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Yuck! Aphids destroying your roses? Mix up this DIY Aphid Killer and see results in just 24 hours!
Yuck! This picture looks way worse when it’s full size instead of on my phone screen! I walked past my rose bush that’s full of new growth and buds ready to bloom and I discovered this! Aphids have invaded!
*shudder* I went straight to Pinterest for ideas on how to kill them because I used up the last of my rose spray last season and need to buy more. But I’d rather save time and money by making my own DIY aphid killer if it’s possible!
Surprisingly, the only thing I could find on Pinterest was lady bugs (a great choice, but I don’t exactly have a lady bug farm in my back yard) or a concoction of onion, garlic and soap and water.
So I hit up Google for more ideas and just kept coming back to plain old dish soap and water. Finally, I saw this post from One Good Thing by Jillee about the many wonderful things you can use Dawn blue dish soap for, and I knew I was on the right track!
Dawn to the rescue! Just put a few drops in the bottom of a spray bottle, fill with water, shake and head out to spray the little creepers to death!
For an infestation like mine, I had to give it a pretty good soaking. I let the plant sit all night and the next day when I checked the bugs were all dead. See all those black spots?
But they still stuck on the leaves and buds, so I hosed down the plant and rinsed all the bugs off. Then I gave it one more light misting to keep the aphids away and it worked like a charm! No more nasty creepy critters on my pretty flowers!
Be sure to spray the underside of the leaves, too, since that’s where a lot of bugs like to lay eggs and hide from predators. I love when something simple actually works!
What you need to make DIY Aphid Spray
- 1-2 drops of original blue Dawn dish soap
- water
- spray bottle (16-28 oz.)
Time needed: 5 minutes
How to make homemade DIY Aphid Killer
- Add 1-2 drops of original blue Dawn dish soap to a spray bottle
A small 16-28 oz. spray bottle (like one you would use for ironing) is the perfect size for this.
- Fill the bottle up the rest of the way with warm water
Warm water works better than cold in this DIY spray.
- Lightly mist the plant with the sudsy water
Be sure to get under the leaves as well as on top. The entire surface area needs to get covered for the best results.
- Let it sit overnight and check for results the next day.
The aphids and eggs should be dried up and dead, but they may still be stuck to the leaves. Gently hose down the plants to remove any remaining bugs and then spray one more time for prevention.
Here’s another tip for your flowers that might come in handy this summer! How to water flowers while you’re away on vacation.
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Kimmer Utterback says
Just a reminder that using this soap solution to kill aphids will also kill bees and other beneficial insects.
Nicole Burkholder says
If you’re careful to spray only the leaves, and not the flowers, the bees should be fine. There’s no need to get anywhere near the flowers when treating for aphids. 🙂
Dorrie says
My hibiscus buds are full of aphids!!!!!!!
Linda Heenan says
Australia doesn’t have the Dawn brand of dishwashing liquid. What does it have in it that affects the aphids, so I can make the best choice over here?
Nicole Burkholder says
I think if you get a good dish soap (not a cheap watery one) that’s also a de-greaser, you’ll be fine.
Maedie says
Linda, if you have a Costco nearby, they sell Dawn. I tried this remedy and it worked fantastic. Dawn has so many wonderful uses in and around the home, it’s worth trying to locate some. If you not a member of Costco, maybe someone you know is & they may be able to pick some up for you. If you live in Adelaide, I would be quite happy to get some for you next time I’m there.
Linda says
I live in country NSW. I’ve heard there is a Costco in Sydney but that is a very long way away.
Dorrie says
Yes you can get it at Coles
Marthy says
To kill aphids my daughter found in youtube a potion made with tomatoe leaves. Crush them and leave it in water soaking overnight. Then strain it and put in a spray bottle and spray plants with it. It was bye bye aphids!!
Amy Nguyen says
Can I used any color DAWN? I have green instead of blue.
Thanks, Amy
Nicole Burkholder says
Yes, that should be fine. I just always have Dawn and I haven’t used anything else. But any degreasing dishsoap should work.
Coco says
I am a first time gardener and was wondering do you spray your plants before you see bugs or after?
Nicole Burkholder says
I have only done after. I don’t think it’s a deterrent, it’s just a way to get rid of them. But it certainly wouldn’t hurt the plants any to treat them! My grandma always used to toss her dishwater out on the rose bushes every night. 🙂
Renee Waite says
Hmmm. Clever idea, Nicole’s grama!
Cheri says
Any idea if this will work on white flies? Or any other concoction ideas? Last year, I had a beautiful 6 ft. tall gardenia that bloomed all summer, and this year it is almost dead from white flies. I tried the Joy/vinegar/water combination, but I’m wondering if that contributed to its demise.
Nicole Burkholder says
Yes, the spray will work on white flies (no vinegar) but it only kills the adults, so you need to do it over several weeks to kill them as the eggs hatch and they mature. Another idea is to vacuum them off the leaves if you have a vacuum cleaner with a removable bag that you can seal in a plastic bag and toss in the freezer to kill them all.
