The nasty Aphid

A common garden pest that loves our Daylilies and invades our garden every year is the Aphid. A nasty juice sucking insect that shows up often here in the warm climate of Florida. Look for them in the new growth area of the plants. They like to cluster on the underside of the leaves and in the center of the plants. They come in many colors. They can be white, yellow, orange, brown, black, gray or green. Aphids are very small soft-bodied pear shaped and very slow moving insects and appear as if they are dead. If ignored and left to their destructive ways you will find distorted and yellowing leaves that will eventually fall off. We have found the best way to get rid the garden of these insects is to spray the plants with Insecticidal soap or Neem oil. Another way that seems to work well is to spray them with 5 Tablespoons of liquid Dawn (unscented) dish soap mixed in a quart of water. Dawn is a choice for homemade insecticidal soaps according to the University of Florida IFAS Extension website. A few days later they appear to still be there but they are most likely all dead and are just stuck on the leaves. They can be washed off with a hard rain or a water hose.