Monday, January 30, 2012

Which container plants are resistant to aphids?

I have a small front and back porch-- back is shade(north) and front partly sun(south.) I live in Seattle and have horrible aphid problems. The only things that I have luck with are geraniums (front porch), which I like. On the back porch, impatiens and fuchsias have all gotten chewed to bits by aphids (I work a lot and need low maintenance plants, especially for the back.) I think alyssum do OK out there. I love flowers. Suggestions for a shaded porch with skinny planterboxes?



Front porch has round pots. For it, I got petunias last year which I read were aphid resistant and they turned into aphid farms! I now have primroses along with the geraniums and they seem OK but they probably won't last all summer. I also had luck with Sweet William which was kind of grassy looking, but Salvia gets aphids, too. I tried spraying with soapy water and it doesn't help much. I would be happy with anything easy and green and flowery. Anything like that which aphids don't like? Thanks!
Which container plants are resistant to aphids?
tri color plant. cold hardy to zone 9b. i am not sure what zone seattle is. the tri color plant is one of my favorites. it had apids on it, but it never damaged the plant, and then the aphid died off. really nice blooms too.



also bananas are aphid prone so dont get
Reply:What damage do they do to plants?



Like most insects aphids spit on their food and the plants react very badly to that, it causes poor root development. Aphid-infested plants wilt, not because the aphids have taken water out but because the plant has a problem picking water up from the soil.

Then there's a mould problem from the honeydew. This is where aphids on the leaf above have produced a drop of sap from their rear end and it's fallen on the leaf below. That evaporates and becomes pure sugar, black moulds then develop which kill the leaf.

They also transmit plant virus diseases from sick plants to healthy plants.



Is there any way to stop them coming?



Put aluminium foil down between the rows of your plants - this deceives the aphid into thinking it is flying towards the sky! It works well!

Crowd the plants - grow them closer together. It may not be good for the plant but will certainly keep aphids down.

Keep weeds between the rows - aphids are attracted by bare soil and if you have little seedlings growing in the bare soil that's where the aphids will go.



How fast do they breed?

They reproduce asexually - populations can double in four or five days. One minute you see one aphid, a few days later the plant is plastered!



hi, haven't found any plants yet but thought this might be useful!
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