Gardener reveals the $2 kitchen staple he uses to combat pesky plant pest

The sight of aphids covering a plant's leaves, buds or stems is hugely frustrating to gardeners, because if they're not dealt with quickly they'll suck the life out of them.

But dealing with them is actually quite easy, depending on the size of the infestation, with a few simple hacks.

Gardener Ish shared his "top remedies" for combatting aphids in a TikTok video, including one involving an item everyone has by their kitchen sink.

Watch the video above.

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The first hack he shared is what he calls "the dish soap method" and requires dishwashing liquid, which you can find at the major supermarkets for as little as $2, sometimes less.

"This one is super simple, take a few tablespoons worth of dish soap and just pop it in a spray bottle and top the rest off with some water. Now this one is fantastic at destroying the aphids' exoskeleton which effectively finishes it off, but it doesn't do any damage to your plants. So super easy and super effective," he said.

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Once you've put your detergent and water in a spray bottle, just shake that up and then spray all over the aphid-infested plants.

The second thing Ish recommends doing to deter aphids is to plant flowers and vegetables such as salvia, marigolds, garlic and onions as they have a fragrance aphids hate making the pests less likely to go near them.

"A little tip for you about marigolds – whilst these do have a bit of a fragrance to them they might still try and go for the leaves so some people also use these as a bit of a trap plant so it keeps your bigger plants healthy and they'll go for these instead," Ish said.

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If those two hacks don't work, Ish advises blasting them off your plants with a spray from your hose or introducing beneficial bugs like ladybugs.

Ish's tips were well received by those who watched his TikTok post with the comment section getting lots of questions about other bugs and some more aphid tips.

"Garlic granules in a water spray sprayed all over the leaves is working for me," one said.

"My acers were absolutely covered this spring, never, ever seen it so bad. The soapy water worked a treat," a gardener commented.

"I use the fairy solution in a spray bottle, then wash off the next day. Works really well on Roses," a TikToker wrote.

"Ooh that explains a lot about the salvia! I have a HUGE bush next to my roses but my housemate cut it back a bit too much and its only just growing back now: APHIDS ALL OVER MY ROSES LIKE NEVER BEFORE," another said.

And yes, failing all of the above, you can just pull the aphids off and squish them with your fingers.

"I killed the aphids with my fingers I also used neem oil mixed with water and lavender/peppetmint oil does that work? Or is the soap mix better?" one asked.

Ish responded, "Both of those you do are perfectly effective! if it's not broken don't fix it!"

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