Nick Maclaren wrote:

In article , "hillier"
writes:
| My runner and french beans are infested with blackfly. Soapy water and
| derris liquid have not had a lot of success and although there are lots
| of ladybirds this year, they can't cope either. Do I leave them alone,
| pull all the plants up or can anyone sugest a different treatment,
| please.

I use Savona (horticultural soft soap), and it works. But you
have to soak the blackfly, so spraying by hand, close up and
under all leaves is essential. If you do that, and it failed,
try again, but perhaps with a slightly stronger solution. Also,
it works better if it is followed by some warm, dry weather, to
shrivel the beggars up.

I don't find Derris very effective.

That last is helpful, as it's all our local shop sells. Do you have a
local supplier of Savona, or do you buy online?

regards
sarah

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