bug i.d. please - looks like whitefly but is red?

[buzzingtalk]

Hi all, I have an infestation of red bugs on my plants!!!

It started off with white and greenfly, but slowly they stopped being so numerous and my plants have been taken over by bugs that look quite similar, but are reddish pink?

They seem to loiter in the curled up leaves of new growth, particularly loving my strawberry plants. I today found some wondering on my salad leaves, and a new leaf on one of my blueberries was covered in them. Some of them are quite big - these must be the older ones. You can easily pick off the larger ones and crush them.

i am certain it is not spider mite as there are no webs, and up close, they do not look the same. Can you get red aphids, or flies? How best to get rid of them (via organic and vegan means)

i have been spraying a weak dilution of washing up liquid on them once weekly, do i need to do it more often?

thanks in advance. they are spreading across my garden!!!

[Jeanied]

As far as I know the aphis come in all colours, black, white, green and red. Not blue though...

[Two_Sheds]

BT, can you give us a photo? The behaviour does sound like aphids though, and you need to keep on top of them, keep rinsing off with water & squishing with your fingers.

[womble]

Is it vegan to kill insects. I just enquire, as you said you wanted to get rid of them in a vegan way. Are insects not animals.
Genuinely interested.

[buzzingtalk]

I'm not sure on the vegan aspect as I am not a die hard vegan - I'm only really concerned with not eating animal products. I have been squishing bugs, flies and slugs! I am not too keen on using animal products on my plants though (like blood, fish and bone etc)

TS - I will try and get out there to take a pic later. I noticed that there are different stages - the 'larvae' appears to be small and whitish, often in clumps on the underside of a leaf. Then the big ones, which are mainly red but sometimes white and green which gather on plant stems, flowers and buds. Look like aphids from pictures on the internet, but will post a picture just to be sure. I have been going out there every few days and picking them off...also spraying washing up liquid and water on them but I don't think it is doing anything? How much WUL do you put in it?

[mothhawk]

I don't worry about aphids. You have to have pests before you get predators. Last year the undersides of my runner bean leaves became smothered with blackfly, and I do mean just about every leaf, but within a fortnight, every leaf was clean, and the garden was full of ladybirds and hoverflies.

Nature copes in her own way.

[buzzingtalk]

No predators in my garden though! Never seen a ladybird, let alone a hoverfly. You get flies that swarm around the bins, aphids and a cat that likes to curl up in my chive pot I have tried enticing predators (and general wildlife) but its no use; my 'garden' is cut off from the world, surrounded by lots of houses and nightclubs, there are no flowers/meadows/trees etc for them to nest in. I did consider buying in some ladybirds but they would soon fly away once they had eaten the pests, which would soon return.

A plus point of this though is there are no birds or pidgeons eating my crops, no wasps to sting me when I'm sorting my plants out.

[Tam]

Wasps are super bug killers at this time of year. I always have wasp nests in the garden and was most upset a couple of years ago when I had none - Had to do lots of jobs the wasps normally do. I was a boy (many, many years ago) when I had my last wasp sting. I find that if I don't bother them, they don't bother me.

[buzzingtalk]

OK, the aphid infestation is getting worse! They have now migrated to just about every bloody plant in my garden Is there anything that can stop them?? I keep picking them off but they just come back, and I don't have enough time in the world to pick them all off at once...i have tried spraying with washing up liquid but it doesn't seem to do anything except leave residue in my plant pots which I'm not too keen on.

I've heard about washing them off with water - how does this work? I dunked one of my alpine strawb plants in a pot of water earlier for a good few mins, but when I took it out the b*****y aphids were still alive and on the plant. Did I do something wrong?

I am also considering buying in some ladybird larvae, but I don't think they will stay in the garden for long - here is a pic of my 'garden' just so you know what I'm working with and why there are no predators naturally in my garden...I have never seen a ladybird here, and I don't think that they would stay for long if I did buy some in, but I am desperate!

[WendyC]

They're so annoying aren't they. Washing off with water would mean blasting them off with a strong jet from the hose, as long as the plants are strong enough. If there is food i.e. aphids, ladybirds will stay. If you get an invasion of ladybirds from Belgium like the coast near you got a couple of years ago you could go and collect them by the bucket load!! Squashing is effective - perhaps just focus on the worst affected or smallest plants. Could you move the ones which don't have aphids over to the other side of the garden. I know they fly but they never strike me as the strongest flyers. Good luck!

[buzzingtalk]

The bins are there - the other side of the wall is next doors by the way! i thought ladybirds needed nectar/pollen too? as you can see space is at a premium in my space (and that picture is a few weeks old too - the toms are about a foot taller now!)

I have also found lots of greenfly on my indoor chilli plants upstairs in my bedroom - i have been squashing them off, but as soon as i think a plant is clear, I'll find more on there a few hours later. i've got no idea how they got upstairs and where the eggs are, as i've looked everywhere...they are such a pain!

Thanks for the advice, I have ordered some ladybird larvae and a little 'house' for them, i think I need to get some flowers in though - they need to be small, compact but good for ladybirds and bees if possible...any suggestions??

[Polly Fouracre]

As the other aphids have decreased, may they be an aphid predator and therefore good guys?

[buzzingtalk]

aphids are definatley not decreasing - I even bought some ladybirds and some ladybird larvae and released them about a week ago, but after inspection today there are still lots of aphids and no ladybirds...they must have had a meal then flew off total waste of money, considering I couldn't even watch them for a bit as I had to go to work....So now I've tried natural stuff, what else can be done??? nothing seems to be killing the bloody things off. i wish I had more time and worked 9-5 sort of job so I could be out there most days, but I'm lucky if i have a morning in the garden at the moment...and the last thing i want to be doing is picking neverending aphids off my plants. any other ways to get rid of them?