Harvested some spinach today and the underside of the leaves were covered in black fly. Is there an organic way of detering them - plant I can grow close by, etc..... would rather not spray them unless I have to.
Nasturtiums. ;D
G x
Oh no! I have got marigolds - will these do the trick? not grown any Nasturtiums.
It's not too late to plant them. Don't panic about the aphids, they look terrible but I'm not sure that they really do much damage.
Marigolds are great companion plants but they don't attract black fly whereas nasturtiums do. Sow some now and they'll be up in a week or so. In the meantime you could try spraying with a home made garlic spray - one good sized clove to a litre of water, blended and strained.
G x
Or just walk away from the Spinach for a couple of weeks and the good guys will have hoovered them up, look for some hard pale aphids on the back, they have been paprsited and will soon hatch into the helpful guys..
Works for me with spinach beet...
;D