Grow Your Own Magazine

Hello all

Am growing broad beans for the first time - a couple of the plants which are now starting to flower have a small colony of black fly at the base of the flower stem. Do I pinch these out and lose those flowers and hope no more flies arrive for the rest of the crop? I once heard that spraying them with fairy liquid in water with a garden spray would help - yes or no ? Also do ants eat black fly? There seem to be a fair few around the crop.

Would appreciate any help....
Thanks

As far as I'm aware ants "farm" blackfly for their nectar (the secrete a sweet substance). I too have grown broad beans for the first time this year and have a small colony on one of my plants. I pinched out the tops, and was lucky enough to find a couple of ladybirds on the plot which I moved onto the broad bean plants to see if they were feeling hungy.

Might give the washing up liquid thing a go too if I see no improvements.

Good luck with yours.

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A simple dude trying to grow veg.

http://haywayne.blogspot.com/ - Minor update - 10th November

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Hi Palmers,

Apart from inviting lady bugs or spraying with soap water, get rid of the ants!
Ants will protect the black fly colony from any beneficial insects (including against the lady bugs).
Plant some nasturtium to attract the black fly, it works as a trap plant and hopefully they leave your broad beans alone. Good luck.

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I grow, I pick, I eat ...

All i can say is do something about it now, we just lost all our broad bean plants to black fly and have just seen some on the runner beans so as far as i'm concerned it now war (funny you should say about the ants Mr HeyWayne as that's what brought my attention to the runners, may try some ant powder round the base of the pot).
Good luck getting rid of those pesky blackfly.
All the best Phattaff

So what do the blackfly actually do to the beans then? Suck the sap I presume thus weakening the plant? I have a lovely infestation on my broadies ....

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Life may not be the party we hoped for but since we're here we might as well dance

Blackfly increase at an alarming rate and will if left unchecked completely cover a plant from top to toe. They suck the sap and obviously they will get to a point where the plant and beans are affected. Usually if you pinch out the growing tip the blackfly will stop multiplying on that plant and sometimes even leave the plant. The plant can cope quite well with small numbers without the crop being compromised.

Ian

I try and squash any small colonies I find - at the moment they are on my parsnips, the little beggars!

The tend to stain the fingers (and the plants) so a soapy wash for both afterwards is a good idea.

ive been out with a flat hog brush, bushing them off and spraying with diluted washing up liquid, any ladybirds i find i try a pick them up, blackfly and slugs arghhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh hhhhhhhhhhh

Blackfly are a very common problem with Broad Beans and are usually to be found on the growing tip of the plant. If the plant is mature, just pinch the growing tip off and voila - problem dissapears . If you fail to do this they will infest the whole plant and it will eventually die a slow and painful death - but if your plants ever get that bad then a visit to the local opticians is in order

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Rat

British by birth
Scottish by the Grace of God

Blog updated Wednesday November 13th

I spotted greenfly on one of our broad bean plants. I gave it a dose of the bug gun and they seem to have gone. However, my eyesight isn't brilliant so I hope there are no blackflies now

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Happy Gardening,
Shirley

http://www.honeyjukes.co.uk

Seems to me you have 2 options.
1) Be organic and lose the crop
2) Use insecticide and have something to eat at the end of this.

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If it ain't broke, don't fix it and if you ain't going to eat it, don't kill it

Thanks everyone for your replies, am using a combination of your methods - the earth is dusted with ant powder, a couple of tips are pinched out and any strays with be squashed.... it's war out there !

I agree with you there Norm. I try to grow organically where possible but I am determined to have a crop as I only have a few of each veg at the moment. I am sure that whatever I use my veg will be better than anything I buy in the supermarket.

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Happy Gardening,
Shirley

http://www.honeyjukes.co.uk

One variety of my (4) broad beans is affected, fairly badly (Red Epicure ~ but not the Crimson flowered, the Witkiem nor the Aquedulce). I am squishing every day, the tops were pinched out a week ago, but now the pods are infested. It is really starting to be a losing battle.

