Oh dear...my poor lovely Lupins!!

After 3 years my Lupins have finally given me a glorious display...but I've just gone to admire them only to find them covered in crawly green bugs!!

I didnt have any bug killer....and I dont know what they are....but I had heard that you can kill off bugs with soapy water....so armed with my spray bottle filled with water and washing up liquid I gave them a good squirting.....


Please tell me I have done the right thing.....?????

Can anyone tell me what they would be please?

Hazyp

 

Hi Hazyp. You certainly wont have done any harm. I've used soapy water in the past and it's fairly effective. One thing though, the best time to apply it IMO, is after the sun gets low in the sky. The reason for this, is that it will only evaporate in full sun and therefore have no effect. No doubt others here will advise you further, hope this helps.
Cheers...freddy.

 

It works by forming a layer over the bugs and in effect suffocating them. It works on contact, but it is still not a good thing to do in the sun-it will also coat the leaves and cause scroching. But not to worry, it wasn't that bright today anyway. Tomorrow if it is still cloudy give them a fine misting with the hose and rinse it off again. The nugs that you sprayed will probably be dead by now anyway.


It is pretty effective at dealing with aphids on my roses.

 

You have aphids - possibly the American Lupin aphid, which is much larger than normal aphids and has recently come to this country. For me, the first line of defense is to use a spray head attached to a hose. The physical force of the spray will knock most of them off their perch, and they will land on the ground where they usually die, because they can't get back to their food source. I recently got rid of 90% or 95% of the aphids on my Dahlias this way. Then you can try a soapy water or chemical spray on the remaining 5% or 10%.

 

Thank you all! I sprayed them about 7pm, and it has been very hot and sunny here today.....they still look quite attached and its now 8.30, but I'll have a look in the morning and see whats happened to them!!

 

I have the same problem with a couple of my lupins they could be the American ones as they are large . After you spray the bugs try giving the plant a bit of a shake to lose any remaining ones