APHIDS HELP !!!!!

good to hear it rosy , what works for me with the caterpillars , is garlic .. dump some garlic in ur pots

Just at the base of the plant? Raw crushed garlic?

Rosy for the catapillars you could use Derris Dust, its made from a plant, but do not let it drift into your pond though.

not crushed just a clove and peel the skin off

Thank you

you welcome rosy , hope it helps

Thanks for sharing the Eucalyptus oil solution, Teesh. I’m happy for you that this nasty aphids problem is solved. Hope the caterpillars won’t be too much of a bother. I check the leaves whilst watering and squish them; that’s all. Stenciled leaves and blooms are not pretty, but I don’t expect all my roses to be perfect.

Well rosy I dont know if its been mentioned before, for aphids and caterpillars I use yates maverick. Works a treat. However having said that, I have never experienced your plight, I get the aphids spray and their gone, and really dont come again until the next season.

I wish I had the same luck Paul. I have tried so many chemicals and even spraying every couple of days and they were just absolutely covering the buds. To the point where all you could see was aphids. This has been the worst month so far. The eucalyptus oil is amazing, and it has a pleasant smell while spraying Caterpillars are another story.

RosyTeesh wrote:I wish I had the same luck Paul. I have tried so many chemicals and even spraying every couple of days and they were just absolutely covering the buds. To the point where all you could see was aphids. This has been the worst month so far. The eucalyptus oil is amazing, and it has a pleasant smell while spraying Caterpillars are another story.

Cliff Roworth from Roworth Rose Nursery here in Perth recons that this season will be the season of the Aphids lol ... i hope not.

Now the Caterpillars Hmmm where do I start, a couple of seasons ago I planted Petunias between the roses, big mistake, I had an extremely colourful garden but it was a haven for the catterpillars, it was a nightmare. when i woke up to the problem and removed the petunias I solved the problem. I still get some but its easily managed, call me gross but i do get some pleasure going through each plant and taking them off by hand and then squashing them lol

Lol !! I have been cutting them in half with the secateurs. Only my potted roses are affected. There's no other plants near them, or even grass. It's very odd.

Rosy, can you get a photo of the caterpillars please.

Do you want one as a pet Dave

Your very quick this morning Warren

Sharp as a razor

I’ve got lots of petunias, Paul, huge areas. They’re positively thriving in all that horse manure and most of them come from one plant that is doing particularly well – I’ve never seen any petunias grow like it. I’ve got some caterpillars, too, but not necessarily on the petunias – they’re mainly on the rose, when I see them, that is.

But I also have lots of Marigold between them. Marigold makes an excellent companion plant for roses and also vegies, because their scent confuses the bugs. To my surprise, visitors comment just as much on my Marigolds as on my roses; but they really do look lovely, particularly en masse.

Whilst they’re not exactly welcome, caterpillars are allowed to be in my garden – they belong in gardens and help assure me that I’ve got a healthy system.
Theses little darlings have been feeding in my garden for many months now. The only time they’re not around is in the middle of the day, but their nest is somewhere else. It’s a couple; the female looks like a sparrow, only still smaller. I’m hoping they might build their nest in my garden next year.
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It seems they’ve accepted me as a permanent feature in their territory and come really close now, but they’re quick, making it hard to take photos. Maybe they made me their scarecrow and follow me around, because the larger birds don’t swoop them when I’m there. I chirp to them and they chirp back … well, in my imagination anyway. I’ll get a birdbath next, my centerpiece on one side of the garden, then just some pavers, and that’s the end of my waste-of-space-lawn.

If I find another ill take a photo They're light grey and breeding arhhhhhh

Jac, that little blue bird is wren, the male, the female is a fawn colour

Thank you for telling me what type of bird my new little friends are, David. I tried to look them up in my MacMillan Visual Guide to Birds, which is not specifically on native birds and they were not featured.

Most girl birds are plain for camouflage and the boys are out going as they should be.
Time I went outside.

paulh wrote:
Now the Caterpillars Hmmm where do I start, a couple of seasons ago I planted Petunias between the roses, big mistake, I had an extremely colourful garden but it was a haven for the catterpillars, it was a nightmare. when i woke up to the problem and removed the petunias I solved the problem.

One of the biggest mistakes I made (during the drought, I should point out) was plant pansies under the roses. I love pansies. Thought it was a match made in heaven (and they'd self-sow!) but then I realised they were harbouring the spider-mites I was battling on the bushes...

roseman wrote:Most girl birds are plain for camouflage and the boys are out going as they should be.
Time I went outside.

(I've wanted to use that one for ages. LOL )

Now I am gone, time to log off, by Wendy

It's raining....

Wendy Violets are just as bad for habouring mites. You getting rain now, its been raining since 4am here.