Topic: Black Fly treatment

[gilgamesh]

Usually the stuff you'd use for ultra-delicates, Lux or Dreft - but the packet will say "soap flakes"

[philcooper]

The "posh" soap flakes will have a brand name like Dreft or Lux but will include the words soap flakes on the packet.

The cheaper, generic packets will be called "xxxxx Soap Flakes" or something similar

[john_miller]

Whatever 'flavour' is tried it is most important that a trial is conducted on a few leaves before the whole plant gets sprayed. Presently I am using 'Dawn' (the leading brand over here) "plus hand care" formulation (not my hands that were hoping to be protected I add!) which I have never used before. Even my test spray was applied with trepidation but no problems were detected so I have carried on using it. I doubt if U.K. flavours can have any less, or more, chance of toxicity compared to the myriad formulations available over here!
Would napalm, judiciously applied of course, work?

[PoleDragon]

Hmm, found this topic better late than never - I just today removed the tops (ok, top third) of some of my Crimson flowered broad beans as they were totally black with the miserable blighters.  Funny thing though - there are hardly any blackfly on the others in the four rows.  Just a couple of completely infested plants.

Will acquire some soap flakes asap and do a few test squirts before any more major breakouts occur.

and does anyone else suffer with little thrip type things that eat into the base of the broad bean flower?  A lot of the earliest flowers haven't set as they get nibbled into before they've barely opened.

(Am willing to test napalm on local pigeon population... please send test samples in plain wrapping)
~Kris

[philcooper]

3 fields near me have been planted with filed beans.really affected one being a few

I checked at the weekend and some are afflicted with blackfly but one may be covered (the top half being black over in the worst cases and the bean alonside have little or no evidence of the beasts. The next affected stalk can be up to 5 yds away

[kenkew]

I put two idle ladybirds on the only bean stem affected with blackfly. A few seconds later they were attacked by ants and driven off....so I blasted the plant with a pressure water bottle! Umph!

[gwencross]

Thanks for all the help re treatments for the B.fly.  Mine have been zapped with an ad hoc mixture  of soap and water. They have grown away from the affected parts and it looks like I might get a later crop.
The most successful plants flowered early at the base of the stem.  Later sowings flowered higher up and got caught by the aphids. Why might this be?

Thanks again Gwen.

[Mrs Ava]

My winter sown broadbeans, no blackfly at all, my spring sown ones, today, infested!  :o  I wonder if the spring sown ones are softer as they haven't had the mean winter weather to toughen them up like the winter sown ones, and the black fly like them tender?

[philcooper]

But the spring sown ones do taste better than the overwintering ones!!!

So blackfly are not so stupid. ;)

[RichardS]

Perhaps the spring sown ones tast better because of the blackfly?!!!

well, to add my 2p worth to this discussion, I've just picked up my tub of soft soap, ordered from the chemist, today.  I was bit surprised when I opened it, it really does look like swarfega!  Preparing for a  blackfly massacre tonight...

however, in the last couple of weeks I have been spraying about once every 4 days with water/few drops of fairy liquid, and fortunately haven't seen any ill effects from it on any of the beans.  

It's noticable that since I attacked the blighters the broad beans put on a huge spurt of growth, but that really could be just the time of year and therefore coincidental - the weeds are growing like there's no tomorrow at the moment as well.

[Multiveg]

Phil - I read somewhere that overwintering ones taste better than spring sown ones. Suppose everyone's taste buds are different... I can't quibble with the taste of the overwintered ones.

[Mrs Ava]

Nor me MV, had some tonite, blanched, then de-skinned and sprinkled over our salad of freshly cut biondi and red frissly lettuce.  Yumsky!

[tonynotbaloney@yahoo.co.u]

I needed to get rid of blackfly from runner bean plants. No way would I use derris on plants that are about to flower.

Rightly or wrongly i have used diluted washing up liquid (on an overcast day). I think i will soon rinse it off with a water spray after a few hours have passed.

I will let you know how i get on.