Help!My beans have black fly!!!!

[happyhippy]

I went out onto my veg garden last Wednesday,and to my horror noticed "clusters"of black fly on my runner beans! :shock:I put on some gloves and squished most if not all of them.So today(Saturday) I was pottering around outside,and could not believe it!They're back and whats worse is there seems to be more of them!I sprayed them with diluted washing up liquid,and fingers crossed it might have done the trick.What do you all think?What do I do if this does'nt work?They seem to have appeared overnight!The runner beans are pretty much fully grown now and up to the top of the canes that support them.It just looks so horrible having all these black patches everywhere!The plants don't look too bad,only a few shrivelled leaves.Any advice greatly appreciated!

[lazyspice]

We had the same problem last year but the ladybirds arrived en masse one day and cleared the whole lot within days! We're hoping the same will happen again this year . . . .

[happyhippy]

Wow I hope to god that happens to ours!lol!!!Its early morning(7am)at the mo but when I have got ready for the day I am heading outside to see if the dishwashing liquid has worked!You are soi lucky you had so many ladybirds turning up!xx

[Christine]

let us know if the washing up liquid works! There are some ladybirds valiantly battling the enormous colonies on my B Beans but they're still spreading and I hesitated to use soap in case it killed the ladybirds too. I chopped off the worst affected stems and burned them the other day, which seemed to help for a bit, and the stems I sacrificed had gone past the point of rescue. I've ordered ladybird house plus inhabitants from Green Gardener as the bugs will spread onto the french beans once they've finished with the beans but they quote 7-14 days! In the meantime, I'm harvesting the beans from the affected plants as soon as they acquire colonies down the 'seams' and crossing my fingers.

[happyhippy]

Hi,well I have checked my beans and yes it looks like it worked!I really did'nt like using the dishwashing liquid,would of used more natural controls but time was of the essence and I guess had I ordered some ladybirds it would of probably been too late.I did notice next doors shrub is covered with them,and I pointed this out to the neighbour,who promptly cut ther shrub down to ground level! He also grows veg so I suppose it was in his own best interest.Its the first time I have accountered that problem,and somehow I don't think it'll be the last!I think ordering the ladybirds is a very good option though and I might look further into doing that so thanks for the tips.xx

[bean gardenin']

My broad beans have been completely ruined by black fly, I can't beleive the pest I have encountered since taking over my allotment at the beginning of the year. Gooseberry sawfly, pea weevils, asparagus beetles.... can't someone breed a bindweed worm or a thistle bug, why do these things have to eat all the good stuff!?!?!?

[Gem]

My beans ALWAYS seem to get blackfly regardless of where they are planted. None of my other plants seem to suffer from them but the garlic and washingup liquid mix on the underside of the leaves keeps them at bay until I can harvest them. Towards the end of the growing season they do get a bit stunted but I just feed those to the chickens..

Gem

[Shirleymouse]

My beans have it too! I'm going to try the washing up liquid but I'm very excited to discover that ladybirds can be ordered online! Do you just let them go on the plant and leave them to it?

[Christine]

Hi,well I have checked my beans and yes it looks like it worked!

THanks for doing the experimentation. Now I just have to raid the washing up bottle, remove all ladybirds (I have practice, since I had to do this before burning the culled beans) and make a decision about whether I'll leave one for them!

[Christine]

I'm very excited to discover that ladybirds can be ordered online! Do you just let them go on the plant and leave them to it?

Well apparently- I'll find out when the package arrives!

[Christine]

I was very anxious to get a card through the letterbox on Tuesday saying that a 'large package' had been taken back to the Post office and I must wait 72 hours before collecting it. Presumably it was the ladybird house - and would the inhabitants survive that long?
BUT - tonight, a little package on the doormat with 'open immediately' on the envelope. Obviously, they send the bugs separately. I had to whizz them back up to the allotment - a testtube with live ladybirds, already very active, and a little plastic box with miniscule larvae.
I had to shake a couple of each onto the bottom leaves of affected plants. The larvae were so small I couldn't really see them, so I scattered the bits of paper, plus larvae, over the plants and 'placed' the ladybirds onto the bottom leaves. They couldn't wait to start munching - and wouldn't leave until they'd vacuumed up the blackfly that had foolishly climbed onto the tube, my hand and the bit of paper the ladybirds were sitting on (which I think has some sort of picnic on it for their journey).
There are some fully grown larvae on the beans now, many copulating ladybirds and some eggs here and there - but the blackfly population is massive - and now I definitely can't use the washing up liquid. Oh dear!

[Peppa Pig]

Ladybirds sound like there going to get a result. Iv just started getting b fly on my potted dwarf beans so Im going to try and hunt down some ladybirds and pop them on. Good luck!

[Christine]

and to us all!

[happyhippy]

Just come from the veg garden and yes the black fly are back on my beans! Christine,do you mind me asking how much those ladybirds cost?I would'nt mind going down that road.I will have to respray my beans today with the soapy water,and kill them off again.It definately worked the last time,but I feel a more natural approach might be best.If thats not bad enough,I've seen quite a few white butterflies hovering over my brassica's!!!! Its enought o make you want to throw in the towel!!!!I think next year I might go for more root crop veg,seems alot less hassle!

[grahamhobbs]

Plant nasturiums!! They divert both blackfly and cabbage white butterflies! Whereas other plot holders suffer, in fact the Secretary was complaining about the blackfly destroying her broad beans, I showed her mine, 99% clear. I get a little trouble early on before the nasturiums appear but once they are up it is extremely rare for me to get any, simply because of the nasturiums, which self-seed and come up each year.