Content
Laundry soap for aphids is considered one of the best and most effective folk remedies. It can be used at any stage of damage to plantings, although solutions give the best results with a small number of pests.
Does laundry soap help against aphids?
Laundry soap is a very effective, affordable and easy-to-prepare household insecticide that helps get rid of aphids on your property. The product contains natural fatty acids and caproic acid, which have pronounced antiparasitic properties.
When a soap solution gets on the leaves of a plant, it forms a thin impermeable film, due to which pests lose the opportunity to feed on the juices of the crop. In its pure form, the drug does not kill insects, although it promotes their adhesion to the plates and slows down vital processes.But in combination with other insecticidal components, the product can have a poisonous effect on aphids.
Laundry soap 72% is best suited for treating plants against aphids.
How to dilute laundry soap for spraying against aphids
You can use laundry soap against aphids in its pure form. It is allowed to use both bar and liquid varieties of the product.
Solid
Solid laundry soap can be purchased at any store. A solution for spraying plants based on it is prepared as follows:
- Grind about 300 g of bar soap on a grater.
- Pour the shavings into a bucket and add 2 liters of warm water.
- Stir until completely dissolved.
- Add 8 liters of cold water and stir again.
The resulting mixture is used for spraying vegetable and garden crops. You can use a soap preparation, including to prevent the appearance of aphids at a time when there are no insects on the leaves yet. In this case, it gives the best result and allows you to completely protect the plants from pest damage.
Liquid laundry soap against aphids
Liquid laundry soap has exactly the same composition as regular soap. It can also be used for insecticidal treatment. But the recipe and proportions of liquid laundry soap for aphids look a little different.
- Pour 2 liters of warm liquid into a metal bucket.
- Dilute about 125 ml of soap in water.
- Stir until a homogeneous viscous mixture is obtained.
- Add another 8 liters of cold water to the solution.
Use the home remedy according to the standard algorithm. The product needs to be sprayed on plantings to get rid of pests or for prevention several times a season.
Folk remedies for aphids with laundry soap
The insecticide is used not only in its pure form, but also in combination with other components. Several recipes are especially popular.
With ash
Treatment of bushes with laundry soap against aphids is carried out with the addition of wood ash to the solution. The powder itself has insecticidal properties and also serves as a useful fertilizer for plants. The drug is prepared as follows:
- Sift 300 g of ash through a fine sieve.
- Pour the powder into a bucket and add 10 liters of water.
- Place the container on the stove and boil for half an hour over low heat.
- After a while, cool the preparation slightly and add 40 g of laundry soap shavings to it.
It is recommended to use the product from mid-spring until the end of the growing season. But it is better not to spray during flowering so as not to interfere with the pollination processes.
With soda
You can treat garden crops with laundry soap against aphids with the addition of soda powder. The recipe for preparing the product looks like this:
- About 1/4 of a bar of laundry soap is grated.
- Add a large spoonful of baking soda to the shavings.
- Mix the ingredients thoroughly and add 1 liter of water.
- The solution is brought to homogeneity and diluted with another 10 liters of cold liquid.
A ready-made aphid repellent with soda and laundry soap is used to treat plantings leaf by leaf.
Baking soda with laundry soap not only helps eliminate aphids, but also provides plants with protection from fungal diseases.
With tobacco
When fighting aphids with laundry soap, you can use tobacco as an additional ingredient. It has a strong aroma, unpleasant for insects, and is good at repelling pests from garden crops.
The spray preparation is prepared according to the following scheme:
- Grind tobacco leaves in a volume of 200 g.
- Pour the raw materials into a large container and add 40 g of grated laundry soap.
- Add a couple of pods of chopped hot pepper.
- Fill the components with 10 liters of hot water.
The solution effectively eliminates aphids and other insects, but requires careful handling due to its increased stinging properties.
With potato and tomato tops
An infusion of laundry soap against aphids can be prepared with the addition of vegetable tops - potato or tomato. Make the remedy according to the following scheme:
- About 4 kg of plant tops are finely chopped and poured into a metal bucket.
- The greens are poured with 10 liters of water and left for 6 hours to infuse.
- After the period has passed, the solution is brought to a boil on the stove.
- Pour 50 g of grated laundry soap into the hot liquid and stir thoroughly until smooth.
The finished product must be strained from the remaining tops. The solution is used for spraying garden crops and garden plants; it helps best with mild infestation of bushes by aphids.
