I spent most of yesterday afternoon down the plot. The intention was to get on with the dreaded thinning but, as ever, I found something else to take up most of my time – cleaning blackfly eggs off of my nascent broad and french beans.
I’ve no idea if this will work or not but they looked a right state so thought I’d give it a try. A neighbour suggested putting ladybirds on them as they love a blackfly snack, but I couldn’t find any ladybirds. Instead I ripped off a corner of that black weed-suppressing material and used it as a cloth to wash the beans with: on the stems, under the leaves and all over the place.
Below is a picture of what they looked like before. I haven’t taken a new one yet but will let you know how it goes. Grateful for any other tips on how to deal with them.
Darned blackfly. Two ways that have worked for me are a diluted solution of Ecover and water, or vinegar. Rubbing them off just seems to damage the plants sadly! And no, thinning isn’t murder…it’s necessary!
Thanks vegmonkey – I’ll give it a try.
I really disagree with vegmonkey. I would not suggest using any soap, vinegar or anything else on the plants. These kinds of seemingly innocent household chemicals really have no place in the garden. Whatever you might find that disturbs the blackfiles will also disturb beneficial insects like ladybirds or spiders. It’s just better to remove them by hand if possible, perhaps with a jet of water, but otherwise just let them be and let nature take it’s course. Eventually beneficial insects will establish themselves in your garden, perhaps too late for your broadbeans however.
I’m having the same problem now in my garden. I think it’s being made worse by other gardeners in the complex using chemical sprays.
Do you remove the tops of your broadbeans? This can help a lot. After they have put out 2 or 3 spirals of flowers, just cut off the top. The top is the most attractive to the blackfly, and removing the top lets the plants put more energy into growing the beans.
Thanks for the tip Patrick.
I’ve not bought any soapy products yet but also my broad beans aren’t really tall enough to be pinched off at this stage.
I’m conflicted with all this good advice – including the piece on faites simple’s blog about jam and ants! Think I’m going to stick with a clean water wash until/if they get tall enough to pinch.
This is heavy stuff!