Aphids very commonly referred to as plant lice, are tiny garden pests that are known to attack vegetation. There are over 400 thousand species of aphids that are found almost everywhere. Although these bugs measure only about 1-10 millimeters in length, they can pose to be a serious nuisance to plant life. Aphids come in varying shades of yellow, black, brown, red and green, and feed on the sap of plants by piercing their phloem (vessels which transfer sap from the leaves to the roots), with the help of a long proboscis. It is during this feeding action that they transmit viruses, which distort growth and bring about a yellowing and curling of the plants leaves. These outrageous bugs have been known to destroy fields of crop overnight.
Here are a few home remedies that you could implement, in order to get rid of these annoying pests. Take an orange peel and dice it into small pieces. Now add two cups of water to the diced peels and blend the two for about half a minute, so as to make a thin paste. Use a coffee filter to strain the mixture into a bucket, after which add 2 tablespoons of a mild baby shampoo. This mixture should then be emptied into a spray bottle. You will first need to clean the infected plant, by spraying it with water from your garden hose, this will help in dislodging some of the insects from the plant. Once the plant has been hosed, take the spray bottle that contains the orange peel solution and spray a liberal layer all over the plant. Make sure you cover all the leaves and the stem. This treatment is considered to be effective it keeping these tiny bugs at bay.
Make a mixture by combining a cup of cooking oil and 2 teaspoons of any liquid dish soap. Blend a cup of water with two tablespoons of this mixture. Pour the resultant solution into your spray bottle. Spray the plants with this mixture, in order to get rid of aphids. Add 10-15 diced garlic pods to 2 teaspoons of mineral oil and leave the mixture aside for 24 hours. After the stipulated time frame, strain the oil into a bowl and add half a liter of water and a teaspoon of your regular liquid dish soap. This solution, once transferred into a spray bottle, can also be used as an effective remedy against aphids.