Claudette macioshek says
I find that the dawn/ water/ vinegar mix killed my succulents too. Now I still use it, but rinse off with lean water after spraying with the soap.hope this helps..
Dani says
How much of each do you use in a spray bottle?
marge says
Hi,just found that post….what if u dont have Dawn soap dish,can u use different brand? Thank you for answer…
Nicole Burkholder says
Yes, I believe any dish soap will do. Dawn just seems to have extra qualities that other soaps don’t, so I keep it on hand. 🙂
Veronica Phelan-Munroe says
Good ol’ Dawn! Amazing product really . When in doubt try Dawn first! Fruit flies even found us up here at top of Adirondacks, in Mountain View NY. I read about using a cone shaped coffee filter with Apple Cider Vinegar and Dawn…it worked very well. Cut a small hole ( pencil wide) in bottom of paper filter. Open it and measure so it sits about an inch from bottom of a tumbler glass that has about the same circumference as the coffee filter. Cut off top section of coffee filter to fit well inside the glass. Now pour ablout 2 Tbs. of Apple Cider Vinegar in bottom of glass , then add a drop of Dawn. Swirl it around.. Then place paper filter back into glass so it is just above the liquid. Tape the paper all the way around the edge of your glass so that the flies cannot slip back out. . The Dawn makes the Vinegar more solvable so that the fruit flies touch down on the liquid and drown! Finally found a way to not just trap them but it kills them too! I changed the liquid after a week by just undoing one side of tapped paper cone. Then tapped it back up. Voila!
Nicole Burkholder says
Wow, that sounds like an ingenious solution for fruit flies! (And yes, Dawn is seriously a miracle in a bottle!) I use it for house cleaners, laundry stains, bug killer and all sorts of good stuff! 🙂
Amy says
Do you have any photos of this at all? It sounds great
Amelia says
I am one that uses chemicals. I give this a try,
Katie says
Please do not use insect sprays like Bayer’s Rose and Flower. They poison honeybees and other beneficial pollinators. These products contain chemicals that are known to contribute to colony collapse disorder. Neonicontinoids are lethal to individual honey bees and hives. Other names include:
Acetamidprid
Clothianidin
Dinotefuran
Imidacloprid
Thiamethoxam
A simple spray like the one you opted for is much safer for our flying friends.
I recently had the very same problem on my red yucca. I mixed up some Mrs. Meyers dish soap in a spray bottle and the results were immediate.
Nicole Burkholder says
This is much cheaper, too!
C Schoultz says
I am going to try the soapy water tomorrow. How do i get rid of black spot and white powdery leaves. I find that i keep getting suckers from the base of the rose i do cut them off but they keep coming back.
Nicole Burkholder says
The black spots and the powdery stuff are fungi that attack roses. I haven’t found anything natural that seems to work to combat fungus. I bought a spray that killed it quickly and my leaves were back to normal very soon. You can probably get it at a garden store, but this is my Amazon affiliate link if you want to check it out. http://amzn.to/2rP2gMl
SUZI WHITE says
3 cups water
2 squeezes Dawn
1 cup baking soda
Mix together and spray on leaves
Baking soda kills fungus & dawn makes it stick to leaves
LUCIA says
one cup of baking soda is too harsh , you meant 1 tbls .
Annie says
For fungus try 2tsp hydrogen peroxide 3% in 1 litre of water. Have to repeat every 2nd day until fungus gone.
Kate A Kelly says
Last year I found a DIY recipe that worked like a charm on powdery mildew on my roses. 1 Tbs Dawn, 1 Tbs vegetable oil and 1 tbs baking soda to 1 Gal of water and then put it in a spray bottle. Believe it or not, I sprayed in the evening and the next morning that mildew was gone! I was amazed!
Dennis says
This will also kill aphids and thrips in roses.
Linda says
Part of the aphid problem is that they can reproduce without a partner. I love the soap idea.
Nicole Burkholder says
Really? Well that would explain how they seem to explode overnight!
sherry jarecki says
I’m a custodian at a middle school , one teacher brings her plants into her class room. This year aphids , I’ve tried dawn dish soap water mixture also Dawn & vinegar water mix. I’ve been treating them everyday & they keep coming back, any idea why ? Please help
Nicole Burkholder says
Are you making sure to completely cover the plant? It should be dripping wet when you’re done. Especially concentrated UNDER every leaf. If you spray in the afternoon, the next morning the aphids should be all black, but the bugs and eggs will still probably be stuck to the leaves. That’s when you need to take the plant outside and hose it down. You need to wash off all the eggs and bugs in case one got missed. It’s a bit more complicated since you’re talking indoor plants rather than a rosebush outside. Hope that helps!
Claudia V says
Even simpler, just hose off the plant(s) with a forceful stream of water from the hose. It knocks the aphids off and they never seem to find their way back onto the plant. I’ve done this with my rose bushes for years and it works like a charm. Have never had to do more than two hosings in a season.
