Aphids can be a real pain when growing tomatoes. Those little sap sucking monsters can wreak all kinds of havoc on your toms if you aren’t paying close attention. But if you are looking closely and have started to notice an aphid intrusion then you will be wondering how best to deal with it. If you happen to have some Rose Clear about from clearing aphids off your prize roses then you may be wondering if you can use that, after all it has worked once already. But can you use rose clear on tomatoes? lets have a look and find out.
So, Can you use Rose Clear on Tomatoes?
No, you should not use rose clear on anything you plan to eat. If you want to use something similar but safe for food then I recommend using bug clear plant and veg. This is by the same company as rose clear but intended for use on fruit and veg.
This comparison table above is directly from the manufacturer. You can clearly see that it says you should not use rose clear on fruit and veg. You can use bug clear ultra or bug clear fruit and veg.
I would recommend going with the product specifically designed for fruit and veg as this will always be your safest bet. The bug clear fruit and veg can even be used and the fruit or veg then eaten the same day!
- Same day, spray and eat
- Contact insecticide for ornamental plants, fruit and vegetables
- 100% natural active ingredient
- Controls greenfly, blackfly, whitefly, scale insects, mealybugs, red spider mites and other mites
- For use both indoors and outdoors all year round
Organic Option
If you like to garden organically as I do then you may be looking for a different way of getting rid of aphids or indeed other squishy bugs on your tomatoes then let me help you with a few suggestions.
Predators
One thing you can do is try and introduce more predators to your garden or allotment.
If you have a problem with aphids, not matter what plant they are attacking, then one predator you can try and introduce is ladybirds. You can get these off amazon believe it or not. They come as larvae and will feed on bugs and aphids before turning into ladybirds. Once fully grown they will continue to munch on those pesky bugs.
These native British Adalia Bipunctata ladybird larvae have a huge appetite for soft -bodied garden pests such as aphids (greenfly and blackfly), spider mite, scale, mealy-bug etc.
Paper Towel
The classic method, use a paper towel and wipe the aphids off the plant, squashing them in the process hence the paper towel.
Can work well as a damage limitation approach but never really kills the aphids off completely and is obviously very labour intensive when compared to other methods.
Homemade Sprays
There are lots of old wives tales out there containing all sorts of concoctions that are supposed to work well. Chopped garlic heavily diluted in water is one favourite with a diluated soapy water mix being another.
I have never really found these home made remedies to work, but if you want to try them out then there are lots of popular recipes out there.