Bugs On My Indoor Herb Plants - Again Grrrr

[shivvy]

I get this problem too often and it's very annoying.
It sometimes happens to young plants that I am starting/growing on the windowsill eg young pepper plants etc but I spray them with a mix of water & washing-up liquid and it sorts them out. However for obvious reasons I don't want to spray my herbs with squeezy or any kind of chemicals or bug killers
So I have 2 questions . . .
1) can I do anything to save the current poor blighted blighters? and
2) what am I doing wrong that keeps it happening? I thought maybe I keep the soil too wet?

PS - the infestations are usually little aphids green/white.

[Buenchico]

Could you not simply rub the aphids off with your fingers, as suggested here?
http://www.herbexpert.co.uk/controllingpests.html

[Vagus]

You could get some yellow sticky traps to ensnare them.
They seem to work for my daughter in laws house plants.
They’re bits of very sticky yellow paper which small flies etc are attracted to and can’t escape. Have a look on amazon.

[shivvy]

Buenchico thanks for the link to that site but I would need to have bionic eyes and tiny fingers to be able to rub them all off! These things are very small, and if I rubbed off the ones I could see I would be leaving behind the ones that i couldn't see. They can be on the stem of the plant or the top or the bottom of the delicate leaves. It might be easier on a single stem plant but on multiple stem leafy herbs like mint, basil, parsley it would be impossible.

I will have a look at those traps now Vagus - thanks.

Any ideas how to save my current plants?

[pastafreak]

I'd like to know the answer also,as some of my indoor ferns were attacked by black aphids(?)...very, very miniscule insects. I've heard that neem oil works, but as it's rather pricey, I'd like some first hand experience from someone.

[smurfchops]

Spray with water and put in some washing up liquid, also when earth is drier put a little of the mix into the roots. That should kill them off.

[shivvy]

Thanks smurfchops, but will I not be able to taste the washing up liquid off the herbs?

[alavahalf]

Your soil/compost should never be wet .. only damp at best and that is only when you initialy sow the seeds.
Add water from a tray below the pot, that way the soil surface stays dry and only the roots get wet. Seedlings are prone to rotting due to overwatering the surface.
You have already pointed out that a soapy mix sorts the aphids out. Why not continue with that treatment, it is common practice. There is no need to have Fairy Liquid bubbling all over the plants. Just a drip of mild detergent in a hand spray is all that is required.
Personally I use Stergene, as only a small drip is required, I am still using the same bottle 7 or 8 years on !
Due to the small amount required you shouldn't taste and detergent ... if you are foaming at the mouth you are using too much !

[pastafreak]

I tried the washing up + water mixture. Worked...then the little b*****s came back. Several times. :(

[alavahalf]

.. heat can be another killer for Aphhids. If you happen to have 90f wherever you have your plants then the aphids will start to keel over. The trouble is keeping your plants in 90f will mean more care is required.
It is a constant battle and it is up to you if you want to say who wins !

[shivvy]

alavahalf - you have brought out the fighting spirit in me! I SHALL WIN THIS WAR!! So do you think my overwatering is a contributory factor to the infestations?

smurfchops - I have given them a nice lightly soaped bath and they look better already! When you say to put a little of the mix into the roots, do you mean for me to pour it onto the soil from above, or (now that I will be watering them from below upwards), should I put it in the tray below the pot?

[alavahalf]

We have got all sorts of spare plants kicking around at the moment .. from seedlings to small plants. Tomatoes, sweet peppers, geraniums, chilli plants etc .. more than likely we will compost the lot fairly soon, as we have sufficient planted out.
The one thing they all have in common is you can put two fingers either side of the stem and turn the pots upside down, then remove the pot. All of them are bone dry on the surface, but only the lower roots are moist.
The compost should stay held together by the roots, if it crumbles or collapses, it is too wet.
When you are spraying the Aphids on the stems, just mist the surface of the soil, don't saturate it ..
It is much easier to add water than it is to remove it !
This is what your soil should look like .. just a spare geranium.
https://ibb.co/DVZdXVB

[shivvy]

Thanks for that advice alavahalf.

[woofgang]

shivvy, do you ever give the windowsills and frames a really really good scrub and clean? you may find that you have eggs or nymphs sat in the nooks and crannies just waiting to hatch and enjoy life on your plants.

[shivvy]

Yes, it is a horrible plastic type windowsill so it is all very easy to keep clean regularly, but good advice woofgang - thanks.