You could wake up one morning to discover your beautiful rose plants drooping, withered, dead, and gone.
The truth is, you didn’t just wake up to it. There had been signs that you might have ignored. Signs of pests and diseases, signs of discolorations, signs of unusual shrinking and curling of leaves, little insects all around the body- aphids.
But you probably ignored it because you thought your rose plant was going through some weather adjustment stages, and the insects on the body were some harmless species of insects, the kind that was usually helpful for pollination.
Until the morning you woke up to discover you no longer have a rose plant. This is how aphids operate- subtly until there’s no more rose plant to awaken to.
Roses are a beautiful species of ornamental plants grown and kept indoors and outdoors because of their beautiful color and pleasurable shape.
Roses are symbolic of love and are often depicted in pictures and illustrations to be an expensive gift from one lover to another.
Roses usually have pleasant scents that can be useful in perfume making. Aside from perfumes, the stems of roses are rich in vitamin C and are used in making jam, jellies, soup or brewed into tea.
The beautiful scent of rose plants as well as their nutritious stems is an important reason why it is a major target of pests and diseases, especially aphids.
Aphids feed on young rose blossoms as well as matured leaves, leaving them looking all curly, drooping, and contorted. Aphids can stay on rose plants for as long as the rose plants stay standing and growing unless they are intentionally removed from the rose plants.
They have adapted hands that clip themselves to the leaves and keep them firm from being removed by wind or simple bush movement. Of all the rose plant species that exist, aphids love to attack the rugosa roses, china roses, prairie roses, and French roses.
The aphid species that can be commonly found on roses are the aphis gossypii, metopolophium, dirhodum, and Maculolachnus submacula.
When aphids get on your rose plants, the rose plants develop symptoms that include dark spots on leaves, molds, and the attraction of wasps to the rose plants.
These pests and diseases of your rose plant only exist to hamper the healthy growth of the rose plant and lead to the eventual death of the rose plant.
In this article, you will be learning how to get rid of aphids on roses as well as six remedies that kill aphids.
These remedies vary in effectiveness and mode of application, hence this article serves as a guide to the right application of the remedies.
We are certain that at the end of this article, you will be able to get your rose plant free from pests and diseases, especially aphids.
Getting Rid of Aphids on Roses
Aphids may be difficult to control, but they are not impossible pests and diseases. If they were, it would have been stated from the start of this article.
The following are ways of getting rid of aphid pests and diseases. The methods below are aggregated into categories and explained based on their categorizations.
1. Manual elimination by hand removal
2. Biological removal
3. Ridding by chemical application
Each of these categories and their methods of application to pests and diseases of rose plants is unique and effective in different ratios.
1. Manual elimination by Hand Removal
This is a straightforward technique that you can easily apply to get rid of aphids on roses. It involves the use of a scraper or a damaged credit card, to scrape through the leaves with aphid infestations making them fall off and die.
Aphids are slow movers and so cannot climb back through the stem onto the leaves of the plant.
You could also use the technique of water splashing or slow misting to dislodge the aphids and their eggs from the leaves. This method involves spraying the affected leaves, especially their underparts, with water to dislodge aphids and their cocoons.
The act of spraying to remove aphids is beneficial in the sense that it also helps to water the rose plant. Meanwhile, care should be taken not to overwater a plant as this will lead to a decline of the plant health caused by root rot.
The last manual technique is pruning. Pruning the plant is a way of getting rid of aphids from the plant leaves at their early stages of infestation.
Aphids are slow movers and so cannot fly off or crawl to other plants or parts of the plant.
2. Biological Removal
This method involves the introduction of biologically active insects that serve as predators of pests and diseases.
A characteristic of this method is the fact that the introduced species are not planted feeders and so cannot feed on the plant leaves. They only exist to rid the plants of pests and diseases.
Some natural predators of aphids are lacewings, mealy bugs, big-eyed bugs, soldier beetles, and ladybugs. You can either attract these biological aphid pest predators to the plant or you can introduce them.
Attracting them to the plant involves setting the right conditions in place for these predators to thrive. For example, you can plant blue tansy flowers alongside your rose plant to attract hoverflies.
Hoverflies predate on a lot of different pests and diseases, aphids inclusive.
3. Chemical Control
The chemical control method of getting rid of aphids on roses involves the use of chemically engineered compounds on the affected leaves of rose plants.
These chemical compounds could be naturally occurring compounds used in homes like vinegar or liquid soap. They could also be commercially approved chemicals recommended for the control of pests and diseases like aphids on rose plants.
Some chemicals that can be applied to the leaves of the rose plant to rid it of aphids are:
i. Vinegar
ii. Liquid soap
iii. Neem oil
iv. Permethrin
i. Vinegar
Vinegar is composed of acetic acid that is harmful to the body parts of aphids because it burns up the cell wall.
To apply vinegar to the rose plant, mix a spoon of vinegar to sufficient water then sprinkle on the affected leaves and every point where aphid spots have developed.
Ensure the solution is diluted well enough with water as acetic acid can also harm plants.
ii. Liquid Soap
There should be no difference in the liquid soap used for the removal of aphids from roses and the one used in washing dishes at home.
Liquid soap is made of a fatty acid and potassium concentrate that harms and stops the respiratory processes in aphids, which eventually leads to their death.
iii. Neem Oil
Neem oil is an extract of the neem tree that has over the years served as a multipurpose pests and diseases remover.
Neem oil irritates aphids and makes them fall off or die on the leaves.
Neem oil should be mixed in water and sprinkled on the leaves thoroughly.
iv. Permethrin
Permethrin is a commercially distributed insecticide that is safe for application on domestically edible plants for the removal of aphids.
It contains the chemical compound pyrethroid that affects the neural functioning of aphids.
6 Remedies That Kill Aphids
1. Pruning
2. Pressure water splash
3. Mealybugs
4. Ladybugs
5. Neem oil
6. Permethrin
What is the Fastest Way to Get Rid of Aphids?
Aphids can prove to be troublesome to control and can cause considerable waste of time in being controlled.
The fastest way to get rid of aphids is by the use of chemical control methods, especially the use of permethrin.
This works fast and can rid your rose plants of aphid pests and diseases in less than three days.
Will Vinegar and Water Kill Aphids on Roses?
Yes, vinegar and water will kill aphids on roses. This is because vinegar contains acetic acid which is a harmful compound to aphids.
The water is mixed with the vinegar to create a solution that aids greater reach to all parts of the plant.
What Home remedy will kill Aphids?
The best home remedy that kills aphids is the use of liquid soap. The potassium and fatty acids in liquid soap can rid your rose plants of aphids in quick succession.
How Do I Get Rid of Aphid Naturally
Aphids can be gotten rid of naturally, by applying the natural techniques of aphid removal.
Natural mediums ensure that there is no application of insecticides that might cause harm to the plant leaves or flowers.
You can get rid of aphids naturally by
1. Vinegar solution
2. Liquid soap solution
3. Hand-picking and scraping
4. Water splashing
5. Natural predators
Conclusion
In this article, you have learned all of the ways you could rid your rose plants of pests and diseases like aphids.
The process of getting rid of aphids on roses, can be quick or slow depending on the technique adopted to rid the plant of pests and diseases.
As a gardener, you have to guide your plants from the reach of pests and diseases, especially aphids. We hope you found the tips in this article helpful.
