How To Get Rid Of Aphids On Crepe Myrtles Fast (No Harsh Chemicals!)
Bushes of Crepe Myrtles, spanning across your front lawn, with a diverse bushel of dense blooms, elevate the entire landscape to a heavenly sight.
The stunning view is hard to ignore. Until a common problem shows up. Aphids on Crepe Myrtles. A cluster of parasites that live on the lifejuice of green leaves. Their attack is silent, yet devastating. A vibrant garden turns into a dark dystopia in front of your eyes, giving no time to put up a solid block.
When fighting these parasites, prevention is the most effective way.
For garden owners planning to install Crepe Myrtle beauties in their homes, this guide will prepare you for its vilest enemy. You will learn:
- Aphids by nature and threats
- Symptoms of aphid attack
- Causes of aphid infestation
- Preventive measures against aphids
- DIY solutions and their efficacy
Let’s first familiarize ourselves with our concerning agent:
What are Aphids?
Goes by the scientific name, Tinocallis kahawaluokalani.
Aphids are tiny (around 1.2 mm to 1.5 mm), pale yellowish-green insects with black dots on their back. You can easily identify them by their long, lean, spider-like legs, bumpy, mellow bodies, black antennas, and dark bristles on the head.
Picture: An Aphid on Crepe Myrtle
First found in Southeast Asia, aphids are now prevalent in the southern USA, China, Japan, and Taiwan.
Unlike beetles, Aphids don’t eat leaves directly. They use a pipelike extension in front of their mouth to sip out leaf juice, much like mosquitoes do to their prey. Yet Aphids are much more merciless, with crepe myrtles turning black continuously, withering, and dropping in a few weeks or months.
One fine morning, you may notice a pack of them around the lower surface of the leaves of a Crepe Myrtle plant. They are almost translucent and look innocuous at first sight.
How to Identify an Aphid Aggression?
You can never tell an aphid infestation by the colors or condition. Almost everything that attacks a leaf causes dead cells, black spots, wither, and decay. But there are other obvious ways:
Honeydews
The first thing that exposes aphids is numerous white honeydews, stuck to the leaves and branches near them. These are tiny crystals, excretions of aphids, produced continuously as they keep seeping sap.
Picture: Aphid Honeydues
Scooty Mold
A type of black fungus grows on honeydews, dissolving them into sticky molds. Creating a thick layer, they block sunray, and stop photosynthesis. At the same time, other biological processes, like transpiration and gas exchange, come to a halt. The stickiness made them sustain through rain or washes, making the conclusion inevitable.
Unusual Leaves
At the last phase, pigments and cells of leaves start to turn pale and brown in want of essential macronutrients and energy. Soon enough, they wither completely, and due to the rapid spread of aphids, begin to fall in bulk.
What Causes Aphids to Spring and Spread So Rapidly?
From their life cycle to reproductive methods, every transformative phase makes aphids an infestation machine.
The ideal time for an aphid infestation is from April to October. That marks the entire spring, summer, and the early portion of the fall.
In the moist and cool springtime, millions of eggs hatch into wingless mother aphids. Asexual by nature, these mothers soon give birth to countless more without needing a mate.
Such male-free reproduction triggers rapid spread, spawning a few hundred times the number of the first hatch.
During summertime, aphids become impotent. But that doesn’t keep them from spreading. As spring draws near its end, mother aphids start to grow wings. Soon, they migrate to the surrounding trees.
At the onset of winter, they return to their birthplaces. And before their eradication by cold, they lay as many eggs as time allows. Those little hibernation capsules carry aphid larvae across the winter, to be hatched in the next spring.
How To Prevent Aphids On Crepe Myrtles?
Crepe Myrtles, due to their unique statement and low maintenance demand, have been among the most popular plants for gardeners. And aphids have always been the greatest threat to their existence.
You will find many lab remedies in the market. But they can only do so much in the long run. The best is to prevent the infestations from occurring and growing in the first place.
Here are a few proven methods:
Looking for Troubles
When tending the plants, keep an eye out for these tentacled insects. During the infestation time, they crawl all over leaves and flowers. Also, check for any signs of honeydew. Earlier detection leads to easier prevention.
Using the Right Insecticide
Flowers tend to attract insects. And not all such flower crawlers are deleterious. Some are only there to prey on the harmful ones.
Take lady beetles and lacewings, for example. These plant-friendly travelers roam freely and eat pests, like aphids and others.
Take caution of a pesticide’s impact on these helpful insects before implementing it.
Ensuring Water Drainage
Aphids love a moist and wet environment. During irrigation, apply as much water as necessary. Overwatering stirs weeds and lush growth. Both conditions favour aphid spread.
Removing Honeydews
You can still save the plants by removing the honeydew and sooty mold before they dissolve and cover the leaves.
Rinsing with water can be effective for small colonies. For escalated scenarios, using light horticultural oil or insecticidal soap should do the trick.
Pruning and Disposing
Consider trimming down the overly affected leaves. Using nets to cover the leaves during pruning keeps crepe myrtle aphids from migrating.
