How to get rid of aphids with biological pest control?

Don’t we all love plants? We mean it brings life and serenity into our home. Sometimes it brings a bit too much livelyness in the house, due to that we can encounter crawling creepers that take advantage of our plants. There are all kind of pests that wouldn’t mind taking a bite of your lush foliage collection. You have taken such good care of the plants, which makes them healthy and thriving, exaclty what these pests have an appetite for. But not to worry, as you might know we like to offer solutions for al kind of PLNTS problems. In this blog we will go over how you can tackle aphids by using biological pest control. Are you ready? Let’s dive into it!

How do aphis damage my plants?

Aphids are known to reproduce on a rapid rate, which results in them taking over your plants with big numbers in no time. They feed on your plant’s sap, which is in the vascular system of your plants. They puncture the plant with their ‘trunk’, once they bite they leave their saliva behind. Which infects the plant with viruses and bacteria. They nest on growing points, underneath the leaves, on you stems or in leaf axils, which can make them hard to spot at times. Nevertheless they are visible with the naked eye, but a loop may come in handy when you want to find these creatures. The aphids love the plant’s sap and will eat from it excessively. Due to the sap being very rich in sugar, the aphid needs to lose this somehow. They release this through a substance that is calles Honeydew. This sticky substance will cling onto the leaf, making a perfect breeding spot for all kinds of funghi. Now you are not only dealing with aphids, but also everthing that an aphids traces attract. Eventually your plant will die from this, which is a sad end.

Puncta

Meet Puncta, the saviour for all your aphid problems! Not only does Puncta look quite cute, but is also able to consume 200-300 aphids in its life span. Puncta is the juvenile form of a ladybug species, in good circumstances and with enough food supplies, Puncta will develop into a grown ladybug. Once they have developed, they won’t stop with their mission, eating the aphids in your urban jungle. One package contains about 100 larvaes, which is enough to cover about 5 decent sized houseplants.

How to use?

Puncta is delivered in a paper back with buckwheat hulls. You can empty the content in the cotton bag, that is also in your package. You can scatter some of the Punta with buckwheat hulls over your infested houseplant. The rest you can leave in the cotton bag and hang near the infested place. Now they will do their job and save your houseplants! One-time usage of Puncta, doesn’t guarantee that your aphid plague will be devoured completely. That is why it is advised to repeat the treatment after 2 weeks.

Preservability

Once Puncta arrives, it is best to release them directly. If you want to keep them safe for a bit longer, you can do that for a day. Make sure to keep them in a cool spot, between 12-14 °C. The fridge is too cold, so make sure not to put them in there.

Last but not least!

Puncta is most effective in a temperature between 15 en 30 °C. Also make sure that there are no ants near Puncta, they can disturb Puncta in fighting of the aphids. That would be a petty of these saviours.

And that is everything you need to know to get rid of your aphid infestation! We hope Puncta will be helpful for you. If you want to know more about biological pest control, you might want to take a look at our other blog. We have listed all the other pest control blogs here and share some additional information and tips! The best of luck with your aphids and fighting them off. If you need additional info, our PLNTSdoctor page is something you may like. Also don’t be afraid to reach out to us. ;)