Help with aphids on dahlia

you need a pesticide spray for aphids - try not to spray the flowers though, they kill bees too. And spray in the evening, after the bees have stopped working.

Yep. I know a lot of folk don't like chemicals, and I do use washing up liquid to spray sometimes (I'd never use Jeyes), but I'm afraid my Dahlia's and my Roses get a systemic Pesticide sprayed on them.

I found some black fly on my D's today, and they'll be sprayed tomorrow evening when I've been to the shops.

Disagree! Wash them off with a gentle stream of water and don't over feed your plants. This produces soft growth which is very attractive to aphids. Definitely don't use Jeyes.

thankyou all, now what about the ants?

Ive had different reports on ants some say they do harm plants some say they donet

If I see ants in my garden I sprinkle a bit of ant powder making sure it doesnt get on the plants

I dont like ants they make me itch

xx x

Ants farm the aphids for the sticky juice they excrete and keep away natural predators. If the blackfly goes the ants will too. Hopefully somewhere you won't notice them.

I never use chemicals to get rid of aphids. Often I just leave them and the sparrows sort the problem out in the end. If not, I spray with soapy water. This works because the aphid mouthparts work by using the surface tension of the sap (they don't suck, it's all to do with water pressure inside the plant), anyway, the soap distroys the surface tension of the water making the aphids unable to feed. It works!!! They don't die straight away (which is why some people say is doesnt work I think - they starve to death, which obviously takes a while) And soapy water does not harm anything else - including the natural preditors of the aphids - such as ladybird larve. I really can't stress this enough - if you start using chemicals in your garden, then the natural preditors dont have a chance and you'll end up with an even worse problem in the end. Regards the ants, yes, they do 'farm' the aphids, but they are also preditors in their own right and will kill other bugs that could cause you a nuisance. Ants do have a place in the garden!! So don't kill them! And defo dont do what someone said above and put down powder - it doesnt just kill ants, it kills everything in and on the soil.

Louloubelle is right about not feeding - overfeeding makes plants more suceptable to pests.

Brilliant Sid, couldn't have put it better myself!

thanks everyone, ill go with the non toxic approach to it and see what happens, also i think the only harm ive read that ants do is they loosen the soil around plants making them die or something, but like most things i say on here, dont take it as 100% as its just something ive been told