Financial
Holy mother of Pete, I love my herb garden. I purchased a selection of herbs to try and curb the amount of money I was spending on fresh herbs from the supermarket [not a lot.. but enough to justify buying a cart full of foliage]. I now carry the following in our kitchen:
- Basil
- Two varieties of Thyme
- Parsley
- Lavender
- Oregano
- Sage
- Rosemary
**(I wish I could find Cilantro [coriander] but no joy as yet)
Anyway, my herbs were thriving, I was elated, until whilst rubbing one of the sumptuous basil leaves this morning and I suddenly noticed that my forefinger was covered in small green dots *eowwww*.
Damn damn damn, my basil had aphids *ugggg* Code Red emergency!
I threw myself immediately at the mercy of google and found a number of articles discussing the use of soap as an insecticide, particularly when the insect in question is a certain monsieur aphide. I didn't want to use anything vaguely toxic so this was a most satisfactory option and has apparently been used as an insecticide for years with evidence for it's success documented on the Chinese Scrolls and Egyptian Papyrus.
Apparently Aphids are attracted to lush, healthy growth ( hurray!) which is a complement [I guess?] but also extremely annoying as I would have preferred to have used said growth on my Bruschetta. http://greenearth.dupont.chost.ca/features/soap_e.php
Green Earth seems like a great tool in the fight against the mini green skittles but I picked up a couple of useful tips along the way:
1. Aphids like lush, new growth so try not to over-fertilize
2. When you first identify that your plants have Aphids ( small green things on plant), spray heavily with water. This should dislodge a load of them,
2. Soap appears to suffocate the aphids so try this homemade version of the Green earth spray:
1 cup of vegetable oil
1 1/2 cup water
2 teaspoons of dish soap
Mix and spray!
Hopefully this will make them go away and you wont have to suffer from an Aphid invasion like us!
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