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Blackfly plague on nasturtiums

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  • #1

    Blackfly plague on nasturtiums

    I have some of the best nasturtiums I have every grown of which I also harvest the leaves and flowers in salad BUT the @*+%€$ blackfly are taking them over. There is not a single leaf or flower that hasn't got a cluster of them around the stem and down it.

    Where are the ladybirds ? I haven't seen a single one this year. Come to think of it, probably more than a year.

    I do not want to use any method other than organic but washing up liquid in water sprayed on them has had hardly any effect as the @&.*$%# seem to replicate at an astonishing rate.

    I am sick of this constant muggy weather that seems to keep aphids in abundance as well as other pests and disease. Even my rose has gone down to a plague of yellowing leaves with blackspot, black stems etc. Horrible.

    Anything organic other than blowing them up with dynamite would be welcome.
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  • #2
    In fact Marb, Tis a good thing they are on your nasturtiums...otherwise they'd be on something else!
    Thing is , a lot of us plant them as companions to other crops to lure them away .
    Squishing with fingers and pulling off the worst affected leaves/ flowers as soon as you spot them is the way yo Ho.

    Yup...nasty , muggy weather...fear not, it'll be snowing before you know it
    "Nicos, Queen of Gooooogle" and... GYO's own Miss Marple

    Location....Normandy France

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    • #3
      I love nasturtiums. I planted some seeds a few years ago and every year they come up and I let a few grow mainly as sacrificial plants to draw the blackfly away from my beans, cherries etc. I just let the blackfly attack them. They don't seem to do much damage.

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      • #4
        I haven't seen any blackfly on my nasturtium yet just hoards of caterpillars they're eating so much,a little bit of each leaf & all four plants in all corners of the garden,cabbage white butterfly kingdom here. Also I only sowed yellow nasturtium & one of my plants has red flowers
        Location : Essex

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        • #5
          Sorry, Marb, my only suggestion is squishing and washing off the remains. Keep going till you get some new unaffected leaves. If you've got ants farming the blackfly, you might need to deal with them too.

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          • #6
            I have grown broad beans for years and never had blackfly in my garden. As soon as I grow nasturtiums they are here. Ants don't trouble me.

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            • #7
              Originally posted by Marb67 View Post
              I have grown broad beans for years and never had blackfly in my garden. As soon as I grow nasturtiums they are here. Ants don't trouble me.
              Wow! Count yourself lucky with both the broad beans and the ants. Ants are one of the banes of my life at the moment.

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              • #8
                I quite like Ants and never think of them as a pest except if they start coming into your house uninvited.

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                • #9
                  Originally posted by Marb67 View Post
                  I quite like Ants and never think of them as a pest except if they start coming into your house uninvited.
                  Wait till they eat all ya Strawberries Marb..................
                  sigpic“Gorillas are very intelligent, but they don't have to be as delicate as chimps -- they can just smash open the termite nest,”
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                  • #10
                    Well for the life of me I cannot defeat these things. Every day I squash them, jet them with the hose (and they still cling under immense pressure) and spray with soapy water. The next day they are riddled even worse. I have no idea how to get rid of them and where do they come from initially ?

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                    • #11
                      I think it's a bad year for most of us Marb, I don't mind black fly on my dahlia's as they are purely for the bees, but I'm fighting a losing battle with greenfly on the sweet peas not seen very many ladybirds this year
                      He who smiles in the face of adversity,has already decided who to blame

                      Artificial intelligence is no match for natural stupidity

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                      • #12
                        I've got them on one of my nasturtiums now,they seem to find the easiest plant in the garden that's on my patio table,I've got a few plants in other areas untouched-except for caterpillars obviously,it seems cabbage white butterflies do a top to bottom search of the garden for plants they like. The black aphids produce live young so everyday squashing is the only way to keep numbers down,it's impossible to get rid of every single one of them. A wet cotton bud might help slide them off the plants if it's a bit fiddly. I've not had any aphids on my runner beans again so I like the trap plant,maybe have a few more plants next year to sacrifice one,they'll choose which one! I've not seen any ladybirds since early spring,maybe they're keeping out the way of the ants? The black fly overwinters on some shrubs & lays eggs,it only takes one of them to find our nasturtiums,then they can reproduce like crazy.
                        Location : Essex

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                        • #13
                          Absolutley swarming despite using chilli oil in a spray bottle and soapy water. They are gits because I have been harvesting the leaves for salad (one of the few successful harvests) but now they are dying. It isn't helped by this constant, filthy humid muggy weather that has dragged on for months. Hate it hate it hate it !

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                          • #14
                            If its upsetting you this much, pull them up and get rid of them. The nasturtiums will be coming to an end now anyway.

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                            • #15
                              No, I won't do that. I have had nasturtiums go on till November in past years.

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