Hi everyone, I assume this is an aphid infestation on my cherry tree? The end leaves on some of this year’s growth have curled and there are little black bugs all over leaves…
I’ve got some neem oil, should I spray the leaves asap?
Personally,I’d try blasting them off with water first.A product with Neem oil in it,hurt the leaves on a Plum tree of mine once.
The ones that are curled,will still have some bugs.They can be unfurled and treated somewhat,but it’s difficult to get them all.
Is your oil,the 70% or (100%, better)?A soap spray could be a gentler solution.
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It’s 100% neem so I’d dilute it; the bottle says 1oz per gallon of water and to put a little dish soap in it too…maybe just dish soap to start so I don’t harm the tree.
Are those curled leaves permanently injured now? Should I remove them?
100% is better than 70%,which is used quite a bit in commercial mixes.I’d still try water pressure first.
Yeah,those leaves won’t get better this year,but still can provide some good things to the tree and fruit,if there is any.
Ok thanks, I just hit them with a soap/water mix (no neem yet) and most of them came off.
I make strong tobacco tea for my aphids, spray leaves with it and rub the leaves between my fingers to squish them until removed. A little more work but very effective. The leaves most curled can be removed and burned. New leaves can emerge once you have control
Dennis
Kent, wa
Neem oil works great on aphids plus it offers protection against fungal and bacterial diseases. When aphids get to be too much I don’t necessarily have to use Neem oil (water spray works to), but it is a great excuse to do so and reap the other benefits.
I have stopped giving applications of neem & soap for aphids as I came to the conclusion it was doing more harm than good. On some of my fruit trees I felt the sprays did far more damage to the leaves than the aphids were doing, so I’ve stopped. If you are going to use soap in your sprayer user a gentle natural alternative such as Castile soap and spray just before dark to avoid burning leaves. I also feel the sprays were killing many of the beneficial insects that help to control leaf destroying pests.
I now simply spray water or rub leaves to remove aphids. Badly curled leaves that this won’t work on I remove from the tree and dispose of in my garbage, (fire ban here). I now have a good lady bug & other beneficial insect population to help the aphids from getting badly out of control. Also go easy on the nitrogen fertilizer if you want to reduce aphid outbreaks.
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I hear ya, but the only predator of aphids I know of is ladybugs, and I’m slowly making my yard more attractive to them but it’s a long process…
I haven’t used any fertilizers on my trees, just homemade compost and some worm castings. Wonder if more worm castings would help with the aphids?
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Earwigs have also been found to prey on aphids. If you have the flying variety of aphids (which my plum trees seem to attract) then spiders will catch their fair share in their webs as well. I also hang hummingbird feeders in my few Euro plum trees that attract the most aphids as hummingbirds enjoy dining on aphids too.
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The process isnt long… just leave the aphids and dont rush to kill them and momma ladybug will see that will be a nice place to have babies.
Aphids love Nitrogen… Which is a human favorite for making things grow fast. Then the things that we apply Nitrogen to or boost nitrogen grow fast and hard which attracts aphids. Aphids are an excellent food source for predator insects…
So if u want more predators…u want more prey.
If u want more snakes…dont kill your mice. If u want more wasps dont kill your caterpillars. If u want more ladybugs…dont kill your aphids… etc etc etc etc.
Fruit trees can be great to encourage predators… Fruit trees can also be great for the sale of sprays. Depends on how you look at things.
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If it goes all well as you expect then, all is good. But when aphid is abundant and there is no predator following, that is the problem. Breeding ladybug can be solution?
If u see on FB groups people buy ladybugs online… that is a solution for some folks.
If you are ever interested and have google then just type in aphid predators and it lists the things that eat aphids for a living. Lots of things eat them.
You can spray them with chemicals. Lots of chemicals list aphids as a target.
Also can remove them with soap and water if you dont want to use chemicals.
Lots of choices.
Aphids are prey, pest or pestilence depending on your own outlook.