This is my first year on this plot, so I don't have a colony of friendly predators yet - hopefully next year I will have enough ladybirds to control these pesky little blighters.

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~ What do I think of Western civilisation? I think it would be a very good idea ~ Gandhi

My broadies are quite heavily infested. However, nothing else is as a consequence, so I am treating them as a sacrificial veg in the hope that they only remain on the broadies.

Last year my Cherry was very infected and it was a loosing fight, whereas this year the cherry is completely clear.

I have been organic for years and never have used insecticides. For the first two or three years, we had greenfly, blackfly and various other nasties. Thankfully now we have no problems along these lines, as the birds, hoverflies, lacewings and ladybugs keep the plants clean.

Did you manage to get any produce for the first few years Tam and if so how/

We've had blackfly on our broad beans for weeks - I spray them with soapy water, and squish whenever I'm there. The infestation goes down for a bit and then comes back as soon as you look the other way! At the mo some plants seem to have it really badly while others have hardly any. We had ants, put down semolina which seemed to get rid of them - but the ants are now coming back (possibly a new lot of ants from a different nest as they are all over the site) so we are going to get some more semolina down ASAP and keep squishing!

It's a pain, and disheartening, and I only *hope* it'll turn out OK - but the good news is that so far the plants all seem to be surviving and growing flowers / beans despite the infestation - which hasn't spread to any of the other crops (yet!) I'm just going to keep squishing and hope the ladybirds turn up soon to save me the job. I saw *one* ladybug the other day and I'm hoping she's gonna let her friends know about the feast.

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Warning: I have a dangerous tendency to act like I know what I'm talking about.

I did have black fly,but after taking note of previous threads of advice,i made up a garlic spray,with a spray in one hand and squishing with the other,the broadies have been clean for over a week,on reading the thread again,i realised i used the mixture neat,whoops,everything is fine,also used it on the green fly in the greenhouse,with good results,may need two goes,but is better to squish as you spray,its messy but worth it.

Yeah sod the birds and the bees...lets nuke those bugs.
I couldn't disagree with you more (except about foxes). You may as well give up and support the supermarkets... then you'll just be eating the chemicals rather than breathing them as well. Perhaps veg growing isn't for you? 'Organic' as a word seems to have been hijacked by marketing but the principals of avoiding chemicals using companion planting and encouraging beneficial predators are sound. It is really only a matter of outwitting a few insects, rodents and birds


The third option is: Regularly care for your plants in well prepared land; know your garden friends and enemies; stack the odds in favour of the former and be a little patient and ...or as its often known ...be a 'gardener.' Grown with experiance, a few well timed barriers and no pesticides you'll find that there is plenty of really tasty something to eat at the end.... for your family, your friends as well as a few loses to wildlife.

exactly.

Fourth option: If there is a bad infestation....squish/wash them off. You don't need the soap. Even the squeamish can just jet 'em off with a hose every few days.... they soon give up especially with a few well placed nastursiums to offer cover.

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Advertising is the rattling of a stick in a swill bucket. George Orwell
Paul

Oh, didn't realise that I could jet them with the hose - I was worried I would blast the flowers off too Next year I am determined to remember to sow the nasturtiums and marigolds - the packets are sat looking at me but I forgot this year (good old CFS memory strikes again). I can't squish bugs - don't have the strength in my fingers or stomach!

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Happy Gardening,
Shirley

http://www.honeyjukes.co.uk

Too right
That's the attitude - save the birds and bees and slaughter foxes
Bit of a duel standard there, but never mind, it's what I've come to expect

Don't you just love knee jerk reactions and over-simplification to support a reactionary opinion
Sorry Paul, I didn't realise that there was an obligation to follow your misguided opinions.


If that is true, why are so many experienced 'organic' growers coming into this forum saying their crops have been destroyed by predators and asking for help



As for outwitting a few insects, birds and rodents, yes, of course it is, in a pigs eye If it's so simple, why do retailers sell organic produce at such higher prices than non-organic produce? Simple.
Although there are no costs for chemicals, organic growing is extremely labour intensive and crop loss from pests and disease is 50% higher than non-organic production.