Out of the 18 roses I have, I noticed that only my Doris has Aphids. I just blasted them off with my hose and smushed some with my finger & thumb. Should I spray with water, veg. oil and dish soap (diluted of course!)?
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I think you have a good approach using water and some “smooshing”. I do the same!
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You are being very successful with water wash and squishing aphids. I would not recommend the home remedies that have not been tested on roses. The label does not specify the amount to use.
The water method did not work for us when we had a massive infestation a couple of years ago. The water washed them off the plant, but we watched the survivors climb right back up an hour later. I used a mild solution of Dawn and water in a sprayer and thoroughly saturated the leaves. I rinsed the solution off after a couple of minutes. Then we sprayed the ground to get the “leftovers”. We seldom use an insecticide, but the infestation was .extreme that year. Have not had a problem since.
Don’t you think it is a risk to put Dawn in a sprayer then on your roses? It is not labeled for use on plants and I have read that the detergent takes some natural protection off the leaves.
I don’t put it the regular sprayer. Also, I rinse it off after a minute. I have had no problem with the leaves afterward. The way I see it, the aphids do more damage than a little bit of soap for a minute or two. The year we had the horrible infestation, the aphid damage was horrible. I’d rather do this than spray with an insecticide. In this instance there were so many aphids the water method just wasn’t doing the trick and they climbed right back up. You’d have to see the photos to believe the numbers. As I said, when I put my arm in the bush, my arm came out covered with aphids.
Thank you for filling in the rest of your details. I agree that insecticides are not needed for aphids. Good luck with your rose growing this season.
I wasn’t very clear the first time. It sounded like we put dawn in our spray program. I have a small sprayer that I use for this purpose only. We used it for a spider mite infestation last year. Important to wash it off thoroughly after a minute or two. Wishing you a great growing season.
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