Also, make sure to take them away from the garden fast. Take measures to prevent the eggs from infesting the next season.
Consult Harbologists
Contact a plant specialist and share the current condition. Expert advice not only focuses on solving the ongoing situation. Also, they aim to eliminate the chances of recurrence. You will get sustainable measures, including guidance on plantation time, maintenance practices, and controlled use of toxins.
Is There a Home Remedy for Aphids?
From my many years of experience growing crepe myrtles and trying various aphid remedies, I have seen homemade solutions outwork others.
Beyond the usual notion about their efficacy, home remedies are easy to prepare, affordable, and applicable throughout the year.
Here are a few of my recommended recipes:
Neem Oil
Oils vaporize slowly, keeping the atmosphere germicidal for an extended period. They spoil eggs, larvae, and newborn nymphs. They also fend off mold buildup by rinsing crepe myrtle sticky leaves.
But it’s notable that careless application of neem oil is destructive to beneficial insects. Timing could be a good solution to that problem. Use it when beetles and other friendly bugs are not around.
Garlic Spray
You can make garlic solutions within a day. Just boil one or two bulbs of garlic with soap, and let it sit overnight.
If it gets thicker than expected, dilute it with a quart of water. The same solution can also be made with onions. Both ingredients have strong repellent components and smell.
Soap Solution
Soaps and detergents have a corroding effect on the thin surface of aphid. Soap solutions are special as they don’t affect harmless insects. You can use them to any extent, at any time, and anywhere without compromising the balance of equilibrium.
Essential Oil
Oils can loosen the sticky honeydew and mold, cleaning the leaf surface. Additionally, they prove great ability in pest control, thanks to the microbial elements present in their solutions. Besides aphids, they take care of the fungus on Crepe Myrtle.
Will Regular Spray Suffice to Kill Aphids?
Yes. And don’t get hit by surprise after knowing that, with regular spray, you can expect about 99% elimination.
But it must meet two conditions: early application and once or twice a week.
Let’s face it. There are many reasons to choose a regular spray, despite shortcomings, like slower and shorter-term impact compared to chemical alternatives.
First, they are environmentally friendly. Usually dissipates in heat or gets washed away in rain. The residue does nothing more than benefitting nature.
Second, they are easy recipes. For most of them, preparation is overnight with simple home ingredients.
Third, since harmless, regular sprays are widely applicable. You can use them in bulk, on any part of a plant, without worrying about its health, or other negative concussions.
Consideration for the Highest Impact
The diverse possible variations of home remedies call for thoughtful and personalized use.
For example,
Water Spray
Stick to water sprays if your garden is small and the infestation is migratory. This will make the parasites fly away to somewhere else.
However, plain water won’t suffice in dealing with sticky elements, like eggs, honeydews, excessive mold, or crepe myrtle black fungus.
Solutions
Go for neem oil or essential oil to remove leaves from black sooty mold on Crepe Myrtles. The oily ingredients take care of the stickiness, allowing simple watering to sweep away the loose soot. In addition, they are deadly to aphids and provide long-term protection.
Owners of large gardens, like me, should keep ecodiversity in mind when introducing a crepe myrtle aphid treatment. Choose to be as humane as the situation allows for.
The beneficial insects, beyond eating deleterious pests, take part in pollination. If your garden is full of them, seek sustainable solutions, such as soap, garlic, or onion solutions.
Wrapping Up
Don’t let seasonal pests, like aphids, destroy the heavenly bliss you call a garden. Follow a deliberately tending attitude since the plantation of your favourite trees. Most issues automatically reveal themselves to an attentive eye. From there, take a knowledgeable step. Detect which phase the infestation is currently at, consult a specialist, and select a cure with limited environmental impact.
FAQ
What To Spray On Crepe Myrtles For Aphids?
A strong force of water can displace eggs and baby aphids from the leaves. You can also use homemade mild solutions, made with soap, essential oil, neem oil, or garlic, for a faster and more effective pest control.
What Kills Aphids On Crepe Myrtles?
Caustic repellents, like alkali, found in soap and detergents, burn the outer layer of Aphids, leading to death. Besides, a few toxic insecticide powders, like imidacloprid, malathion, and permethrin, have gained popularity for their lethality.
How To Treat Crepe Myrtles With Aphids?
Only a few things can affect Crepe Myrtles as devastatingly as aphids. Proper treatment strategies include regular monitoring, early care, and expert consult.
Can Plants Recover From Aphid Damage?
Aphid aggression is preventable and controllable. You can expect a good result by applying proper measures, even in the severe season.
What Is The Best Pesticide For Crepe Myrtles?
Imidacloprid comes as a permanent solution. Unlike affecting aphids externally, they dissolve in the crape myrtle bark scale and get mixed with the sap. Feeding on them has a genocidal effect on aphids. And the toxin remains impactful beyond a single season.
What Is The Best Solution To Kill Aphids?
Soap solutions are best at instant killing, while neem oil proves efficacy as a long-term remedy. Ultimate measure would be applying more than one measure, and follow a rutine.
