Aphids are some of the most irritating pests that you can have in your garden.
They will completely ravish your plants without a care in the world.
We have seen entire plant beds devastated by an aphid infestation. This means that it is in your best interests to get rid of them as quickly as possible.
Since most people probably don’t want to be spraying chemicals on their precious plants, they may want to look into alternative options.
How about drowning those pests?
So, can you drown aphids?
It is not going to be the easiest job in the world to drown aphids, but you can drown them. There may be some situations where it may not be worth it e.g., if you are submerging plants at the same time. But pouring water over the aphids will kill them.
Let’s expand upon this a little bit.
That way, you are going to know everything that there really is to know about drowning aphids and keeping them out of your garden once and for all.
Table of Contents
Can You Drown Aphids?
Yes. You can.
However, if you want to drown aphids, it can be quite a lengthy process.
For starters, you are going to need to leave them submerged for a long period of time.
While aphids cannot breathe underwater, they can hold their breath for an incredibly long time.
So, you may see those aphids swimming around for a good while. You may have to leave them overnight for the aphids to fully drown.
It is important that the aphids are fully submerged too. They do have the ability to float to the top.
Don’t Forget: If they are able to gasp down that oxygen, then they won’t drown. They are just going to continue to cause havoc with your precious plants.
Can Aphids Swim?
Yes. Aphids can swim.
They aren’t the best swimmers in the world. However, they can swim.
This means that there is a chance that they will be able to swim out of the water that you have dropped all over them.
This is another reason why it is important to fully submerge the aphids. If they are not fully submerged, then they will probably be able to swim out with ease.
So, you haven’t really done that much other than making your garden a little bit wet.
Can You Drown Aphid Eggs?
Aphid eggs will be destroyed if you surround them with water.
So, submerging eggs in water is probably going to be one of the better ways to completely eradicate aphid breeding in your backyard.
In some cases, the aphid eggs will hatch once they have been surrounded by the water. However, baby aphids are going to drown a lot faster than their adult counterparts.
This is because they haven’t obtained the ability to store oxygen in their body. After all, they have never come into contact other than the water.
This means that you don’t really have to worry if you spot the eggs hatching.
How Do You Remove the Water after Drowning the Aphids?
You have a couple of options here:
- The most obvious option is to just let the water drain away into the soil. This can take a while, though. After all, you are probably going to need to have a lot of hot water if you want to drown the aphids. You also run the risk of damaging your plants. Remember, plants can be killed by too much water too.
- The alternative option is to get yourself a water pump. You can get small attachments for your drill if you don’t want to invest in a massive piece of kit. This will allow you to pump the water away to a much safer location in your backyard.
Will Hot Water Kill Aphids?
Yes. Hot water will instantly kill aphids.
However, it is not really a method that we would suggest that you use. This is because the hot water can also seriously damage your plants.
Look Out: You should only be using hot water to kill aphids if they are nowhere near a plant that you want to preserve.
Can You Use a Hose to Get Rid of Aphids?
If you don’t want to drown the aphids, then you could blast them away from the plants using water.
A light burst of water from a hose should be all that is required. This may not necessarily kill the aphids.
This is because they are pretty hardy creatures. However, it may blast them to a point where it will ensure that they are not damaging your plants.
It may end up completely destroying the eggs, though.
It is worth noting that aphids will not return to the same plant that they have been blasted off.
So, you don’t have to worry about those aphids hopping a few feet away only to move back toward the plant when you are not looking.
When Should You Avoid Drowning Aphids?
You should try to avoid drowning aphids if they are on delicate plants.
As we said before, there is a strong chance that you are drowning the plant too. Some plants are incredibly sensitive to too much water.
If you do have aphids on your plants, there are a couple of options here:
- The first would be to spray the aphids off the plant leaves. As we said before, if you do this, they are not going to return to the plant again. However, you do run the risk of them hopping to another plant.
- The second option is to make up a solution of water and methylated spirits. You only need a small amount of methylated spirits in the water. You can then spray the aphids with this. It will kill the aphids. This will also destroy any eggs that are hanging about on the plants too.
- The final solution is to cut off the leaves that the aphids are infesting. You will want to ensure that your plant is not going to be so delicate that it can’t deal with this, though. This method works because you often won’t have to cut off all the leaves.
Aphids tend to work in colonies.
This means that a group of them will hang around on the same branches or leaves, and they won’t really venture onto the others.
If you do regularly run into issues with aphids in your backyard, then you may want to investigate whether you have any ant infestations.
Fun Fact: Ants allow the aphids to move around easily. This means aphids will often have a far easier time getting from plant to plant as they ‘ride’ the ants.
Conclusion
You can drown aphids. However, this is not always going to be the absolute best option.
This is because while drowning aphids can be effective, it can also damage your plants.
This is because aphids tend to be a bit higher up the plant.
This means that you may need to look into alternative options such as blowing them away with a hose or spraying them away with a water sprayer.
Aphids are not really all that difficult to remove.
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