Allotment Gardening Advice Help Chat
Growing => Grow Your Own => Topic started by: andreadon on June 24, 2019, 21:14
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Exciting stuff.
You know those cabbage aphids - the tiny dandruff type white flies that are all over every brassica in existence?
Well, apparently ladybirds and lacewings won't eat them.
But!
You can control them by using a patchouli spray, or a peppermint with fairy liquid spray.
So I'm wondering whether companion planting with peppermint might work...
(Patchouli plant is pogostemen cablin and is rather expensive to buy seeds... but I wonder whether a patchouli incense stick burning nearby might also work)
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These sound like whitefly rather than cabbage aphids, and yes, a spray of soapy water does the trick, flavoured I guess with anything you fancy that would not hurt the leaves.
You need to do this every three days to deal with the next generation as it hatches (short turn around for them!) for a while, and then keep a close eye. Spraying under the leaves thoroughly is essential.
Not sure about joss sticks though. It wouldn't kill them, just move on a few adults imho.
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I've had some really good advise from our members togeter with the recipie for garlic spray i have sprayed it on brassicas and it seems to be working also someone told me if you mix cooking oil in the mix it controls aphids as well
i know i have in the used a mix of wasing up liquid and cooking oil in the past on brussels and it seemed to work but i haven't used garlic spray with cooking oil may be worth giving it a try?
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If you decide that you do want to grow mint, then make sure you plant it in a pot and not in the open ground, or you'll have a different problem on your hands as it grows rampantly … … :ohmy: