Grow Your Own Magazine

Hi guys
We seem to be having a real problem this year.
I noticed today that the blackfly have taken a fancy to my runner beans
What can I do to get rid of them? At the moment they are quite densley isolated in one spot and I really don't want them to spread any further!

Thank you!
Mel

Blast them off with a hosepipe. Or rub them off with your fingers. Pinch out the growing tip. Spray with soapy water. Don't worry too much about them. They don't seem to affect the crop much

God Bless
Bill

Dr Bill has said it all Cotton.

Thanks - will have fun doing that this afternoon!

Mel

It is very satisfying, especially when you see a chunk of them falloff with a 'plop' on the ground

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Shortie

"There are only two lasting bequests we can hope to give our children; one of these is roots, the other wings" - Hodding Carter

DrBill, I used the "Spray with soapy water" and "rub them off with your fingers" approach which seemed to work.
Can I ask what does the "Pinch out the growing tip" bit do?

As I understand it the aphids are attracted to the growing tips. So if you pinch them out the aphids have nothing to be attracted to. I suppose they just lose interest and go home to watch the football

God Bless
Bill

Must be male then

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Shortie

"There are only two lasting bequests we can hope to give our children; one of these is roots, the other wings" - Hodding Carter

Yeah...if it was rugby, then obviously they'd be female....!

Hey- I love football- well I'm a Manchester City fan so that's debatable!
On the blackfly front I prefer to squash the little devils but you can spray with liquid Derris if you're organic & sqeamish!

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Into every life a little rain must fall.

Hi all,

I read somewhere that they dont like garlic. I had them infest one of my broad bean plants (I think I left it a tad late pinching out) which was really bad so I cut my loses and chopped it. The other plants just had a few small clusters of blackfly which I squashed by hand.

I mixed up a solution of water and garlic concentrate (squeezy tude, same as tomato concentrate) in a sprayer, gave it a good shake and then fine misted all the remaining plants.

They have so far stayed clear - touch wood.

Matt.

Hi Matt & welcome. I'm using garlic granule barrier around my plants as it's supposed to deter slugs so maybe there are lots of insects etc. that don't like it. I like your idea of using the garlic from a tube, might try that if I get blackfly again, they say there might be a sudden surge in the aphid population in some areas because of the weather & shortage of ladybirds to prey on them. At the moment I have only had a few blackfly on nasturtiums & the viburnum.

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Into every life a little rain must fall.

Hi cotton54321, If you can get any Nesturtiums (scarlet runners ) plants in the garden centre you could plant them alongside your beens. The aphids and black fly prefer these to the beans.

Morning All

I to have blackfly this year on my Runners, also with plenty of ants farming the little critters!! So I spent ages crushing them in my fingers, which the ants didn't like, you could see them going mental at what was happening. So I crushed them too After my little killing spree, I noticed 3 ladybirds running hell for leather up my canes, so I thought I would leave nature to deal with the rest I did have some marigolds planted at the base of my beans as I find the smell of these helps deter the aphids, but the the slugs ate them first

Despte the attack I have picked my first round of beans

I think this is true as eating garlic is suupposed to help stop getting bitten by insects like mosquitoes and midges etc - well it works for me.

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Definately plant Nasturtiums. Black Fly have been all over them but have been manageable on everything else.

Nasturtiums are covered with black fly,beans have them,courgettes have them, even one sweetcorn plant covered!Have been busy squishing to say the least.