APHIDS & What Really Works to Get Rid of Them Organically! 

Glad you like them! Thank you for you kind comment and encouragement. 😊

That's how I stumbled onto it--I had tried literally everything with no lasting results! Hope it works as well for you! Take care

The black soap (made from vegetable oils and potash) is a natural insecticide in that it suffocates the insects by coating them in a film. It works on aphids, their eggs, and nymphs and is an effective way to clean the aphid honeydew from leaves. Adding garlic makes it even more effective against the insects themselves and also helps cure the plant diseases that might have already started. I always test a plant's leaves first before applying all over, and you should never apply when it's sunny or it can burn the plant leaves. I hope this helps!

What is black soap can I just use regular liquid soap? In my country I dnt know what is black soap lol

@@safiyaalexander7675in Spain we call it Marseille soap (I don’t know why) and it is not black but a kind of dull yellow beige color. Available in supermarkets it comes in gel, flakes, or traditional bar soap forms. All it is is a natural biodegradable soap which breaks down fat cells, used for washing clothes mainly. I once had a huge aphid infestation and sprayed washing up liquid (Fairy) diluted in water. It worked a treat but came close to killing the plants (Sol de Murcia). I used it another time for the same reason but made sure I used far less, it worked again and that time the damage to leaves was less and the plants recovered. The problem with pests is that they are true to their name, they keep coming back

My pleasure! Best of luck getting rid of them!

That’s a fascinating story. What a great place to volunteer! I’m also glad the video was helpful. If you want to share before and after photos, feel free to tag me at Now Gardening on Facebook or on Instagram 😊 In any case, best of luck to you getting rid of the aphids!

Thanks for sharing what has worked for you.

Hola 😊 You’ll want to test this in a small area before applying it all over the plant the first time. I typically avoid the flowers and apply it to the leaves.

Thanks for your comment and for subscribing 😊Happy gardening!

You’re welcome. I hope it was helpful

Glad it was useful!

Thanks for stopping by! Take care and happy gardening 💚

You're welcome. Take care and have a good day.

Best wishes. Hope you have an abundant harvest

Thank you so much.

Hi Graham. Thanks for watching. Depending on the temperature outside, it will start to smell around 3 days, but I have continued to use it up to a week directly on plants (be sure to shake the container before using once it sits for awhile). After a week, it smells terrible, and I've used it to treat fungus gnats in the soil but not directly on plants. Hope this helps!

Good to know, I’ve never tried this before

Thanks!

My pleasure 😊

In Europe and Africa it’s often called « savon noir » and easily found in garden stores. I did an extensive search last year for someone in the U.S. and finally discovered « Castile » soap is a supposed to be a similar alternative. I haven’t tried jt myself, though. Hope this helps!

In this video I put an approximate 1 gallon or about 4L. If I don't need such a large quantity or I'm not in a rush to treat, I'll put a few cloves in a liter bottle of water & set it in the sun for. 2-3 days. Hope this helps.

@@NowGardeningHello from Spain. Gloves, gloves or what we call Garlic ‘teeth’? I have heard essential glove oil is used in some insecticide recipes.

I don’t love neem oil, but some gardeners swear by it. Black dots can be many things from fungal diseases to pests like aphids. You could possibly ask someone at your local garden center as they should know what pests and diseases are prevalent in your area right now. Good luck 😊

Oh that's incredible! Fortunately, he handled it. They took out my entire broad bean crop while I was gone 2 weeks this spring. I was stunned.

@@NowGardening 😱

If you live in North America, Castile soap is supposed to be a similar alternative. I have not tried it myself, though, so please check before trying it.

Hi Ashley. Sorry it took so long to get back to you. In Europe black soap or savon noir as it’s sometimes called is readily available for organic garden usage. I buy mine in the garden store or on Amazon. That said, if you’re in the US I couldn’t find it anywhere online except for cosmetic usage. I hope this clears things up for you

If you live in North America, the closest substitute is Castile soap

It’s a soap made basically from potash and vegetable oil (used to be olive oil but it got too expensive). It’s often called savon noir. Not sure where you are, but In the U.S. the closest thing is Castile soap. Always buy a reputable brand and do a spot check because some plants don’t tolerate for these types of treatments.

Yes, I didn’t find it very effective and you have to be careful not to injure certain plants with it.

Hi Debbie. If you live in a place where black soap or savon noir (made of vegetable oils and potash) isn't available, you can usually substitute a mild dish soap with warm water. Test this on a small section before applying to the entire plant as not all dish soaps are created equal! Many countries also have organic insecticide soaps in their garden stores, which is another alternative to the one I mentioned. I hope this helps!

Thank you so much. Are you using a gallon sprayer?

How interesting! I’ll have to try this one out. Thanks for sharing your tip!

I don't smoke but my roommate dies. If no one smokes, you can buy chewing tobacco that works equally as well. Good luck.

That's a good suggestion. Thank you. @@bunkyman8097

Oh so it’s the tobacco that kills them on top of the soap suffocating them?? The ants are the ones that I’m looking to take out first and foremost because they are what lead to the aphid problem in the first place. That are everywhere in my garden and I haven’t even really started planting yet. I have killed off most of the mosquito issue and now I’m looking to solve the ant, aphid, and slug problem. So any additional advice would be golden. 😇. But I will start with the garlic and soap first then work my way up yo the tobacco and soap spray. I wonder if I grow my own tobacco will that help as well…?

@TriggaTreDay I think it does such a good job because like you said, the soap suffice ages and it also makes the spray stick. It does a really goid job of killing soft bodied bugs. I try to keep on top of the slugs simply by picking them off and spraying them with the tobacco juice. I have also heard of burying a small container with beer at ground level. The slugs are attracted to it and die. Growing tobacco may help since the nicot in me is in the plant but they would have to eat it I'm thinking. I have had luck in the past growing marigolds around the garden. They are a natural repellant. Everything said, I've had the best luck with soap and tobacco juice. I make it strong and it doesn't affect the plant but gets the bugs. I do it daily if necessary, aphids are really goid at hiding underneath leaves. Good luck!

Hi Kennsie. It smells exactly like the African black soap (or at least what I’m used to in Morocco). I don’t know if the beauty product version has other additives that could harm a plant, so check the ingredients. The “savon noir” sold here for garden usage has only vegetable oils (originally olive oil, but they use other alternative oils now as well) and potash. It really works great, so I hope you can find a solution!

In the US, you can use Dr. Bronner's Castile Soaps (or any castile soap without a lot of additives) in place of Black Soap. The peppermint one works quite well! A mix would be 1 quart or liter of water, and 1 Tablespoon of Dr. Bronner's soap. Some people add 1 to 2 teaspoons of peppermint oil (pure oil, not a tincture) to make the mix work even better. You must shake the mix frequently though as we all know that oil and water don't mix well. The soap will cut the oil and allow it to mix with the water. By shaking it frequently you'll get a mix of the 3 items, so you won't have the peppermint oil just floating separately on the top of the liquid and not being sprayed.

Good luck 👍🏼

Hi Julius. I’m in France, and we’re in a microclimate but basically equivalent to zone 8.