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Aug 17, 2016 5:56 PM CST
Thread OP
Name: Becky
Sebastian, Florida (Zone 10a)
Celebrating Gardening: 2015 Daylilies Hummingbirder Butterflies Seed Starter Container Gardener
Charter ATP Member I was one of the first 300 contributors to the plant database! Garden Ideas: Master Level Lover of wildlife (Black bear badge) Birds Ponds
The link to this article was posted on the Gardening for Butterflies, Birds and Bees forum:

http://greengardeningmatters.b...

I found it quite interesting and wonder what other's thoughts were about this article?
What lies behind us and what lies before us are tiny matters, compared to what lies within us.
Garden Rooms and Becky's Budget Garden
Last edited by beckygardener Aug 17, 2016 5:56 PM Icon for preview
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Aug 17, 2016 6:21 PM CST
Name: Glen Ingram
Macleay Is, Qld, Australia (Zone 12a)
(Lee Reinke X Rose F Kennedy) X Unk
Amaryllis Hybridizer Canning and food preservation Lilies Native Plants and Wildflowers Orchids
Plant Lover: Loves 'em all! Pollen collector Lover of wildlife (Raccoon badge) Plays in the sandbox Sedums Seed Starter
Soap and detergent are useless with aphids and daylilies anyway. Nearly all of them are in tight at the base of the leaves.
The problem is that when you are young your life it is ruined by your parents. When you are older it is ruined by your children.
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Aug 17, 2016 6:43 PM CST
Name: Sue
Ontario, Canada (Zone 4b)
Annuals Native Plants and Wildflowers Keeps Horses Dog Lover Daylilies Region: Canadian
Butterflies Birds Enjoys or suffers cold winters Garden Sages Plant Identifier
Usually commercial insecticidal soaps are considered safer for plants than home-made sprays with liquid dish detergent. This Extension article elaborates:

http://extension.colostate.edu...

Diluted soybean oil has been used reasonably successfully for aphids on daylilies but there's the same problem Glen mentioned of needing a spray forceful enough to get it into the leaf bases.
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Aug 18, 2016 9:19 AM CST
Name: Maurice
Grey Highlands, Ontario (Zone 5a)
My experience with Safer's at the recommended dose with daylilies is that it harmed them. My experience with mild dish soap solutions is that it did not harm the daylilies.
I had an infestation of aphids on daylilies I was testing indoors just after I brought the plants inside in the autumn. I used a mild spray of dish soap and saturated the plants making sure that the solution ran down between leaves. I was surprised, but after repeating the sprays every few days it actually seemed to have worked and the aphids were no longer present for the rest of the long winter.
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Aug 18, 2016 10:55 AM CST
Name: Sue
Ontario, Canada (Zone 4b)
Annuals Native Plants and Wildflowers Keeps Horses Dog Lover Daylilies Region: Canadian
Butterflies Birds Enjoys or suffers cold winters Garden Sages Plant Identifier
Maurice, did you use Safers indoors as well?
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Aug 18, 2016 1:38 PM CST
Name: Maurice
Grey Highlands, Ontario (Zone 5a)
@Sooby,
Sue, both the mild dish soap and the Safer's were first used indoors. When I first used Safer's indoors and noticed its effects I switched to dish soap. I have never again considered using Safer's - I will/do use dish soap solutions. I don't use any sort of formula for the concentration - just a squirt of dish soap in a pump spray container of water. Aphids visibly respond to the spray; I have not checked to see if they will respond to plain water sprays.
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Aug 18, 2016 1:54 PM CST
Name: Sue
Ontario, Canada (Zone 4b)
Annuals Native Plants and Wildflowers Keeps Horses Dog Lover Daylilies Region: Canadian
Butterflies Birds Enjoys or suffers cold winters Garden Sages Plant Identifier
I wonder what the difference is, I've used Safers on daylilies outdoors and never noticed a problem. It would have only been when they were about to flower.
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Aug 18, 2016 4:13 PM CST
Name: Maurice
Grey Highlands, Ontario (Zone 5a)
It has been a long time since I stopped using Safer's. The Safer's instructions (according to a web download) indicate that the same rate is used both on indoor and outdoor plants.
The daylilies were growing indoors over winter in large pots under lights. They would have had aphids from near the start of their growth and that would have been several months before flowering. Basically all their foliage would have been produced under the lower light intensity of indoor fluorescent lights. I assume they would have responded by producing shade type leaves instead of sun type leaves. Perhaps it is possible that such leaves are more susceptible to damage than the leaves produced outdoors in direct sun.
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Aug 18, 2016 4:24 PM CST
Name: Sue
Ontario, Canada (Zone 4b)
Annuals Native Plants and Wildflowers Keeps Horses Dog Lover Daylilies Region: Canadian
Butterflies Birds Enjoys or suffers cold winters Garden Sages Plant Identifier
I wondered about that, maybe younger leaves, thinner cuticle etc. Usually one tries to avoid spraying with soaps in hot sunny weather to avoid damage. I always used it very early morning for that reason and also because pests are usually less active then and too dopey to fly away from it, and the spray is effective for longer because of slower drying.
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Aug 18, 2016 9:13 PM CST
Name: Sharon Rose
Grapevine, TX (Zone 8a)
Grace of the Lord Jesus be with all
Amaryllis Region: Texas Enjoys or suffers hot summers Salvias Lilies Irises
Hibiscus Garden Art Daylilies Cottage Gardener Container Gardener Composter
My daylilies and roses have always responded very well to baking soda and dish soap. Plants have responded well to hydrogen peroxide. If it works in your yard, feel confident and do it. I do not think all things work in all gardens. There is operator error, soil conditions, temps, types of plants(the ones in question, but also what is it planted next to,) micro climates in your own garden, prayer, altitudes, inland or coastal, different waste water treatment facilities, etc. I do not believe you can have a realistic control group that applies to everyone. Always or nevers are usually false. Maybe there is something in one of my variables that makes it work for me and it will not work anywhere else. If you think about it, every living thing continually creates a change in the ecosystem. Too many times in my life I have been witness to experts being majorly wrong. Remember it causes cancer in laboratory rats if they eat it and only it all day and every day. I would say to fellow gardeners use common sense and follow your heart when taking care of your plants. May your gardens and homes be full of joy and happiness!
One to take to heart....1 John 4 ..............................................Where there is smoke...there is fire...in most cases the smoke will kill you long before the fire consumes you. Beware of smoke screens! Freedom is not free and when those who have not paid the price or made the sacrifice...think that only they are right and entitled to speak...they bring us tryanny.
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Aug 19, 2016 9:45 AM CST
Name: Skipper
Hamilton, Ohio (Zone 6a)
Composter Daylilies Dog Lover Region: Ohio Spiders!
Neem Oil Spray keeps aphids and other soft bodied insects at bay in my garden. It also helps fight a plethora of fungi.
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Aug 19, 2016 11:35 AM CST
Name: Ken
East S.F. Bay Area (Zone 9a)
Region: California
The mixing directions for Neem Oil recommend the addition of a wetting agent, and for that I use a full dose of Safer's Insecticidal Soap. This combo is my favorite general-purpose bug spray. In a good hand-held pump bottle it can take down a yellow jacket in flight. I've used it on daylilies for aphids and red spider mites, but I've never noticed any damage to the plants. A few of them had a really bad case of mites, so after spraying the underside of the leaves, I wiped them with a cloth dampened with the solution.

I used it on some rusty seedlings this spring, but it appeared to have no effect.
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