Spraying bean plants with soap??!!

[morlogs]

Hi folks, The little critters (I assume to be Aphids) are eating my yellow wax bean leaves as fast as they can grow. A friend said that he'd heard that spraying them with some type of soap solution would cure this nightmare. Can anyone shed any light on this process such as type of soap, how much to mix with what, or if this even works? Thanks!
morlogs

 

[maddie]

I usually use dish soap in the proportion of one is to ten. One part dish liquid to ten parts of water. I know this is mild but it doesn't burn my plants. I spray the mist finely for a few days in a row and wait out for a week before I repeat the process again if I have too. This always works for me.

 

[morlogs]

Dish soap eh? Thanx Maddie. I'll give it a shot.
morlogs

 

[Gina145]

I've also used the dish soap remedy in the past, but the recipe I used included oil and rubbing alcohol. I haven't done it for a while and I don't know where I put the recipe, so I'm not sure what the proportions were. I really need to find it because I'm allowing too many bugs to live on my plants and it's not good for them.

 

[morlogs]

Hi Gina! The oil part makes sense because it won't evaporate so fast, but rubbing alcohol sounds like it might burn the plants as well as attract insects with drinking problems. I hope you find the recipe and post it. I'm very curious.

 

[Gina145]

I think the oil is supposed to make the soap stick to the insects so that they suffocate. I can't remember the reason for the rubbing alcohol.

I really wish I knew where to look for the recipe, but I'll try to find it.

 

[ChanellG]

Actually, it's the soap that breaks up the surface so the spray sticks to the bug. It's better to use a liquid castille soap like Dr. Bronner's than dish soap because the stuff for washing dishes is detergent, not just soap. I'd be careful using oil in the garden... I managed to get rid of aphids on my hibiscus with garlic and pepper spray. I think I added a couple drops of soap to it as well.

 

[morlogs]

Actually, it's the soap that breaks up the surface so the spray sticks to the bug. It's better to use a liquid castille soap like Dr. Bronner's than dish soap because the stuff for washing dishes is detergent, not just soap. I'd be careful using oil in the garden... I managed to get rid of aphids on my hibiscus with garlic and pepper spray. I think I added a couple drops of soap to it as well.

I heard that using Murphys Oil Soap works much better than dish soap too.

 

[ChanellG]

I heard that using Murphys Oil Soap works much better than dish soap too.

I'd be careful using that because of what it is. You don't want to put too many chemicals into your soil or onto your edible plants because ultimately they can become toxic. I have read that sprays from diluted essential oils can be useful in the garden, but you don't want to spray a plant with its own oil.

 

[claudine]

Dopes anyone know if I can spray my miniature roses with dish soap? Some nasty little creatures are trying to eat them and washing the leaves is not enough, even when I do this every day

 

[ChanellG]

Those creatures are probably aphids and the roses should be fine with the soap, just don't overdo it. Just add a few drops of liquid soap -- not hand soap or antibacterial - to a bottle of water. You may also want to add garlic and/or pepper to the spray, but start with small amounts.