With the hot, arid climate that comes with living in most parts of California, Los Angeles gardeners have to put in some serious work to keep their plants luscious and vibrant. Gardening requires a lot of care and attention, and a plant enthusiast's worst nightmare is watching their beloved flora become decimated by garden pests like aphids. Whether you adore your plants or just enjoy some decorative shrubs, having your Los Angeles property infested with aphids can create a much bigger problem than you may think.

many aphids on a plant leaf

Aphids In Los Angeles: Tiny Pests With A Big Bite

These pests have a wide variety of looks and appearances. They can be green, white, brown, black, gray, yellow, or pink in color. They could have a waxy translucent exterior or be coated in a layer of fuzz. Some have wings while others don't. While the finer details may vary, they still possess similar characteristics such as a pear-shaped body, two horn-like appendages at the end of their abdomens, and their incredibly minuscule size; they don't even reach ¼ of an inch when fully matured.

Most people would consider aphids as nuisance pests, and though it may be true that they don't pose any sort of significant threat to your health or home, they can still cause some terrible problems for your Los Angeles property. Aphids can:

  • Infect your garden plants with viruses
  • Encourage sooty mold to grow around your property
  • Create massive amounts of cosmetic damage to your plants
  • Attract other pests to your property like ants and wasps

One of the biggest problems with aphids is their ability to rapidly produce offspring. An infestation can easily overtake an entire garden within a few short months, and they achieve this by a process called parthenogenesis. Nearly all aphids are born female and, once they fully mature, they can birth up to 12 new female offspring daily without mating.

How To Tell If You Have An Aphid Problem On Your Los Angeles Property

If you've noticed your garden is looking a bit haggard, it may be time to start inspecting a bit closer to get to the root of the problem. Every garden pest leaves behind its own unique evidence, and even though the damage can look fairly similar across the board, aphids are one of the easier pests to discover:

  • Sticky residue on leaves and stems
  • Yellowing and browning leaves
  • Dead new growth
  • Stunted, deformed, and misshapen new growth
  • Deformed flowers and fruit
  • Powdery black mold covering plants
  • Increase of other insects around your garden such as wasps, ladybugs, lacewings, praying mantis, and ants
  • Bulbous growths, or galls, found on leaves, branches, and stems

Aphids love hiding on the underside of leaves and close to the stems, so if you're concerned about the health of your garden, take a close look to see if you can spot any movement. Don't be afraid to swipe the underside of the leaves, either; though they have a voracious appetite for plants, they can't bite humans, so getting your hands dirty isn't a risky endeavor.

How To Control The Aphid Population In Your Los Angeles Garden

Aphids are a hot commodity for other local pests that feed on them, so getting them under control and out of your garden is crucial to keeping your Los Angeles property safe from ants and wasps. We take your safety very seriously here at HomeShield Pest Control, and that's why we only use the highest quality eco-friendly pest control products in all of our treatments.

We offer free estimates before we visit, and we stand by our Los Angeles pest control treatments with our 100% satisfaction guarantee; if you notice an infestation return before we do, we come right back out and treat again at no additional cost. So get in contact with us today to get started with one of our effective pest control plans, and kick those sticky sap-suckers to the curb.