if you want to attract hummingbirds to
your backyard you can't do any better
than scarlet honeysuckle this variety is
called major wheeler this is just a
sample of the hundred and thirty feet of
border I have of this fast-growing vine
in my back yard
unfortunately hummingbirds are not the
only thing attractive to Scarlet
honeysuckle aphids absolutely love
scarlet honeysuckle they attack both the
new shoots and in particular the new
flower buds which they completely
destroy Athens
spreads so fast that I found that to
keep them under control I have to go out
every morning with some insecticidal
soap and spray down any colonies that
have developed in the last 24 hours
this gets to be a real hassle so I
started looking at ways to repel the
Athens before they land on the
honeysuckle I learned that too the most
effective repellents are tea tree oil
and neem oil I mixed one third of an
ounce of tea tree oil and one full ounce
of the neem oil into 32 ounces of water
and used the solution to thoroughly
spray the tops and bottoms of about 30
feet of the honeysuckles prior to
spraying this section would average
about 4 new significant colonies every
day which I'd spray down after the
spraying with this these oils that
dropped to about 1 new colony day which
is a significant improvement after about
three days though I was getting about
two colonies a day and in by the time
five days had gone by it was up to the
the previous four colonies a day so it
seems like the effectiveness was
short-lived during this period there was
no rain to wash the oils off of the
plants nor did any sprinklers hit them
to wash it off what I believe is
happening is that the oils are
protecting the plant in the areas that
have been sprayed but when the new
growth comes out it is no longer being
protected the sense honeysuckles grow
very quickly a week after the spraying
with the oils it was as if I had never
sprayed with them and since they're very
expensive
this is not
effective deterrent for athens at least
on honey suffice I've gotten same
results using peppermint oil and garlic
sprays so unfortunately I can't
recommend essential oils as effective a
third deterrence on fast growing vines
such as honeysuckle I hope you found
this video helpful thank you for
watching