ants and aphids

   From: K1MIZE@aol.com
   Date: Mon, 9 Nov 1998 10:12:22 EST

   Does anyone have a "cure" for aphids and ants?  I have a plague of aphids
   (being "farmed" by ants) on my plum trees every year.  I've tried malathion
   on the aphids, and that works for a week or two, but the ants seem to
   repopulate the trees with aphids very quickly.  I've also tried diazanon
   around the base of the trees to repel the ants, but that only seems to
   divert them until it gets washed away.  I'd prefer not to have to resort to
   chemical sprays every year.  Ideas, anyone?

There is a very easy cure...stop seeing them as a problem.  Seriously.
Ants are overrated as a pest.  Yes, they farm aphids and help them spread,
but they also clean up debris, pollinate your fruit trees, and serve other
purposes in the ecosystem.

Aphids can cause considerable damage, this is true.  But only when their
populations explode and they are way out of ecological balance.  How do
they get this way?  By killing off their predetors with chemicals (there
are other ways too).  That diazanon and malathion kills off ladybugs,
lacewings, and other beneficials.  When you spray, it never kills
everything...the bugs will eventually return.  But aphids return faster
than just about anything else and the ladybugs and others return slower.
The higher up on the food chain you go, the more harm there is.  Birds are
even more hurt by spraying, even though it may take longer for them to get
sick or die (birds keep catapiller/worm/beetle populations in check).

My advice? stop spraying.  Build up your soil with organic amendments
(chemical fertilizers kill soil microbes).  Do everything you can to
increase the health and strength of your trees.  And give your local
ecosystem a couple of years to balance out.  You'll find that aphid damage
will dwindle to nothing (or close).  There's even research showing that
minor aphid damage is *good* for plants (spurs growth).

Good luck,
Cyndi
_______________________________________________________________________________
Oakland, California            Zone 9 USDA; Zone 16 Sunset Western Garden Guide
Disabled, chemically sensitive, wheelchair user          Organic Gardening only
_______________________________________________________________________________
"There's nothing wrong with me.  Maybe there's                     Cyndi Norman
something wrong with the universe." (ST:TNG)           cyndi@consultclarity.com
                                                  http://www.consultclarity.com
_________________________ Owner of the Immune Lists http://www.best.com/~immune
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