Our little town house here in Pennsylvania doesn’t have much of a garden, we have quite a large corner lot but little in the way of flower beds. All of my gardening tools are still in storage, so aside from going out and buying a duplicate set, no new beds are going to be dug! We do however have two little beds outside the front door and I couldn’t help myself but give them a bit of love. I have planted a beautiful knockout rose, some small fountain grass and filled the rest of the space with bedding plants. I am currently watering them using a 2 gallon milk jug … because guess where my watering can is?!
This is how it looked a few weeks ago.
However last week I was dismayed to see my beautiful rose was covered in nasty green aphids.
I am all for using the natural approach to dealing with garden pest ( remember my home made deer repellant ) so after a little research I had whipped up a simple home made spray for getting rid of those bugs.
Recipe
- 1 pint of water
- 1 tsp dish detergent
- few drops of vegetable oil
- splash of vinegar
Most of the recipes I found were for huge batches but I only had a small spray bottle so I pared everything down. Add all the ingredient to your bottle and give it a good shake to make it nice and foamy. Then simply spray away, preferably in the early morning so the roses don’t get burnt.
Within a day of doing this all the aphids were gone…it is a wonder liquid!
Love from
Creative in Chicago ( now living in Pennsylvania!)
XX
Can I use this on all indoor plant. Having issue with white aphid on my house plants
don’t see why not, hope it helps!
white aphids? Are you sure they aren’t white fly?
Can this mixture be used on Lillie’s in the fish pond?
Not sure I’d risk it. You might end up with foamy water and hurt the fish.
Can you please specify the quantity of vinegar?
A splash.. . no more that a tea spoon!
I’m going to try this I let you know how they come out. April 19,2020
Just tried it today. My English roses are my favorite. Noticed aphids today. Will let you know how it works.
I make my spray with 1 liter water i boil 1 teaspoon garlic and 1/2 an onion for 20 min then strain this liquidand add 1 teaspoon bicarb-soda 2 teaspoons vinegar 1teaspoon dish washing liquid shake let stand for a week then use its a great mixture for mildew as well your plants will grow beautifully…
My Rose’s had some really bad friends that like hanging around my flowers. I asked them to spend the night. They said they would love to. They wanted to know what was for breakfast. I said it was a secret new recipe. They said they are dying to try it out….. I hope so.
Hahahah
Thank you so so much for this concoction, I’ve been using it for a little under a week and already I’m starting to see results. I’m going to share this with my mother in law for her roses. She was using straight vinegar… I hope this’ll help her roses too. I totally agree with other recipes out there the batches are just wayyyy to big so thank you again for giving me something I can actually work with. Hoping my baby’s can grow big and strong without these nasty bugs. Thank you Alicia.
So glad it is working for you!
Thanks a million times over! You are a true blessing to have shared this good news for all the pest that destroys rose plants. May God continue to bless you.
David
In Mississippi.
Can I use canola oil?
I’d like to know about the canola oil too
I am very excited with the reviews and results!
My beautiful Mint potted plant is almost gone. I will
be mean and kill the bugs!
Thank you!!!!
Marta
Arizona 2/5/2022
Will this work on tomato plants? Does it kill other pests?
should work on tomato plants
What’s the best thing for my HOSTAS please it’s been so hot ,so dry,and so many slugs .
Hostas like shady moist areas … fortunately I don’t have a problem with slugs or snails… they don’t survive the Chicago winter.
Love this spray, thank you! After using various store bought sprays for weeks without success, this spray worked a treat.
This is my new best friend.
This info is great. I too am so happy to be able to make a small batch.
Hi thank you! I was wondering if you know whether extra Virgin olive oil would work?
I have took a gallon of very soapy dawn dishwashing liquid and poured around mine, last year I sprayed the same on it it seem to help my roses some but then I’m also using Neem oil and liquid seven dust but I hate these poison chemicals because kitty gets around my rose and I worry about the safety of him and also frogs and lizards. I want to try your recipe out but and can use the vegetable oil but just wondering if extra virgin olive oil would work?
don’t see why not!
I like this all receipe. I just have 1 rose bush but I have othperennials in large pots on my deck. This should work for them aslo I hope. They are scented geraniums and dianthus. They had aphids last year andI had a hard time trying to get rid of them. Nothing seemed to work.