Comments on: Blackfly breeding in the dead of night

By: gareth (c2b)

gareth (c2b) — Thu, 05 Jun 2008 07:21:37 +0000

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!

By: Patrick

Patrick — Wed, 04 Jun 2008 22:46:40 +0000

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.

By: gareth (c2b)

gareth (c2b) — Mon, 02 Jun 2008 20:58:06 +0000

Thanks vegmonkey – I’ll give it a try.

By: vegmonkey

vegmonkey — Mon, 02 Jun 2008 19:51:06 +0000

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!