Nicole Burkholder says
I tried that once, but it didn’t seem to do a thorough enough job. I think my water stream wasn’t quite strong enough (or I was worried about losing all my blooms.) That’s probably why a good hose down after treating the plants seems to do the trick for me.
Terry says
Not to mention, but with a humid climate, hosing the roses will contribute back to the fungus (Blackspot and Powdery Mildew). .Hose at a time when the roses will dry off relatively quickly. Also, using a pesticide will kill the lady bugs, who love the little critters.
Nicole Burkholder says
I live in SoCal, so it’s certainly not humid here, but I didn’t think about that for other places. Good point!
AmyK says
Tried this and they came back within a day
Nicole Burkholder says
If you have a really bad infestation, you may need to do it a couple times. Last season, I had to treat the bush twice. I think it didn’t get all the eggs with the first spray. (The whole bush should literally be dripping wet as you spray both sides of every leaf.) This season, my first treatment worked, but I caught it early before they really infested the buds and leaves. Give it another try! It’s super cheap and doesn’t take long to do. You’ve got nothing to lose. Be sure to really get under all those leaves.
Marcie says
AAphids have killed my squash the past few years so I’m going to start this early and try to keep them away.
Nicole Burkholder says
That’s a shame! It’s one thing to lose flowers, but losing FOOD to bugs is no good!
bruce says
Why Dawn? Does it have a different formulation than other dish soaps?
Nicole Burkholder says
Dawn does has a different formulation than other dish soaps in that it cuts through grease and cleans other surfaces/products better than any other brand I’ve tried. I use only Dawn for my dishes as well as other cleaning solutions. However, for this purpose, I honestly don’t know. I would imagine that any kind of dish soap would work, but I haven’t tested any other kind.
sharon says
I haven’t tried this but I’ve heard dog shampoo works even better than Dawn.
Katie says
Soapy water is actually good for your plants, it ‘traps’ water moisture in the soil.
Nicole Burkholder says
See? Grandma wasn’t crazy for throwing her dish water out on the rosebushes every night! 🙂
Wendy says
That is exactly what I was thinking when I read your blog! LOVE IT!!
Shahnaz says
I’ve used this soapy water solution and it has definitely helped in killing them. But after a few days, I still found some new aphids on my roses. I spray them every few days whenever I see them. The downside is that my leaves are starting to look not so healthy… they are starting to have a lot of brown patches!! 🙁 Maybe because of the soapy residue left on the leaves??
Nicole Burkholder says
I rinse my bushes off with a hose after 24 hours to help remove the dead bugs and the extra soap. I think it also washes away the eggs so there’s less of a chance of a reinfestation. Maybe someone else will comment with another solution for you!
Robin says
Dawn and water also works on scale infestation. I couldn’t find any Dawn to water proportion so I did a 50/50 mix. Far too concentrated but it did kill off the scale. Had soapy dirt when it was rinsed off. LOL
Nicole Burkholder says
That’s great to know!
Carrie Groneman says
Oh, we are definitely going to try this idea this summer – I’m afraid I’ll need your trick, wish we didn’t, but gardens are that way. Thanks for the tip. Stopping by from YOUR party! Carrie, A Mother’s Shadow
Nicole Burkholder says
Yes, some years are awful and others are great. It’s good to have something simple on hand like this!
Jean | DelightfulRepast.com says
I’m all for using the least toxic solution possible, so I’ll definitely be trying this as soon as the need arises!
Marjie @ Home Again Jiggety-jig! says
That is what we use too. It really works. I keep a spray bottle with dawn for dishes and water in it, for that purpose.
Just keep an eye on them. I have several rose bushes, and they seem to like some better than others.
Heather P says
I thought I had an aphid problem..you my friend have an infestation! I have been fightinh aphids for about 2 weeks with natural and unnatural solutions. I plan on posting my results on Monday.
Xo,
Heather
http://spunkyrealdeal.blogspot.com/
Nicole Burkholder says
Worked for me! Hope it does for you 🙂
Anonymous says
I hate Aphids. They get on the underside of leaves (like cucumbers and zucchini) and suck the life out of the plant. I found you have to start checking from the very start, and spray the leaves to keep the bugs off. Sometimes it’s hard to get rid of them after they take over. Let me know how your soap works. I just happen to have some of that.
Helen ~
Nicole Burkholder says
I went outside yesterday to check on the progress. After spraying them down with the soapy water, I just left it alone. Yesterday, I saw that the bugs seemed to be dead (most of them at least) but were still all over the buds and leaves. So I took the hose and a gave the whole bush a good spraying. That took care of them! I checked again this morning and they are still free and clear. Now it will just be a matter of staying on top of it, I think.
Heather P says
I concur. After it rains is a great time to check your bushes and spray with your natural solutions.:)
Nicole Burkholder says
It’s been several weeks now, and I am happy to report we are still aphid-free 🙂 It only took one treatment with the soapy water and then a good rinse. I just did some serious pruning and my bushes look great!