Reply To: Aphids on apple tree leaves

[John]

Thanks for the positive message. Looking ahead, I wonder if, at the first sign of aphids, spraying the apples with a weak solution of soapy water (I use Ecover washing up liquid) would be a useful job for my Spring ‘to do’ list? I have used this successfully on blackfly on broad beans.

I remember my grandfather emptying the washing up water over his rose bushes at home – the aphids didn’t have a chance! Another family story is that he used to wheel a container full of ‘household liquid activator’ down to his allotment compost heaps each morning and I am certain that this is not all myth. I think the phrase was coined by Henry Doubleday; grandad was not into niceties – it was his pee-pot!