If you’re a keen gardener, you’ll know how important it is to keep pests away. Certain ones, such as aphids, can wreck your garden if they aren’t dealt with – which is not ideal if you’ve put in hours of work this summer.
Aphids can be one of the most harmful garden pests around, but if you’ve got an infestation, you may not know how to deal with it. Pest control experts at Ronseal have shared exactly how to stop aphids in their tracks and prevent them from destroying your outdoor space. Even better, you only need one natural ingredient to do it.
Aphids can be found on both indoor and outdoor plants, and while a few may not cause significant damage, large numbers crawling on stems or a sticky residue left on your plants could indicate a problem.
But garlic is the key to getting rid of them. This vegetable contains allicin, a sulphur compound that repels insects and may also act as a natural antifungal agent.
How to keep aphids away
You can easily create your own non-toxic garlic spray and apply this to your plants in order to keep aphids away. To do this, simply peel the cloves from a whole head of garlic and put in a food processor or blender with 235ml of water.
Blend, then add 700ml more water and 30ml of dish soap. Blend this again, transfer to a jar and leave it to steep overnight.
In the morning, strain it with a fine mesh trainer to remove any stray pieces of garlic, put the water in a spray bottle and keep it in the fridge.
When you need to use it, spray your plants in the evening time, making sure to cover both sides of the leaves. Reapply this once a week as a deterrent, or every few days if you’ve got an aphid infestation.
If you’d prefer not to have the smell of garlic in your garden, you can mix a few drops of washing-up liquid with water in a spray bottle and apply it to affected plants. This can help remove and deter aphids effectively.
Aphids are also drawn to nitrogen-rich fertilisers, so it’s important not to over-fertilise your plants, as this can make them more attractive to these pests.
