My tactic to attack the aphids was simple. Start by smashing between my fingers as many aphids as possible, then bring in reinforcements in the form of ladybugs. About a week ago, I released ladybugs onto the plants to eat the aphids. It was obvious that they were doing their job; I got to watch as aphids crawled away when the big bad ladybug appeared on their leaf. Of course a few ladybugs flew away, but the majority stayed on the leaves or the base of the plants where I put them. A week later, one ladybug remains. I don't know why that one decided to stay when all the others took off. It is possible that ants who were tending the aphids attacked most of the ladybugs and this one has just been lucky. I caught two ladybugs mating, so it would be great if there were ladybug larvae hanging around! Unfortunately, the aphids are coming back. Yesterday I covered all the plants in soapy water after removing as many aphids as possible. Soap supposedly repels the aphids, but I'll have to do another aphid inventory to see if this works...
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UPDATE: the aphids so far have stayed away. I think the soapy water was the trick to keep them from coming back, after the ladybugs and my fingers had removed most of them.
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