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Day-2-slice-of-life.jpg
Day-2-slice-of-life.jpg
joynim


Photograph Information Photographer's Comments
Camera: Olympus E-500 EVOLT
Lens: Olympus 35mm f/3.5 Macro ED Zuiko Digital
Location: Lower Hutt, Wellington, New Zealand
Date: Oct 2, 2007
Aperture: 4.0
ISO: 100
Shutter: 1/100
Date Uploaded: Oct 2, 2007

Viewed: 257
Comments: 16
Favorites: 0

 Since it is spring here in NZ I have been trying get the garden in order. But my roses have been attacked by aphids! I used my macro lens to take the photo and I I played a little with the settings in the raw viewer thingy that comes with adobe bridge.
I have been wanting to buy ladybird larvae as they love to eat aphids but I discovered you cant buy them in NZ ( well the garden centres I rang had no idea and you think they would know!). I read on the internet that a mixture of honey,water and brewers yeast attract ladybirds so I have put some of that out on plastic lids by the roses today and also today I planted some parsley next to the roses.
If anyone else has some great tips for getting rid of aphids or attracting ladybirds that does'nt involve alot of money or chemicals it would be most appreciated :)

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AuthorThread
 10/04/2007 01:15:52 AM
those are crazy looking bugs i like the macro shot.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 10/03/2007 01:56:16 PM
That's a lot of aphids. :( Good luck with the ladybugs/birds.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 10/03/2007 02:44:20 AM
Oh my, been there done that this summer. I learned aphids burst overnight and you have infestation in one day. Anytime you see shiny, sticky plants, it's due to the aphids sucking the lifeforce out of your plant or tree.

I was told to put one part soap with 3 parts water and spray your rose bushes or trees throughly. Insects breath thru their outer shells and will suffocate when the soap blocks these openings they have for oxygen intake.

Good luck. You'll win. And, ladybugs do eat aphids like candy. I thought about starting a ladybug company!
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 10/02/2007 04:38:50 PM
Eww! Great shot, too bad their munchin' on your rose bush! I know planting marigolds are supposed to keep something away, but I can't remember what! Good luck getting rid of them!
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 10/02/2007 02:35:39 PM
I thought those were little leaves until I looked a bit closer. Really cool macro of the pests.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 10/02/2007 10:12:14 AM
Ohhhhhhhh. . . .how I feel your pain about the aphids (but what a way to make green lemonade out of aphid lemons! The picture is very cool!!!)

We also battle aphids with every ounce of our warrior selves! My husband uses some insecticide spray on them that seems to keep them under control, but they are evil aren't they??? They just take over like the plague. But some roses are worse than others about getting them, so we ended up just getting rid of those and going with more bug resistant varieties.

  Photographer found comment helpful.
 10/02/2007 09:44:09 AM
this is cool, but so dark! if you shot it in RAW, you should be able to capture back a lot of the lost detail. the color on the bugs would be so vibrant!
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 10/02/2007 09:26:49 AM
Wow that's a lot of bugs.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 10/02/2007 08:50:05 AM
OMG! Look at all those little bugs.. Ewwwwww! Ok sorry, now that this is out of my system. I like the dof used on the shot and the intense greens that were captured.

  Photographer found comment helpful.
 10/02/2007 07:19:38 AM
They are incredibly disgusting up close aren't they. I use a bucket of soapy water, just pour it over them .....seems to get rid of most of them and doesn't hurt the plant.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 10/02/2007 06:44:47 AM
good luck with them. they give me the creepy crawlys
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 10/02/2007 02:45:18 AM
Wow, I don't think I have ever seen an aphid that closely. At first I thought I was looking at some strange plant. The green and brown tones go well together. The background is a bit distracting but I am not quite sure how you could make it less distracting. Sorry, no helpful hints with how to get rid of aphids or how to attract ladybirds.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 10/02/2007 01:57:35 AM
Originally posted by awpollard:
Do you have something like this in New Zealand? //gardeningzone.com/catalog/index_130.html


No it was frustrating to see you can buy them in England and America but not here! I even considered buying them online but I dont think they would get through customs.
 10/02/2007 01:30:56 AM
OMG .. i looked at this photograph and thought those aphids were little green flower buds .. altho i thought they looked pretty weird .. (i didnt look very well on my first glance) .. then i read your comment and i looked again .. i love how they werent immediately obvious to me .. its a lovely soft image too ... the darkness works very well for me coz those aphids are definitely up to no good .. sorry, but i dont know anything about getting rid of aphids .. have you googled it . ?? >> :)
ahhhh .. just noticed that andy has given you a link .. aint dpc great !!! ... not only photographic help, photoshop help but gardening tips too .. !!!!!..:):)
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 10/02/2007 01:24:23 AM
Do you have something like this in New Zealand? //gardeningzone.com/catalog/index_130.html
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 10/02/2007 01:18:57 AM
Yup, I don't like aphids either. There was a lady at work that actually got Ladybugs (assuming same as ladybird) in the mail. The come in this really cool Habitat shipper.

As to the shot, try hitting this with the Clarify filter to bring out the little buggers. Lightened up the shot looks really vibrant.
  Photographer found comment helpful.


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