General Chat

I have not heard this before
These tiny aphids suck the sap from plants and trees, posing a real threat for farmers and gardeners.

“But they can also wreak havoc on motorists, too.

“The sticky substance they excrete from their backsides - bizarrely known as ‘honeydew’ - clings to roofs, bonnets and boots as a nasty residue.

“This goo then creates black, soot-like mould spores, which is acidic and can eat through paint.
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'“It’s incredibly hard to remove from paintwork, requiring good cleaning products and lots of elbow grease.

“And you ignore it at your peril. A roof or bonnet respray could set you back around £500, or more, it’s vital you keep on top of cleaning regime in these early summer months.”

A full-sized tree can host an estimated 2.5 million aphids.

And they breed rapidly. Female aphids can reproduce “parthenogenetically” - which means they don’t need their eggs to be fertilised by males.

Meanwhile a single greenfly can produce 50 offspring. Within a month, that can result in some six million descendants.

Eeeuuuwww :-S

Ive never heard that either Ann

I throw washing up liquid and water over my plants in my garden
Green flys dont like it :-D :-D

hmmm .... so you have never had the fun of dealing with the effects on yr car after it was parked under a tree with a few million aphids. Or tried growing roses :-(
It is pretty well impossible to deal with them by using insecticides. In any case the ones that work are no longer permitted for domestic use.
What does work is ladybirds who love to eat aphids and greenflies..
Sadly ladybirds are in short supply due to farmers liberal use of insecticides.
Maybe they will recover.
Ypu can encourage them by planting marigolds, chives, cosmos, dill, fennel, yarrow, caraway, angelica and Queen Anne's lace.
This works over time and haas the big upsides pf costing little and is good for lazy gardeners. Soapy water works but not for long.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lFW3zsjQUcI

Actually it's native ladybirds that have been in short supply - plenty of harlequins about though - which need to be eliminated.


https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-14043356

We often have that sticky problem if we park our car on the street under the maple tree. Lindens are also very bad.

Like JoyBA, I have always used soapy water.

When I worked, if it was a hot day it was a toss-up whether to park under the trees for shade or whether to have a boiling hot car, Sylvia.

JoyL .........

same here!

But the last car we bought has air conditioning, which is a blessing now :-D

We bought it because we still had the cabin back in 2008, and we had to drive through a very hot area to get there ........... the Fraser Canyon even back then often had over 35C and often over 40C. The 4 windows open were not quite enough for a comfortable drive.

Now we're getting very high 20s and over 30C down here on the coast for days at a time, several times a summer.

Smut Fungus - we were told by the nurseryman. He gave us a cocktail in a clear plastic spray which we can use twice a year. We were also advised to use Rose Clear in between times to kill off more aphids. The best bit was to wash all the leaves both sides! After a while OH got a bit sick of this and came up with his own idea. Use the lance of the pressure washer on the lowest setting but only on strong plants such as holly. The pressure moves the leaves about and both sides are cleaned. All the above seems to have worked and we think we are now free of Smut
Fungus.

I have been known to drop a mention of Smut Fungus into dull conversations - it certainly livens up things!

Don’t know if it is true, I’m no gardener but if you plant Garlick bulbs in and around plants it keeps the greenfly away.