This ubiquitous pest typically starts showing up in gardens mid summer and will linger through fall, often spreading and getting worse if left unaddressed. Read below to learn how to identify aphids and aphid damage, and how to manage them.

How Aphids Attack Your Plants

Aphids attack your plant by feeding off of the sap which is what carries the water and nutrients throughout it. They mostly feed in large clusters and so it is rare to find only one feeding when you are searching through infested plants. They will feed on all areas of the plant including the buds, leaves, fruit, stems, and even roots. However, their favorite place to be is where there is new growth!

Do I Have Aphids In My Garden?

If aphids have moved into your garden the leaves on your plants will start to curl or become discolored due to the lack of nutrients it is receiving. As mentioned before they like new growth and so it is important to check your plants often for this nasty pest. Aphids will also leave a sticky substance on the leaves or the surface under the plant. It will be easy to spot them, all you have to do is check the underside of the leaves. It is important to keep on top of this as the plant will become diseased and they will become harder to get rid of once there are a lot of them.

**These tiny bugs have back legs just like a cricket, and it’s those back legs paired with their pear body that make it easy to differentiate them from most other plant pests!**

Lifecycle

These little creatures reproduce fast to preserve the species. This is because when a predator comes along they have no way to fight back and protect themselves. However, if they outnumber the predator it gives them a fighting chance to survive. Depending on the species of aphid they have the ability to reproduce sexually, asexually, and some can even do both.

When it comes to the sexual life cycle, every female aphid lives up to 25 days and can produce about 80 aphids each and once spring hits the eggs will hatch. The nymphs (young aphids) will immediately find something to feed on once they hatch. Once they start to each they will get bigger and bigger causing them to molt (shed their skin). This process continues to happen until they reach adulthood and are fully grown. Once this happens they will become stem mothers which are sexually produced females that produce a colony of offspring. Once summer ends the females will produce male offspring for fertilization. This will allow the females to leave the eggs that won’t hatch until the following spring.

Aphids that reproduce asexually undergo parthenogenesis. This is when they clone themselves without the help of a male. During spring and summer all of the aphids are female and so instead of laying eggs the nymphs are born alive.

3 Ways To Prevent Getting Aphids

While it may be impossible to prevent aphids entirely, especially in a community garden setting, there are a couple ways to keep their numbers manageable. The first way is to add beneficial insects. Some people think that all insects in a garden are bad but this is not true. There are a number of insects which can help you keep unwanted pests under control by feeding on them. They can keep everything under control without added work or chemicals. One beneficial insect in particular is the ladybug. Each ladybug can eat 50-60 aphids per day and well over 5,000 in their lifespan. Their larvae won’t cause any harm to your plants and if you have enough of the things that attract them, including food, you will have multiple generations in a single season. Ladybugs won’t be eaten by other predators as they secrete an odor that most bugs don’t like. You can attract them by planting things such as dill and fennel. If you want to learn more about ladybugs then check out this link from another blog posted on our website by Lauren! https://www.gardencityharvest.org/the-real-dirt-garden-city-harvest-blog/2019/6/20/pests-a-look-at-unwelcome-garden-guests

The second is to have a companion plant. There are some plants that aphids will not eat and so it is ideal to plant those next to plants that aphids do like. By using this method it can save you time and energy by just planting things such as catnip, garlic, and chives.

6 Ways To Treat Your Garden Infestation

Spot them early: if you get it under control early when there aren’t too many it will be easier to get rid of them.
Look at the age of the plant: The older the plant is the stronger it is and more established. This makes them more resistant and so younger plants can be killed easier.
Add a little flour: The flour will suffocate the aphids and they will die as a result.
Oils and soaps can help: This will help kill off any aphids that you have. Just spray your plants with one of the following Neem oil or biodegradable soap.
A little dishwasher: You can mix water with dish soap and spray your plants. It won’t hurt your plants or their fruits, but it will cause the aphids to dislodge themselves from the plants.
Getting rid of ants: Ants and Aphids have a symbiotic relationship (they benefit from one another). This is because the aphids leave a substance on the plants which the ants thrive off of. Due to this the ant will then protect the aphids since they recognize them as a means to survive. The ants will bring the aphids into their nests at night to protect them from any enemies they may come across. In a sense by taking away the ants, the aphids will lose their “bodyguards”.