Aphid Control Test

I went and purchased corn oil and a spray bottle. While at Southern States for the spray bottle, a rep asked if she could help. When I told her about going natural with the aphid control. She mentioned that not all products there on their shelves were super caustic. She pointed me toward "Safer," a product that is supposed to be well...safer.

I decided to do a test. I sprayed the right half of the Rudbeckia with Safer and the left side with the home mix. The safer costs just under $7.00. The home mix is made of store brand corn oil ($1.69), dish liquid I already had (antibacterial orange scent) and water. We will see what happens.

The photo is on Day 1-pre spraying.

6/5/2006: The aphids appear to be mostly dead, still sticking to the plant, dark brown and shriveled. Each side of the plant looked the same, so it is my assumption that both products are as effective as each other. I re-sprayed the plant on 6/5 with Bayer Multi-Insect Killer since it was already on hand for the beetle spray-down (see 6/5/2006 blog on Bayer).