Aphids, again
I’m ready to give up on a balcony garden. No matter what I do, I get aphids every time.
I disinfect my balcony with hydrogen peroxide every spring, and wash out all my pots with bleach. I start with new bags of soil. I only go to reputable nurseries (this year I only bought mint and cilantro) and inspect them as carefully as I can before selecting them.
Today I found green aphids crawling around the roots at one side of my cilantro. We’d just had a heat wave so a lot of the leaves shrivelled and I was pruning quite aggressively. That’s when I found them, in the soil.
My mint plant doesn’t seem to have any, but its leaves didn’t look very healthy so I trimmed it right back.
I don’t see anything on the underside of the leaves, and nothing on the stems.
In the past I’ve tried:
- blasting with water (doesn’t work, leaves are too dense together on most herbs)
- diluted soap solution (killed all the plants-was told it’s because even light soap suffocates the leaves, despite me rinsing and rinsing, and still had aphids)
- 1 part hydrogen peroxide to 4 parts water all around the roots (doesn’t seem to help)
- yellow traps (I think it just attracts them)
Plus I always physically take off any I see, and thoroughly wash my hands after. All the leavings get thrown away immediately; nothing is left on the balcony.
I also sprinkled diatomaceous earth around my other plants (peas and beans) and moved the cilantro pot (it also has parsley and green onions, which look fine) and the mint pot to the opposite side of the patio.
What actually kills these? Can I save my plants or do I need to toss them all again this year? If so, I give up on gardening.