How much soap to add to hose sprayer


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Old 01-22-13, 02:38 PM
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How much soap to add to hose sprayer

Hello,

I have had a problem with aphids and ants on my poor Dwarf Tangerine Tree. I need to spray it with soapy water to get the built up dirt, and sticky stuff the aphids left on the leaves. I just have the 1 tree. Would this be good for my geraniums too ?
I don't know how much liquid soap to add to my hose sprayer and at what setting should I spray. The hose sprayer goes from 0 to 10 numbers.

Any help would be appreciated.
Glenda
San Diego County, [Inland], Calif Zone 9 I think
 
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Old 01-24-13, 02:47 PM
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Are you trying to smother the aphids with soapy water or "wash" your plants? If you kill the aphids the plants should recover on their own. I think the ants are a probably just there for the honey dew the aphids leave. kill aphids, problem solved.
 
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Old 01-25-13, 08:57 AM
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Ladybugs love to eat aphids. If you're looking for another solution, some garden shops sell ladybugs. Spray your plants down with water so they are moist and after the sun sets release your ladybugs on your plant. If you do this, look up to see what ladybug larva look like. They are ugly little things that you don't want to kill because they are beneficial, too.
 
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Old 02-20-13, 09:39 AM
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Yes the leaves look very dirty(black) from the aphids. I wanted to first get all the dirt off and then spray for the aphids.

thanks...........just wondering how much soap to use.

Glenda
 
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Old 02-20-13, 09:48 AM
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Here is an article from our local paper. This is from the Master Gardeners at our local extension office. Good info....homemade soap spray recipe near the bottom.

Aphids are a pain, but infestations can be handled - Kingman Daily Miner - Kingman, Arizona
 
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Old 02-20-13, 09:51 AM
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Oops....just saw you wanted to use a hose end sprayer. What brand and model of sprayer...I may be able to find the mixing ratios of it.
 
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Old 02-22-13, 11:48 AM
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It's a Gilmour hose end sprayer has numbers 0 to 10 on the dial. That's all I know.

Thanks................Glenda
 
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Old 02-22-13, 12:17 PM
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Does it look like any of these? Gilmour

Might be able to figure out some sort of dilution....but a pump up tank sprayer would make it much easier. They are pretty cheap for the smaller ones.
 
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Old 02-22-13, 03:46 PM
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It takes very little soap so I would suggest maybe a teaspoon full in the sprayer cup with the rest water. Adjust the dilution control to maximum dilution and try it on the driveway. If you get billows of suds you have way too much soap, if you get no suds at all then slowly reduce the dilution control until you get just the slightest hint of suds and then back off (more dilution) one number. Adjust the amount of soap in the cup as necessary to obtain these results.
 
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Old 02-23-13, 04:26 PM
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http://www.gilmour.com/wp-content/up...2_resized.jpeg looks like this one.

thanks...........glenda
 
 

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