Not only the tiny whiteflies are among the pests that prefer to suck on the sap of petunias. Aphids also prefer to form their large colonies on petunias and can thus noticeably impair their vitality.
How do I get rid of lice on petunias?
In order to combat aphids on petunias, it is important to regularly check the plants. Home remedies such as a strong jet of water, tobacco solution, dish soap or coffee grounds can help. Alternatively, lice can be treated biologically with native ladybirds or chemically with systemic agents.
Regular checks: Prevention makes fighting easier
During the summer, aphids can sometimes reproduce surprisingly quickly due to their rapid generation sequence. Therefore, you should gently push apart the dense foliage of hanging petunias with your hands at least once a week to check the shoots for lice. A slight infestation of aphids is completely natural and does not necessarily have to be a problem. However, aphids can also transmit viral diseases that may even cause petunias to die.
Home remedies for aphid infestation of petunias
A sharp jet of water is usually enough to wash off a certain number of the aphids sitting on the shoots and thus make it more difficult for them to succeed in generations and spread. There are various home remedies that have proven to be effective in combating lice on petunias:
- Tobacco solution
- Sprays made from water and soft soap or dishwashing liquid
- Stinging nettle manure
- Coffee grounds
While the coffee grounds are spread directly on the plant substrate in the pot, the soil should be covered when spraying the plants with the liquid home remedies. A biological alternative can be to purchase beneficial insects such as ladybirds (€29.00 on Amazon) from specialist retailers, as long as they are the ladybird species native to this country.
Fighting aphids in the garden in the long term
Plants such as nasturtiums, elderberries, roses, daisies and petunias almost magically attract aphids. If you grow many of the plants mentioned in your garden, you should always keep an eye on the level of aphid infestation. In the long term, you can minimize the amount of care required by the lice if you encourage the aphids' natural predators, such as ladybirds and parasitic wasps, to settle. Offer ladybirds and other beneficial insects a suitable habitat with an insect hotel and they will take care of the aphid infestation for you. Since ants create and maintain veritable “plantations” of aphids due to the coveted honeydew, ant nests should be removed from the balcony boxes with petunias.
Tip
There are various chemical agents commercially available to combat aphids, although the systemic agents are preferable in cases of doubt. For example, these are inserted as sticks into the substrate around the petunias so that the toxins they contain are absorbed by the plants. As a result, aphids sucking on plant sap die quickly without the surrounding air being polluted by an agent sprayed on the plants.
