If aphids appear on the lupins, it is important to act quickly: After all, these flowering wonders are rarely alone in the bed, but in combination with flowers and shrubs such as roses, which almost magically attract aphids. As a rule, home remedies help very well and prevent infection.
Aphids like to eat lupins
Prevent aphids
To reduce the risk of infection, you can already pay attention to optimal site conditions when creating the flower bed. A loose, permeable soil, a sufficiently sunny location and appropriate planting distances ensure healthy plants that have strong natural defenses and can thus defend themselves against an aphid invasion. You should also pay attention to a balanced mixed culture: Some plants, such as lavender or garlic, drive away aphids and other pests with their characteristic vapors.
How to get rid of aphids on lupins
If the lupins have already faded, you can simply cut off the inflorescences. This way the aphids will disappear and you can hope for a second bloom. However, you will not be able to harvest seeds with this method, as the fruits of the second flowering will not ripen in time. In normal cases, hosing down the infested plants with a water hose also helps. You have to repeat this several times to actually catch all aphids.
Useful Insects
If you simply rinse off the aphids with the water hose, numerous useful insects will be happy about this meal: Ladybugs alone eat up to 1000 aphids and are therefore indispensable as pest controllers in the garden. The same applies to beneficial insects such as earwigs, parasitic wasps, (22.99€) lacewings or hoverflies. You can buy larvae and eggs from these animals in garden shops and place them where they are needed. An insect-friendly garden - many flowering plants, a cleverly positioned insect hotel (€11.33) - ensures that the animals settle in and supports you in ecological gardening.
Effective home remedies
If the aphid infestation is already advanced, the pure water often no longer helps. However, you can fix it with home remedies that can be found in every kitchen. Milk, oil and alcohol, for example, clog the animals' tracheae and cause them to suffocate. That way they don't come back anytime soon and can't produce offspring. The following remedies have proven to be particularly effective:
- Milk-oil mixture: 1 part fresh whole milk, 2 parts water, a few drops of vegetable oil (e.g. rapeseed oil) or spirit
- Dishwashing liquid: mix a few drops of washing-up liquid and spirit or vegetable oil with water
- Neem seeds: Infuse 50 grams of neem seeds with one liter of boiling water and leave to infuse
- Coffee / black tea: cooled coffee or black tea without additives
- Nettle stock: Pour 10 liters of water over 1 kilogram of fresh, chopped nettles and leave to steep
Spray the lupins and other affected plants with these liquids and repeat the treatment several times within a week or two.
tips
You can recognize an aphid infestation by stunted growth, black spots on the leaves and shoots and simultaneous ant infestation. In these cases, however, the invasion is often well advanced.