🪲 Aphid

How to identify

Clusters of tiny pear-shaped insects, usually green, black, yellow, or white, parked on new growth and leaf undersides. They may be winged or wingless depending on whether the colony feels like traveling. Look for the two little tailpipe-like tubes (cornicles) sticking out of their rear — that's the aphid giveaway.

Damage signs

Leaves curl, yellow, and stunt as aphids drain the sap; heavy infestations can deform whole shoots. They excrete sticky honeydew that grows sooty black mold and attracts ants, who 'farm' aphids like tiny livestock and will fight off your ladybugs to protect them.

Plants it attacks

Tomatoes, peppers, cucumbers, beans, lettuce, roses, fruit trees, herbs — nearly everything green

Non-chemical controls

• Blast them off with a hard jet of water from the hose — aphids are terrible climbers and most won't make it back. Repeat every few days until the colony collapses.
• Release or attract ladybugs, lacewings, and hoverfly larvae — a single ladybug larva eats up to 400 aphids before it pupates. Plant dill, fennel, and alyssum to keep the predators hanging around.
• Prune out badly infested shoot tips and drop them in soapy water — removing the colony's nursery beats chasing stragglers.
• Deter ants from farming them: wrap trunks and stems with sticky barrier bands so the ant bodyguards can't reach their herd.
• Interplant with strong-scented companions like garlic, chives, and marigolds, which confuse aphids hunting by smell.
• Dust food-grade diatomaceous earth on dry foliage around colonies — it shreds their soft bodies on contact. Reapply after rain.