With pine extract
Natural pine needles have pronounced phytoncidal properties. To get rid of aphids using laundry soap with the addition of an auxiliary component, you need to prepare the following product:
- Four large spoons of pine extract are diluted in a bucket of water.
- Add 40 g of grated laundry soap to the container.
- The solution is thoroughly mixed and left to infuse for half an hour.
- After the period has passed, the product is filtered through folded gauze.
Coniferous extract can be purchased at the pharmacy in powder form or in briquette form. It is also allowed to use a decoction of spruce or pine needles prepared by yourself for mixing with laundry soap.
A soap solution with pine extract can be used to prevent aphids - the insect does not like the strong smell of the product
With vegetable oil
The mixture against aphids with laundry soap and vegetable oil has a particularly viscous structure and lingers well on the leaf blades. Prepare a home remedy like this:
- Any vegetable oil and soap shavings are mixed in equal proportions of 250 g.
- Pour the ingredients into a bucket of water.
- Whisk the mixture thoroughly until the soap is completely dissolved.
It is best to treat plantings with a homemade preparation at the beginning of summer for prevention. The product has an insecticidal effect, but it has the best effect when used for protective purposes.
Cinnamon
To repel pests from the garden, it is recommended to use spices with a strong aroma. You can prepare a solution of laundry soap against aphids with the addition of cinnamon according to the following scheme:
- Pour 1 liter of water into a deep container.
- Rub laundry soap on a fine grater.
- Dilute the shavings in water and add 5 g of cinnamon powder.
- Stir until smooth.
If the garden is infested with aphids, it is recommended to use a soap-cinnamon solution 2-3 times a week until the pests are eliminated.
What plants is it suitable for?
The fight against aphids with laundry soap can be carried out when infecting almost any plant.The product is versatile, demonstrates a good effect and does not harm plantings.
In particular, laundry soap is used for spraying:
- fruit trees;
- berry bushes - currants, viburnum, raspberries;
- greens - dill, onion, garlic;
- tomatoes and cucumbers;
- potatoes and cabbage.
You can fight aphids with laundry soap when growing ornamental crops. Solutions are used to treat roses, peonies and other flowering plants in the garden.
It is not recommended to spray ornamental and fruit crops with soap solution during the period of bud opening.
Processing Features
You can spray any plants against aphids with laundry soap. But in the process it is necessary to follow several important rules, on which the effectiveness of the treatments will depend:
- Soap solutions are used in the initial and middle stages of aphid infestation, when there are still not very many insects on the leaves. If parasites are tightly stuck to the plant plates, it is better to resort to industrial chemicals - they will give a more pronounced and faster result.
- Spraying of garden crops is carried out only in the evening, early in the morning or in cloudy weather. In bright sunlight, do not spray the soap solution, as this will cause burns to the plants.
- The homemade insecticidal preparation adheres well to leaf blades and is not immediately washed off by precipitation. But it is still undesirable to spray a soap solution against aphids directly in the rain - this will significantly reduce the effectiveness of the treatment.
When spraying garden plantings, you need to ensure that the homemade insecticide gets on the lower surfaces of the leaf blades. The bulk of aphids accumulate there.If the soap is applied only to the upper part of the leaves, the treatment will not have a significant effect.
Spraying must be carried out at a wind speed of no more than 5 m per second. Otherwise, the treatment will not bring results, since the bulk of the soap solution will be carried away away from the plantings.
In the process of fighting aphids in the garden, it is important to also eliminate ants, since they are the ones who usually bring the parasite to the site
Pros and cons of the method
Solutions based on laundry soap have many advantages. The main ones include:
- safety for plants - the insecticide does not harm the garden crops themselves;
- no unpleasant odor;
- high availability - laundry soap is cheap and can be found in any store;
- good preventive and therapeutic effectiveness;
- the ability to form a protective film on plant leaves;
- harmless and hypoallergenic to humans.
At the same time, soap solution has certain disadvantages. In particular:
- the insecticidal agent is gradually washed off from the leaves by rain and does not last long in wet weather;
- Treatment of the garden against aphids and other pests should be repeated every few days.
It is not recommended to use an insecticidal solution of laundry soap during the period of active flowering and a week before harvest. An invisible film left on the surface of vegetables and fruits can make their taste slightly bitter.
Conclusion
Laundry soap against aphids gives a good effect when used correctly. It is best to spray plantings when there are few insects or even before they actually appear. The effectiveness of the soap solution increases with the addition of other active ingredients.
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