[Hobovore]

Hi,

I have a number of pepper, chilli, courgette and tomato plants indoors that are now infested with aphids. Two of the plants have now lost all their leaves and the little * are all over the rest, they are seething with a living carpet of them. The plants really are suffering, I even have two pepper plants that still look like little seedlings after 4 weeks.

As  it dropped to 2C last night it is still too cold round here to leave them out for the ladybirds, they also are not particularly impressed with me trying to bring them in and fly off. Squashing by hand takes a long time and they are all back again by the next day. Spray does nothing. I have now tried  filling my sink and submerging the plants and then moving them around by hand. It does not get them all off but it is faster than squashing. Is it a bad idea to do this? Any other ideas?

[mumofstig]

Have you tried spraying with a little washing up liquid in the water?
How about using something like Resolva Bug Spray - check the label first but I seem to remember it being ok on peppers and tomatoes  It won't hurt any bees either, if you are using it indoors.

[sunshineband]

Have you tried spraying with a little washing up liquid in the water?
How about using something like Resolva Bug Spray - check the label first but I seem to remember it being ok on peppers and tomatoes  It won't hurt any bees either, if you are using it indoors.

I used Provada one year when they infested the greenhouse, and that seemed to do the trick eventually. Inevitably you miss some so daily leaf inspections are de rigeur after that so they can be exterminated. I now wear my glasses in the greenhouse so I can see the first signs 

[Dr_Pepper]

Will your plants go outside eventually? If so, bear in mind that Provado (deltamethrin) and Resolva (lambda-cyhalothrin) can be toxic for over 2 months to beneficial predatory and parasitic insects that might visit your crops and help with pest control (luckily not so long for bees).
For home growing I stick to short persistence sprays containing natural pyrethrum if I want to go 'harder' that washing up liquid.

[mrs bouquet]

How about hanging nematodes on the plants.    Mrs Bouquet

[rowlandwells]

we tried a mix of washing up liquid and veg oil and it seemed to work for us especially on our brassicas crops if that helps