Aphids on my Salvia!

This afternoon Yesterday (thanks for continuing to be crappy, LJ) while taking a break from poking with the DS Browser I went to water the plants. What did I find? Aphids all over the just-budded Salvia! These weren’t there yesterday, but had already seriously damaged one large stem (I figure they weakened it and the wind caused it to snap) so I wanted to do something about them.

A quick bit of research actually pointed me to a page on growing Salvia divinorum and specifically mentioned aphids andthe use of Pyrethrin-based insecticide for killing them. I decided to go with this, as it’s approved for use on food and can be applied the same day as harvest. I figured that this wasn’t too unfriendly to the environment, so I hurried out to Home Depot to find some.

I ended up picking up a bottle of Garden Safe-brand Houseplant & Garden Insect Spray, which contains 0.01% Pyrethrins and 1.00% Canola Oil, coming home, and soaking down the Salvia. I didn’t see any aphids on either the chilis or the rosemary (I figure they keep insects away themselves) nor elsewhere, so I only gave the other flowers a quick mist. Any ants hit with the stuff stopped pretty quickly.

Hopefully tomorrow today (thanks again, LJ) I won’t see any more aphids. If I do I’ve still got half a bottle of the spray left. I’d rather not use it, but I also don’t want my flowers to have their juices sucked until they die. :(

One of the first buds on the Victoria Blue Salvia Farinacea.

The salvia in front of my house was fairly small when planted, and since then it has grown to a rather decent size without flowering. I’ve never grown a larger variety before, but I guess it buds rather late. At this point normal salvia would already have a good load of flowers on it.

The habernero chilis I planted have already begun to bud as well. I’m curious / nervous about these, as I’m slightly afraid I won’t be able to use the whole crop.

Also, when out to get Thai food I stopped by Lowe’s, returned a light bulb (wrong kind for my needs), and purchased an upside down feeder and some seed blend. This sort of feeder / seeds is designed for goldfinches. While I don’t desire to feed just one kind of bird, I’m hoping that the combination of hulled sunflower seeds, thistle, and the small opening on the feeder will help cut down on waste and keep various non-grass plants from growing in the grass below the feeder.