[CH] Companion planting to fight aphids
raincrone@juno.com
Tue, 5 Dec 2000 21:33:50 -0500
Michael asked:
> > Help! I brought in my t[a]basco plant so it would finish up the
> > peppers it finally started producing before the cold weather got >
>here, and now I have aphids on it. What can I do to kill the little
>>buggers that won't involve chemical pesticides?
I haven't dealt with this indoors, though I do hear the soap approach is
a good one. But outdoors, I know something that works like a charm:
plant nasturtiums and/or morning glories nearby. Aphids are nuts about
those plants, and will eat 'em in preference to most anything else that's
around, especially the
nasturtiums. You may still get a few on your chiles, but lots fewer
than if you've planted chiles alone.
The morning glories are vigorous enough they'll usually survive and
flower just fine despite pretty heavy aphid infestation; the nasturtiums
may or may not make it, but are definitely the bugs' first preference, so
it can be worth replanting them. They're easy in poor to average soil
kept a bit dry; if you want flowers, don't fertilize them or, once
they're about half-grown, water them real
often. If the soil in your chile patch is rich and always kept
moist, you can put the nasturtiums in pots in plain old fill-dirt
with a little sand worked in, and set them nearby. Besides being
very pretty, the flowers are edible--they're closely related to
watercress, and taste like it. Try 'em stuffed with cream cheese and
chives. You can also pickle the buds and use them as you would capers.
Keep on rockin',
Rain
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