On Jun 21, 11:46*am, kay wrote:
Ann Lancing;927341 Wrote:

I am trying to find a safe spray for Broad beans. I have an insecticide
which
contains pyretins.
This says *not to spray when plants are in flower. *Does anyone know
why,
is it to protect bees?

Yes, and other pollinating insects. This is not just sentiment but
practicality - if you reduce the number of bees in your garden, then
many of your crops will not set.

You need also to remember that insecticides in general are not specific
- they will also kill the insects that might otherwise be eating the
creatures you want to get rid of - eg not just the aphids, but also the
ladybirds whose larvae will eat the aphids.

Plants cam tolerate low levels of predation - it's being swamped by
psests which is the problem. Therefore, the idea of picking off the
tender tops is a good one. If you can do it *before* they have been
covered by blackfly, they make a tasty vegetable.

--
kay

Timing is the key as Kay has said - you need to keep an eye out for
the first colonies of the blackfly - they appear at first on the very
tops of the plants so get them at that stage and you've pretty well
nailed the problem. Miss that moment and you can end up with them all
over the plants and pods - a horrible mess.
It's probably worth mentioning as well that in gardens or districts
where a lot of spraying has been done many pests have become resistant
to pyrethrins because they have been widely used and misused. So the
message with pesticides is don't keep using the same type (look at the
active ingredient, not the brand name) time after time and do your
best to ensure you really have seen off whatever you're trying to
kill. It's those last few that form the core of increasingly resistant
strains.

Rod