Topic: BROAD BEANS AND BLACKFLIES

[mpdjulie]

Can anyone let me know whether there is a resistant variety of broad bean.  Last year I grew sutton.  The plants grew very well and there were alot of pods but they were smothered in black fly.  My dad told me to make a fairy washing up liquid and water solution and spray it on them but it was to no avail.  I was so disappointed.  Any ideas?

[Bjerreby]

Broad beans are a bit like elder.....they attract black aphids. I think the trick is:

1)  to plant Aquadulce claudia  in the autumn so they mature before the black flies arrive, and

2) Nip off the succulent shoots once flowers appear. The flies want new shoots, not old ones. You will still get a good crop if you nip off the tops when flowers appear below.

This year I shall try companion planting with summer savoury. I know sumer savoury is eaten with broad beans, but some say it wards off black aphids. Well, it is as plausible as planting with the moon and burying horns isn't it? ???

[tonybloke]

Can anyone let me know whether there is a resistant variety of broad bean.  Last year I grew sutton.  The plants grew very well and there were alot of pods but they were smothered in black fly.  My dad told me to make a fairy washing up liquid and water solution and spray it on them but it was to no avail.  I was so disappointed.  Any ideas?

use a soft soap (hand soap bar, grated) not washing up liquid, for a start!!

[cornykev]

Off with the new shoots.  ;D ;D ;D

[Eristic]

Much to the anusement of my Italian neighbour I went round the allotment site last year with a jar collecting ladybirds at the first sighting of blackfly. He politely told me I had to spraya bro bina get rida fly. When I showed him the ladybirds he went into impersonations of Manuel of Faulty Towers fame.

"Craazy, I tolda hima spray, he went Craaazzzy".

[hopalong]

If you haven't got enough ladybirds or lacewings to gobble them up, blackfly love nasturtiums too, so growing some of them on the plot helps to attract the blackfly away. On second thoughts, I find this doesn't work all that well and it's too early for nasturtiums anyway! Insectidal soaps are probably best.

[Eristic]

I always have plenty of ladybirds. Trouble is everyone else on the site complains that they don't have any at all. How odd!

[thifasmom]

Much to the anusement of my Italian neighbour I went round the allotment site last year with a jar collecting ladybirds at the first sighting of blackfly. He politely told me I had to spraya bro bina get rida fly. When I showed him the ladybirds he went into impersonations of Manuel of Faulty Towers fame.

"Craazy, I tolda hima spray, he went Craaazzzy".

hee hee that sounds like me last year. i not only collected and relocated to different parts of my garden, but also took to walking with an insect box whenever i went out so i could collect ladybugs/ their larva.

[hopalong]

I always have plenty of ladybirds. Trouble is everyone else on the site complains that they don't have any at all. How odd!

I get a lot too. Maybe those ladybird houses really do work. Except that in the autumn there were lots of them inside my house!

[PAULW]

Simple solution put ant powder down on the ground around your broad beans, ants farm aphids for the honey dew they produce, ants will move aphids from one plant to another, kill the ants problem solved

[Bean_Queen]

Last year I grew Aquedulce, Witkiem, Red Epicure and Crimson Flowered. All planted & treated the same.

the Crimson flowered suffered much, much less from blackfly.

As others have said, nip out the growing tip as the first pods start to form, and keep squishing any aphids to keep the population under control.  You won't eradicate all of them, but you can keep on top of the problem.

[Tee Gee]

My method is avoidance rather than cure.

OK a lot will depend on when you sow/ plant out if this method will work for you.

I only allow five sets  of flowers to set (not six or more) then I remove the tip of the plant down to the top set of flowers.

I have found in the past if I am greedy or lazy and don't stick to this rule I suffer, so I generally go for quality rather than quantity.

This was learned the hard way!!

[kt.]

Plant some sacrificial basil near by.  They blackfly will go for that before your beans.  Lavender will also attract beneficial insects that eat blackfly.  If you plant it in pots you can move it around as part of your crop rotation each year.

[Eristic]

Plant some sacrificial basil near by

So what part of the country are you living in where you can have basil outside in April - May?

I want to go there.

[Bean_Queen]

Plant some sacrificial basil near by.  They blackfly will go for that before your beans. 

I can't even get basil to grow in these cool damp summers - certainly not at the same time as my broadies !