Content
- Peppermint has aphids - What you can do about it!
- Regularly inspect peppermint for lice
- Biological means of combating lice
- In case of slight infestation
- In case of heavy infestation
- Prevention of aphids
- Tips & Tricks
Peppermint has aphids - What you can do about it!
Not only do we humans love aphids, too. If you do not do anything about it, the harvest may be over. You should not swing the chemical club, so that you can enjoy your peppermint as a tea or spice carefree.
Regularly inspect peppermint for lice
Peppermint is very often hit by lice. Therefore check your plants as regularly as possible, so that you can do something about the pests when you first arrive.
You can see the lice infestation with the naked eye. You can see the little crawling spirits, which unfortunately can fly, on the tops and bottoms. The leaves are covered with a sticky mass.
Since the peppermint is used in the kitchen, you should resort to biological means and do not use chemical aphid killers. The herb is not edible for weeks thereafter.
Biological means of combating lice
In case of slight infestation
Collect the aphids by hand or rinse them with water from a spray bottle. The beam has to be a little bit stronger, because the lice are rather tight.
In case of heavy infestation
If the plants are too heavily attacked, Sud, which you make from nettles, tobacco or soapsuds, will help. A treatment must be done several times to be effective. Afterwards you should wait two to three weeks with the harvest.
Put fresh nettle herb - without flowers! - for two days in cold water.Then remove the broth and spray the affected leaves with it. Tobacco can be prepared in the same way.
For soapy water, take core soap. Detergents are not well suited. Dissolve the soap in water and pour the lye into the spray bottle.
Prevention of aphids
The best protection are other insects such as lacewings and ladybirds. Settle the beneficials in the garden by hanging insect hotels near the peppermint.
Tips & Tricks
Look for ant trails in the garden. Ants keep outright louse farms on the peppermint. Break the tracks so the ants can not get new lice on the peppermint and remove any ant nests near your vegetable and herb beds.
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