How to Get Rid of Aphids Naturally: Most Effective Eco-Friendly Ways to Banish Unwanted Pests

Yellowing and distorted leaves, stunted growth, and an unsightly black and sticky substance on a plant may mean that you have aphids. These unwanted pests are among the most annoying and potentially devastating ones you can find in your garden. So figuring out how to get rid of aphids is important for every gardener to learn at some point. The first step is identifying if aphids really are your problem.

Aphids have soft, pear-shaped bodies that can be green, yellow, brown, red, or black and piercing mouthparts that destroy plants. They also have a tubelike structure projecting from the hind end of the body. You may need a magnifying glass to identify these common garden pests because they are so tiny. But once you know it's aphids that are wreaking havoc in your garden, you can start to fight back.

There are several safe and natural ways to get rid of aphids in your garden. I'll walk you through the most effective methods and how to use them to clear your garden of these unwanted visitors.

How Aphids Affect Plants

Aphids won’t bite you, but they do bite your plants. They feed on a wide range of plants and use their piercing mouthparts to suck out all the juice.

While a few bugs won’t kill a plant, a large aphid infestation can cause foliage to warp and curl, and open the door to aphid-transmitted viruses. In severe cases, your plants will fail to thrive and struggle to produce fruit or flowers.

As they feed, aphids secrete a sticky substance called honeydew, which quickly becomes infested with black sooty mold. They also spread viruses, many of which are incurable. For this reason, it’s important to take steps toward controlling aphids in the garden.

Killing aphids naturally is not only better for the environment, it's also more effective. You can get them under control by taking advantage of their weaknesses and making a few changes in the way you manage your garden.

How to Get Rid of Aphids

If you have more than a few aphids, you’ll want to protect your plants by getting rid of them. But how do you kill aphids and protect plants? Don’t even think about using broad spectrum insecticides to take out these small pests. Doing that will eliminate insects that are on your side in the pest battle.

Beneficial insects like ladybugs eat nuisance pests, including aphids. So instead of using synthetic insecticides, try natural aphid control first. Here are the most effective methods to get rid of aphids in your garden.

1. Spray Plants With Water

Physically removing pests from the leaves is the safest way to get rid of aphids and is a good place to start with organic control. Aphids are too tiny to pick off one by one, but you don’t have to take them off with your fingers.

Instead, use a hard jet of spray from the hose to blow aphids off your plants. Be sure you hit the undersides of leaves as well as the tops, since the bugs often hang out there. If you don't already have a nozzle for your hose, this AUTOMAN Garden Hose Nozzle from Amazon has a jet spray as one of 7 water patterns.

2. Dish Soap Mix

You don’t have to buy commercial insecticidal soap, but you can get an organic spray from Bonide on Amazon, to apply to your aphid-infested plants. If you want to make your own soap spray at home, just mix up a cup of vegetable oil and a pint of water with two teaspoons of dish soap. Then shoot it right onto the bugs with a spray bottle, which you can also get on Amazon.

Experts say that this works by removing the protective coating on the exterior of the aphids, resulting in them drying out quickly and dying. Remember, though, that only the aphids you hit directly with the mixture will be eliminated.

3. Neem Oil

If you aren’t the DIY type, pick up a bottle of neem oil on Amazon or at the garden center. Neem oil is made from seeds of the neem tree and contains several insecticidal and fungicidal chemical compounds. Neem oil is a versatile product to have in your gardening arsenal for plants you grow outside and houseplants as well.

This effective organic method kills aphids in the same way that dish soap and water does, so direct contact with the bugs is necessary. The oil helps to smother pests.

How to Prevent Aphids

Preventing an aphid population from building up in your garden is easier and better than trying to kill them once they have a foothold. Here are some tips on how to do just that.

1. Design Your Landscape With Care

Some plants just attract aphids. These include trees like birches, for example, and new growth on succulents. It’s a good idea to keep aphid-attracting plants away from aphid-vulnerable plants.

You can use them as trap crops by growing them far from your garden. They will lure the aphids away and keep the garden aphid-free. You can also try planting garlic or onions near infested parts of your garden, as the smells from these plants repel aphids.

The following plants are attractive to aphids. Avoid growing them in your garden to prevent pest problems:

• Nasturtium
• Aster
• Mum
• Cosmos
• Hollyhock
• Larkspur
• Tuberous begonia
• Verbena
• Dahlia
• Zinnia

2. Keep Plants Healthy

It's always easier for healthy plants, provided with adequate nutrients, water, and sunlight to fight off pests. Give your plants appropriate cultural care and don’t overfertilize.

If plants are struggling to thrive or are young and vulnerable, there are a couple ways to keep aphids away so they can regain their strength and become healthy again.

Grow young plants under floating row covers, which you can get on Amazon, to keep aphids away from them. But remember to remove the covers when the plants begin to flower so pollinators can access plants.

You can use aluminum foil or reflective mulch on the ground beneath the plants to prevent aphids from coming near them. While you may not want to do this in your flower garden, reflective mulch in the vegetable garden is a very effective deterrent.

3. Attract Natural Predators

Aphids have a number of natural predators and these insects are much better at controlling pests than any other method available to gardeners. Pampering and nurturing pests' natural enemies is an excellent method of organic aphid control.

Encourage natural aphid predators like ladybugs and green lacewings to your garden by growing plants they like. These include yarrow, wild buckwheat, white sweet clover, tansy, sweet fennel, sweet alyssum, spearmint, Queen Anne's lace, hairy vetch, flowering buckwheat, crimson clover, cowpeas, common knotweed, and caraway.

4. Utilize Ladybugs

Did you know you can increase the number of good insects that eat aphids in your garden by buying a supply at the garden store and releasing them near your vulnerable plants? It's true!

You can buy ladybugs from Amazon to feed on the aphids in your garden. Be sure to release them in the cool of the evening, though. Ladybugs released on a sunny afternoon may fly over to your neighbor’s yard instead.

5. Get Rid of Ants

While predatory insects are bent on destroying aphids, ants in the garden are their sworn protectors. Ants feed on the honeydew produced by aphids, so it is in their best interest to defend this precious resource. Getting rid of the ants so predatory insects can do their job is an important part of a good aphid control program.

Control ants in your garden by trimming the lower parts of plants so they don’t touch the ground and give ants easy access. Using an organic pesticide like neem oil will take care of ants as well.