Tips on Aphid Control for Towers or Dirt Gardens

Here are a few tips on aphid control for towers or dirt gardens. Aphids are a problem all year in the Bay Area. Ladybugs love them and are available in many nurseries in the area so get some ladybugs and hope they don’t all fly away!

They seem to love bok choy, chard, kale and string beans the most but I’ve seen them on other veggies that are growing close to chard. This spring I started hosing down the tower once a week paying special attention to the plants mentioned above. It’s helping keep the aphid population in control.

For a heavier infestation, treat with insecticidal soap and use as a prevention tool. In the very warm weather it’s essential to spray early in the day but in fall, almost anytime works. It has resulted in a big difference in the production of everything that I grow whether in the dirt garden or the tower gardens. Growing your own food has such benefits for health.

I use a quart spray container, ½ teaspoon of neem oil, ½ teaspoon of Castile liquid soap and warm water. In early spring, I’ve also used essential oils (peppermint and clove) as a preventive. Shake the bottle frequently as you spray it on the veggies. You have to use it up within a few hours as it deteriorates quickly.

In the summer I try to remember to apply it once a week but in cooler weather every other week seems to work.

Neem oil is a vegetable oil that is pressed from the fruit and seeds of a tree that originated in India and now grows in many other areas in the tropics. It is used for organic farming, medicines and also in cosmetics and other products.

Neem oil actually messes with the brains and bodies of insects by entering the system and blocking hormones from working properly. Insects can forget to eat, to mate, or they can stop laying eggs. If eggs are produced they don’t hatch, or the larvae don’t develop and the life cycle is interrupted.

If you are interested in saving money on produce and creating a sustainable garden, and giving your family the cleanest, best tasting produce, consider growing tower garden veggies. Because there is no soil and no digging, no weeding and no bending, growing is now easier that it ever was in a traditional dirt garden. Check the links below and email your questions.

submitted by Gwen O’Neill

Gwen O’Neill has been a gardener for over 40 years and has always been a passionate cook. Her own health challenges led her to experiencing a variety of healing modalities. After finding that her health improved with eating more whole food and improving her nutrition using a real, whole food based supplement called Juice Plus, she committed to sharing this experience with others. The Tower Garden by Juice Plus makes it easy to grow produce right outside your kitchen door.