Skip to main content
Home

Service menu

  • Search
  • Where to buy
  • Contact
  • Sustainability
Home lovethegarden

Main navigation

  • Products
    Lawn Care
    Plant Food
    Soil, Compost & Bark
    Plant Control & Protection
    Weed Control
    Home Pest Protection
    Hard Surface Control & Protection
  • Brands
    Miracle-Gro®
    Levington®
    Roundup®
    Weedol®
    Clear™
    Patio Magic!®
    Home Defence®
  • Tools
    Your monthly planting guide
    Find hands-on guidance for what to plant and when.
    Learn more
    All growing guides
    Discover how to grow any plant.
    Learn more
    Pest, disease & weed identifier
    Find out what's wrong with a sick plant.
    Learn more
    Compost calculator
    Calculate how much compost your garden needs.
    Calculate now
    Mulch calculator
    Calculate how much mulch your garden needs.
    Calculate now
    Videos
    Discover all of our helpful video content.
    Watch now
  • Advice & Inspiration
    Lawn care
    Plants, trees & shrubs
    Weeds, pests & diseases
    Grow your own
    Garden care
    Garden design
    Birds & wildlife
    David Domoney
    Sustainability
  • Search
  • Where to buy
  • Contact
  • Sustainability
  1. Home
  2. Tools
  3. Garden problem
  4. Aphids

Aphids

What are Aphids? 

Aphids are small insects which feed on plant sap using their needle-like mouthparts. They are sometimes called greenfly (green aphids) or blackfly (black aphids). There are more than 500 aphid species in Britain. Some aphids feed on only one or two species of plant, but others can be found on a wide range of plants. Most types of plant can be affected.

In the aphid life cycle the insect looks similar at each stage, just getting larger as it reaches maturity. For most of the year aphids give birth to live young (aphid larvae) which during warmer weather develop into adult insects in as little as seven days. Although a small colony of aphids isn’t a threat to a healthy plant, when they multiply very rapidly a heavy aphid infestation can weaken a plant. Aphids lay overwintering eggs in the autumn so as to survive the colder months of the year.

Aphid's eggs are often laid in a woody tree or shrub and when the eggs hatch in the spring, the aphids feed on the soft young leaves. When the leaves become older and tougher, the aphid grows wings and moves to another plant for the summer, usually a non-woody plant with soft foliage.

How to identify aphids?

Aphids are little bugs about 2mm long. They are usually green or black but some types of aphid are yellow, pink, white or mottled. Flightless when young, aphids develop wings in the later stages of their life cycle. You often see clusters of aphids feeding at the growing tip of young plants.

Aphid damage and symptoms

Aphids feed by sucking the sap of plants, weakening them and reducing their growth. They can also transmit virus diseases to the plant. Affected plant leaves or stems can become curled or distorted in shape.

Aphid colonies usually gather underneath leaves, on flowers or at growth points. As they suck the sap, they excrete a sugary honeydew onto the leaves below, which develop a shiny glaze. Although ants do not eat aphids they sometimes collect the honeydew they secrete. In damp conditions, sooty moulds grow on the honeydew, forming a black or greyish green deposit on the leaves. This is not only unsightly, but will gradually deprive the leaf of light and might eventually kill the plant.

Aphids shed their skins as they grow larger. The skins gather on the leaf surfaces below where they are feeding and form a whitish dust, often the first sign of an aphid infestation.

Aphid control

How can you get rid of aphids? There are many methods of aphid control. Here we’ve listed a few different aphid pest controls, ranging from cultural and biological to chemical.

  • Tackle individual aphids on plants and small colonies by simply squashing them or wiping them off the plant with a damp cloth or small watercolour paint brush.
  • In the greenhouse, you can introduce a biological treatment to combat aphids such as a midge whose larvae eat aphids (Aphiodoletes aphidomyza) or a type of parasitic wasp whose larvae develop inside the aphids’ bodies (Aphidius).
  • Ladybirds and their larvae eat aphids. You can attract them into your garden by planting English marigolds.
  • Where these natural and biological controls are not practical, you can control aphids by using an aphid spray on affected plants such as a contact insecticide containing pyrethrins (a natural plant extract) which will control most aphids. As its name suggests, a contact insecticide kills only the insect pests it comes into contact with.
  • Some aphids, such as woolly aphid, have a protective covering that contact insecticides cannot penetrate. This means they need to be sprayed with a systemic insecticide. Systemic insecticides kill on contact, but are also absorbed into the plant, protecting against further aphid symptoms for up to three weeks.

