Aphids are pests that can easily destroy rose plants. While aphids may not cause any serious or permanent damage to other plants, roses can’t withstand aphid infestation. You can protect your roses from being ruined by aphids using organic solutions.

Water Your Rose Plant Daily

1. Cut Off dead or dying leaves, Petals, and Stems

This is a conservative approach to mitigating aphid infestations in your rose garden. Aphids sometimes lay eggs on dying leaves of a plant, so clip off those dying leaves and dispose of them.

Furthermore, trim off all leaves or petals that are concealed in tiny holes. You can also snip off any damaged leaves, petals, or stems caused by aphid infestation.

2. Water your Roses in the Morning

Use a suitable spray bottle or hose to water your rose flower daily in the morning. It’s best to water your roses in the morning; it gives them time to dry, which inhibits fungal growth.

Make sure the hose’s nozzle is well-positioned to uphold a firm flow of water to the roses. The force of the water should be firm enough to push off the aphids safe for the roses. Aphids can be quite obnoxious, but they aren’t strong or nimble.

Use water to hose down the aphids into different angles of your garden to rid your roses of aphids. Sending the aphids down with water can keep them off the roses. Most aphids can’t fly.

3. Water Your Roses from All Angle

Aphids sometimes hang underneath the leaves of rose flowers in a bid to avoid the scorching sunlight. While watering your rose plant, place the nozzle close to the ground and tilt it in an upward position.

It makes it easy for the water to knock off any aphids beneath the leaves. The plant should be watered from all directions, paying close attention to the underside of all the leaves and petals.

4. Make This Process Your Daily Routine to Ward off Aphids

Make it part of your daily routine to always water your roses in the morning before doing other activities. Continue this process for at least 1-2 weeks; you should notice an aphid-free rose.

If peradventure you didn’t get such a result, then you can introduce a predator. More details on how to use predators for aphids are listed below.

Introducing Predators to Control Aphids

1. Use Ladybugs as Predators

Ladybugs can be purchased from any pest control or gardening store. Keep the bugs in a refrigerator for between 20-40 minutes and release them at night into your garden.

The essence of refrigerating the ladybugs is to prevent them from flying away immediately—Ladybugs prey on aphids. Few of them can eliminate a lot of aphids.

Introduce the ladybug to your garden; place them beneath your roses and wait for them to get to work. Sprinkle some warm water on the bugs after you dropped them in your garden. They thrive in humid areas, so the water in your garden will keep them.

Keep in mind that ladybugs will not inhabit your garden forever. They will move out of your garden once there are no more aphids left to feed on.

2. Attract Birds to Your Garden with Some Bird Feeders

Make your garden an attractive haven for birds by setting up some bird feeders. Add few birdhouses and bird baths to make it more enticing for birds to come.

You may be fortunate to attract birds like Chickadees, Wrens, and other birds that prey on aphids: endeavor to plant bird feeders and houses close to your roses to get a better result.

3. Plant Nectar-secreting Flowers in Your Garden

Another method to get rid of aphids is to use nectar-secreting flowers to attract prey to your garden. Plant some nectar-secreting flowers close to your roses, within the 2-6 feet range.

The nectar will attract some predatory insects to your garden, which will feed on any aphid around. Your flowers should be close to your roses so that the attracted insects can easily find and feed on the aphids. Insects like lacewings, wasps, and hover are natural predators to aphids.

They are attracted to flowers like stonecrop or cosmos, which happens to be nectar-secreting flowers. Catnip, fennel, mint, and oregano all attract predatory insects. You may unknowingly eliminate some useful bugs by using pesticides in your garden. And note that Predatory wasps can sting you too.

Creating an Organic Repellant

1. Use a Garlic Spray

This is an organic remedy. Garlic spray is a safe way to keep aphids away. Crush a complete garlic bulb in a mortar and mix it in two cups of hot water. Allow the mixture to stay for 24 hours, strain the garlic and fill the garlic-infused water in a spray bottle. Add dish soap into the spray bottle. Shake the mixture properly and spray it on your roses; make sure it touches all parts of the flower.

The garlic spray doesn’t kill bugs. It rather repels aphids and other pests from your rose flower. Always ensure the spray touches beneath the leaves of your roses because aphids tend to hide there.

The garlic-infused water won’t harm your plants. So you can carry out this process as long as it takes to get rid of aphids. You can use just garlic water on your roses, that’s if you’re worried about the dish soap harming your plants.

2. Make Neem Oil Spray

Unlike garlic spray, neem oil spray does kill aphids. Spray your aphid-infested roses with neem oil. The oil is a natural pesticide and won’t harm your flower, but it will harm other bugs.

So avoid spraying neem oil in your garden if you had already introduced ladybugs or attracted other predators to it.

3. Use Soap and Water

You can try a mixture of soap and water in your garden for mild aphid infestations. Fill a spray bottle with warm water mixed with soap, shake properly and spray your garden.

Again, spray it on all parts of the plants and target underneath the leaves too. The water and soap mixture should be warm; otherwise, it could harm your plant.

Conclusion

Aphids are destructive pests, especially to rose plants. You can apply any of the above-discussed methods to keep off aphids. Try watering your roses in the morning to ward off aphids.

And if it doesn’t work, you can use organic repellant or introduce predators that prey on aphids. 

I hope you enjoyed reading this article; if you have some questions and or something to share here, please kindly leave your comment below, and I will be happy to write back to you.