Our secret white oil recipe
When you see aphids, thrip, scale, any of those annoying sap suckers, your blood just churns a little. How dare they!
For a small infestation the conventional wisdom is to wash them off, squish or just leave to the ladybirds. Unfortunately though, sometimes they just breed faster than you can squish by hand.
In our time as nursery people we have heard EVERY recipe possible to deal with aphids. Some crazy, some not so helpful, some harmful to the environment and to the sprayer. This recipe we have developed is our favourite. It smells good, it is not dangerous and it gets those sap suckers.
The difference with our recipe and the usual soap/water/oil mixture are the oils used. We add in citronella oil, it smells amazing to us but apparently the smell causes a drunk like effect in the aphids, though this is not something I have found to have been proven. The other positive effect of citronella oil is that the carrier oil disperses at a different rate to vegetable oil. This carrier oil helps the white oil get into deep cracks and crevices which the standard mix does not reach.
There are some important things to remember when using any white oil.
Only spray in the late afternoon to reduce any change of the mixture burning leaves and flower when combined with a sunny day. Spraying at this time has the added benefit because Bees have most likely made their way home for the day.
Remember to follow up! when you spray, mark it on your calendar, note down two weeks time and then another two weeks. Spray again on those days. This will get the whole lifecycle of the aphids and you will then have controlled the infestation.
Now to the important part. how to make it. I have step by step instructions for you.
Using citronella oil, in the BBQ section in your local hardware store, dishwashing liquid and vegetable oil. Measure out equal amounts. I am using half a cup in this recipe.
Add the three equal parts together in one bottle. I thought I was being clever using glass. It wasn’t clever, the lid rusted on. If you have a sturdy plastic container, this would work better. Keep on oil bottle to use for this.
Take a moment to appreciate how pretty it is when it is layered.
Mix it up, and you are left with a milky looking mix. When left alone it will separate again, just shake it again when you are ready to use it.
To use, use 1 tablespoon, 30ml to 1 litre of water.
Add the water to your sprayer before adding the white oil.
The white oil will store well.
