Can't get rid of aphids on crepe myrtle
Standard sprays like neem oil and mill stop SP often fail to eliminate aphids on crepe myrtles, leading to summer-long battles. Because physically spraying the bugs off daily isn't practical, the persistent infestation drives people to consider drastic measures like systemic drenches or cutting down the tree entirely.
What people tried
Every workaround mentioned in the threads below. We haven’t tested any of them — and nobody here is claiming they worked.
Found another way around this?
Share your steps and trade-offs so fellow engineers don't have to reinvent the wheel. No account required.
- 1Cutting everything off the top and scrubbing it at the end of fallDid this help you?
- 2Treating with Sevin dustDid this help you?
- 3Considering cutting down the treeDid this help you?
- 4spraying plants with neem oil or horticultural oilDid this help you?
- 5blasting pests off with a hard water stream every other dayDid this help you?
- 6releasing live ladybugs to eat the pestsDid this help you?
- 7applying insecticidal soap to the undersides of leavesDid this help you?
- 8using a systemic drenchDid this help you?
In their words
Unedited, grouped by where they were said, most upvoted first within each place, each linked to the thread it came from.
“I have a client who has been battling aphids all summer”source ↗
“We have tried mill stop SP, and neem oil. I’m considering using horticulture oil or even a systemic drench.”source ↗
“I am not able to spray them off daily, but maybe it’s something he may be able to do.”source ↗
Where this came up
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