue, Nov 10, 2009 at 8:32 AM, <gavinraders at gmail.com> wrote:
> The easiest and most immediate solution, spray them off with water!
> Gavin
> ------Original Message------
> From: paul wheaton
> Sender: permaculture-bounces at lists.ibiblio.org
> To: permaculture
> ReplyTo: permaculture
> Subject: [permaculture] challenge: indoor aphids
> Sent: Nov 10, 2009 8:23 AM
>
> At the permies.com forums, somebody presented a question that has
> several of us stumped
>
> http://www.permies.com/permaculture-forums/2408_0
>
> A houseplant with aphids.
>
> Outdoors, we can talk about guild plantings and ladybug larva. A soap
> spray may be of help - but that still seems a bit like simply
> replacing a chemical pesticide with a less toxic chemical pesticide.
>
> I'm hoping that there is some awesome permaculture path that I have overlooked.
>
> Anybody have any permaculture suggestions?
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> Sent from my Verizon Wireless BlackBerry
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