How To Get Rid of Aphids On Tomato Plants? From Pest to Best

By Ellie Perez | Updated: October 25, 2023

Aphids are a very difficult pest to detect and can wreak havoc on your tomato plants if left unchecked. These pesky pests can quickly multiply and turn your thriving tomato garden into a disaster zone. In this thorough guide, we’ll explore all the methods of How To Get Rid of Aphids On Tomato Plants, from finding them early to attracting good bugs and everything in between.

What Do Aphids Look Like?

Aphids are tiny pests with soft, pear-shaped bodies. They come in many different colors, but the most common is green. Their fluorescent green color comes from feeding on new growth, helping them camouflage from other natural enemies.

When overcrowded, these aphids develop wings to colonize new sites. Your tomato garden will be an ideal environment for them to grow and spread. Their exponential breeding leads to heavily infested plants in a short time.

*Aphids like to gather on the bottoms of leaves*

Symptoms of aphid infestation

Here are some of the most common symptoms of aphids that will appear on tomato plants:

Stunted Growth
Deformed Leaves
Yellowing Leaves
Honeydew and Mold

*Your tomato leaves can be yellow from aphids*

10 Effective Methods To Get Rid of Aphids On Tomato Plants

You need to know how to get rid of aphids to protect your tomato plants as well as ensure you have a good supply. In this guide, we show you 10+ ways to get rid of aphids on tomato plants. We consider every aspect of aphid control, from finding them early to using pesticides so that your garden can grow and thrive without aphids.

*Effective Ways to Get Rid of Tomato Aphids*

1. Use Insecticidal Soap

If natural pesticides are still ineffective, insecticidal soap is an effective way to get rid of aphids. Without harming your plants, animals, or people, it still kills a large number of soft-shelled pests like aphids. A single teaspoon of dish soap with one cup of oil (peanut, vegetable, maize, etc.) can make an effective DIY pesticide soap that will surprise you a lot.

2. Use an Organic Pesticide

Aphids can be eliminated by organic pesticides, such as neem oil or insecticide soap. If you want to get rid of aphids naturally, all you have to do is mix together dish soap, water, and cayenne pepper or dish soap, water, and cayenne pepper. Here are two options for you:

Combine 3 teaspoons of dish soap with 1 quart of water. You can spray this fluid on your tomato leaves or apply it gently.
Combine 1 teaspoon of dish soap, 1 teaspoon of cayenne pepper, and 1 quart of water.

You should use this solution on your tomato plants in the morning like a professional pesticide until the aphids are gone. It might take a few weeks to get rid of your pest problem, and it won’t work as well as chemicals

3. Spray With Natural Insecticide

Aphids can be kept away from plants by making a spray of garlic or hot peppers – the powerful natural insecticide to kill aphids. Aim the spray right at your tomato plants, paying special attention to the undersides of the leaves where aphids like to hide. You will realize how effective it is within 1 to 2 weeks

4. Cut Back the Tomato Plant

If aphids keep coming back after you spray them with poison or use other methods, your tomato plant may need to be cut. You can start by taking off the most infected leaves and watching how the problem spreads over the next day. If there are still aphids, you should cut off a few branches, but don’t cut off more than a third of the plant. Aphids won’t bother the leftover tomato plant as long as it is trimmed and thrown away properly.

5. Spray With Water

Spray the underside of your plant's leaves to get rid of aphids — *Spray the underside of your plant’s leaves to get rid of aphids*

A strong stream of water can dislodge aphids from your tomato plants. You should use your hose’s high-power setting in the morning to spray the bottom of your tomato leaves with water until the aphids are gone. You can make sure all aphids are gone from your plants by doing it again in the evening.

6. Choose The Right Companion Plants

These plants can repel insects and safeguard your tomato crop

Companion planting can be a natural and effective way to deter aphids. You should consider planting marigolds, nasturtiums, or chives near your tomatoes. These plants can repel aphids and protect your tomato crop because they always give off a smell that makes aphids stay away.

7. Avoid Overfertilizing

Because overfertilizer can attract bugs, you shouldn’t be tempted to give your tomato plants too much fertilizer. Instead, you can choose a balanced fertilizer plan and stay away from too much nitrogen, which is known to attract aphids. A garden that grows well depends a lot on your dosage and frequency of spraying. So, you should consider this carefully before fertilizing your plants.

8. Attract Beneficial Insects

*You can attract ladybugs and hummingbirds with their habitats and food*

If you don’t want to use pesticides, you can take advantage of beneficial insects as a diligent guardian of your garden. You may attract them like ladybugs, hummingbirds, and green lacewings by providing them with a habitat and food sources. These insects and birds are the most efficient and quick at eating and reducing aphids.

9. Manually Remove Aphids

For a Few dozen aphids

To prevent aphids from returning to your tomato plants, you should follow these steps to do it. Firstly, you should pick the aphids off each tomato leaf and smash them with a dry paper towel. Then, you will use a trash bag to dispose of them. After that, you should check the leaves and tomato plants for any remaining pests. You must do this for new aphids every day to see if you have to take more action to get rid of them.

For more than a dozen aphids

On plants, you shouldn't remove them — *On plants, you shouldn’t remove them*

For this situation, you need to gently wipe the tiny bugs off the leaves and into the trash with a wet paper towel first. You shouldn’t knock them off of plants because their wings and fast legs let them climb back up. After the first pass, look over the leaves again to find any that got missed. Lastly, wipe away any sticky leftovers that could attract more aphids.

10. Destroy Ant Colonies

One of the valuable methods to get rid of aphids on tomato plants is to dismantle ant nests near your tomato plants because ants and aphids have mutual support. After aphids eat plants, ants leave behind honeydew, which is a huge amount of waste, and ants then eat honeydew.

By breaking up this relationship, you can stop aphid infestations and protect the health of your garden. You can kill ant nests by using ant killers, spraying water on the nest, or getting a professional ant extermination team.

Top 3 Ways to Prevent Aphids of 2023

Prevention is always the best approach to pest control. Here are some additional tips to keep aphids away from your tomato plants:

Check Aphids Regularly

The best way to stop aphids from getting on your tomato plants is to check them regularly. If you want to catch these pests early, you need to check the plant’s leaves and roots often. Early detection of aphid infestations allows for swift action to prevent further damage to your plants.

Use Vegetable Garden Row Covers

You might want to use row covers in your vegetable yard, especially when your tomato plants are still ripe. Aphids can’t get to your plants because these covers act as physical barriers between them and the aphids. By taking this preventative step, you create a shield that can greatly lower the chance of aphid attacks.

Remove Weeds

*Regularly cleaning weeds in your garden*

Aphids often find hiding in weeds. Avoid having aphid infestations and reduce the number of hiding places for them by keeping your yard clear of weeds. Weeding your garden regularly can not only improve its appearance but will also help get rid of aphids.

Final Thoughts

Although aphids are hard to eliminate, you can keep them in check regularly and get a bumper crop of tomatoes with these effective ways and precautions. If you use these useful tips, you won’t have to worry about How To Get Rid of Aphids On Tomato Plants anymore and will have the best tomato plants in your area.