May 31, 2007 at 10:17 am
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Roses are like bratty children or self-involved friends who drive you crazy most of the time and then do one thing that’s so damn endearing that you can’t help but adore them.
A week ago, all the buds on my healthiest rose bush were suddenly covered in bugs — aphids, I think. I had a picture, but I seem to have accidentally deleted it in my ongoing struggle with Picasa. You’ll have to trust me that it was deeply disgusting.
I don’t like killing bugs, but it was either them or all my roses so I’ve been spraying with diluted Dr. Bronner’s soap and the rotten little squirmers have been slowly departing. Today I awoke to an almost perfect bloom, my first of the season. You can see the continuing fight against the aphids all around, but I finally feel like the hassle has been worthwhile.
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amani wrote @ May 31st, 2007 at 10:31 am
wow! YAY! Lookie there, a real honest to god rose! Congratulations!!
Shay wrote @ June 1st, 2007 at 10:04 am
ugh, you are way nicer to bugs than me. My religion is supposed to be nice to all living creatues, but when it comes to bugs, that shit’s goin’ down. Beautiful victory rose!
Lehanna wrote @ June 8th, 2007 at 10:45 am
You can buy lady bugs to drop on your plants. They loooove eating aphids.
Oh, and, Hi!!
joriel wrote @ June 8th, 2007 at 10:51 am
Hi Lehanna! That’s a fantastic idea. I think the aphids are all gone now but if they come back I’ll definitely do that.
Caryn wrote @ June 9th, 2007 at 11:35 am
So, what is the ratio or Dr. Bronner’s to water! I want to try that remedy.
joriel wrote @ June 9th, 2007 at 11:52 am
Most of the recipes I’ve seen use a very small amount of soap — like 1 TBSP to 1 gallon water. I was unscientific about it, though. I just squirted a little Dr. Bronner’s in a spray bottle and filled it up with water.
I’ve read that garlic spray is also very effective. Here’s a little recipe for that:
1) crush a few bulbs worth of garlic.
2) Simmering them in 2-3 cups of water
3) let it sit a few hours to cool, then strained the pulp out of it
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