Before you treat aphids on fruit and vegetables, always check that the insecticide is approved for use on edible crops. To protect bees and pollinating insects do not apply to plants when in flower. Do not use where bees are actively foraging. Do not apply when flowering weeds are present.

Some plants require different aphid treatments

  • Aphids on roses: try growing thyme near your roses because its strong scent deters black aphids, known as blackfly – one of the types of aphids that feed on roses. You can also get rid of aphids on roses with an insecticide designed for roses.
  • Aphids on chilli plants and tomato plants: these plants often attract aphids if they are grown indoors or in a greenhouse. As soon as you see them, wipe them off with a damp cloth or small paint brush.
  • Aphids on trees: aphids sometimes lay their eggs on fruit trees such as cherry trees over the winter. Aphid eggs can be destroyed by using a plant oil winter wash on a dry mild day from November until early February.
  • Aphids on runner beans and French beans: lure aphids away from your beans by planting nasturtiums nearby.
  • Aphids treatment for indoor plants: keep an eye out for signs of aphids on your indoor plants such as your basil plants and squash them between your finger and thumb or wipe them off as described before.

How to prevent Aphids?

One way to prevent aphids damaging precious plants in your garden is to plant ‘companion’ plants which either put the aphids off completely or attract aphid predators which can keep down an aphid infestation. Here are some examples to try:

  • Lavender:  the strong scent can deter aphids.
  • Wormwood (Artemisia absinthium): aphids appear to dislike the scent of this strongly smelling herb.
  • Fennel or herb fennel (Foeniculum vulgare): its attractive yellow blooms attract hoverflies, which prey on aphids.
The best products to help with your problem
UK_121008_CLE_PS.png

BugClear™ Fruit & Veg

UK_121005_CLE_PS.png

BugClear™ Insect Glue Barrier

UK_119524_CLE_PS.png

BugClear™ Ultra 2

Find your local store and start growing your garden.

Looking for specialised gardening advice? Or just hunting for a specific product? Visit your local store and get help from dedicated staff.
Find a store near you

Find your local store and start growing your garden.

Looking for specialised gardening advice? Or just hunting for a specific product? Visit your local store and get help from dedicated staff.

Use my current location

Common plant diseases

What are Crane Flies?

Crane Flies

Read more
Dandelion control

Dandelion

Read more
Plantain control

Plantain

Read more
couch grass

Couch grass

Read more
Groundsel

Groundsel

Read more
chickweed

Chickweed

Read more
Annual Meadow Grass

Annual meadow grass

Read more
dock leaf

Dock

Read more

Pagination

  • First disabled
  • Previous disabled
  • 1
  • 2
  • 3
  • 4
  • 5
  • Next ›
  • Last »
See all diseases

Unable to find a solution?

Please contact our online helpdesk to get in touch with our experts.
Contact us now
Our Newsletter

Sign up to our newsletter and get expert gardening tips, advice, and inspiration. Start creating your own green oasis today.

Sign Up Now

Footer

  • Our purpose
  • Contact
  • Brands
  • Modern Slavery Act
  • Compliance
  • Terms of use
  • Product Ingredients
  • Sustainability
  • Evergreen Research Station
  • Garden Chemical Disposal
  • Privacy and cookies
  • Update cookie preferences
  • David Domoney
  • Trade enquiries
  • Work for us

© 2023 Evergreen Garden Care (UK) Ltd. Registration no: 10735156

Evergreen Garden Care (UK) Ltd, 
1 Archipelago, Lyon Way, 
Frimley, Surrey GU16 7ER, 
United Kingdom

Miracle-Gro® and Scotts® are trademarks of OMS Investments, Inc.
and are used under licence from OMS Investments, Inc.

Roundup® is a registered trademark and used under licence.

Change country
A local version of The Love The Garden website exists

Switch over if you want to find gardening products and brands available in your country.

ajax_loaderGroup 72 Atoms/Icons/cross1 Fundaments/Icons/FitlerCombined ShapeCombined Shapeicon--plusicon-reseticon-sorticon-staricon-starGroupicon-checkGroup 2