Hi, I'm a newbie to this growing lark, I've recently
taken a allotment and having a go for the first time this
year.
Been burying seeds and stuff and most seems to be growing,
however, looking at my broad beans today, they are
covered in black fly.
Will these pests do any harm to the plants?, if so
what is the best way to get rid of them??

Sorry if this sounds a silly question to the more experienced
of you but really I am a first timer and have a lot to learn.

Wally

"Wally" wrote in message
...
Hi, I'm a newbie to this growing lark, I've recently
taken a allotment and having a go for the first time this
year.
Been burying seeds and stuff and most seems to be growing,
however, looking at my broad beans today, they are
covered in black fly.
Will these pests do any harm to the plants?, if so
what is the best way to get rid of them??

Hi Wally:

first time you grow stuff you get very worried and/or annoyed when you see
critters eating your plants. The response is often a mixture of guilt
(where you think you have to start doing something about it and you see all
these shiny bottles of stuff in B+Q and feel you should be reading labels
and buying it all) or anger or panic. Often these pests just go away.
Often they do not but it is not the end of the world; you may still get a
crop. When you start a garden first time, you often get hammered by one lot
of pests or another until things settle down. Further, you can indeed do
something with a bottle of stuff from B+Q but that often has no effect
whatsoever or sometimes makes things worse. This is a good place to ask.
YOu have blackfly and broad beans do indeed get lots of them. Last time I
grew them I ignored them and all was well in the end. My guess in this case
is leave them although if you really have vast quantities, they can make the
plants suffer. Some folks spray soapy water over the plants but I have
never done that.

Des




Sorry if this sounds a silly question to the more experienced
of you but really I am a first timer and have a lot to learn.

Wally

"Wally" wrote in message
...
Hi, I'm a newbie to this growing lark, I've recently
taken a allotment and having a go for the first time this
year.
Been burying seeds and stuff and most seems to be growing,
however, looking at my broad beans today, they are
covered in black fly.
Will these pests do any harm to the plants?, if so
what is the best way to get rid of them??

I spray them with water with washing up liquid in.

I find this is very effective

Sorry if this sounds a silly question to the more experienced
of you but really I am a first timer and have a lot to learn.

This is the right place to come!

Wally wrote:
Hi, I'm a newbie to this growing lark, I've recently
taken a allotment and having a go for the first time this
year.
Been burying seeds and stuff and most seems to be growing,
however, looking at my broad beans today, they are
covered in black fly.
Will these pests do any harm to the plants?, if so
what is the best way to get rid of them??



What I do is pinch out all of them at the first sign of blackfly.
Then I go round the affected plants and grub out the blackfly
with my fingers.
Then I go round the unaffected plants and rub the haulms with
my grubby hands.It seems to send a signal to the ants not to
farm there.
BTW Farmers are paid by weight for their beans and so do not
pick them until they are large and tough.
If you pick them young you will have a truly gourmet vegetable.
Bon appetit!

Thanks for the replies, I'll go to war on the
little varmints tomorrow.

BTW, this is a great NG I'm glad I found it,
I'll sit on the side and read all the posts and
maybe learn a bit more like that.
I may even know the answers to some of your
questions.

Probably pop in from time to time with the
odd question when I get stuck.

Thanks again.

Wally

Wally wrote:
Hi, I'm a newbie to this growing lark, I've recently
taken a allotment and having a go for the first time this
year.
Been burying seeds and stuff and most seems to be growing,
however, looking at my broad beans today, they are
covered in black fly.

I wonder if you're new to this 'growing lark 'how you knew they were
blackfly? All aphids are harmful to plants. They can stunt them or
prevent flowers opening properly and distort the leaves. They also carry
viruses. Best thing is to take your thumb and forefinger and rub them up
and down the stem taking care not to damage the stem.

Wally wrote:

Hi, I'm a newbie to this growing lark, I've recently
taken a allotment and having a go for the first time this
year.
Been burying seeds and stuff and most seems to be growing,
however, looking at my broad beans today, they are
covered in black fly.
Will these pests do any harm to the plants?, if so
what is the best way to get rid of them??

Not much help for this year, but the older gentlemen on the allotments
around mine have claimed that broad beans planted in the autumn and
overwintered are more resistant to blackfly than spring-planted ones.

I don't know if this is true or an old wives tale, but certainly the
ones I inherited from the previous allotment holder don't seem to have
any blackfly on them.

--
Carol
"The glassblower's cat is bompstable"
- Dorothy L. Sayers, _Clouds of Witness_

Martin wrote:

On Sat, 26 May 2007 00:27:59 +0100, Frank Booth Snr wrote:


Wally wrote:

Hi, I'm a newbie to this growing lark, I've recently
taken a allotment and having a go for the first time this
year.
Been burying seeds and stuff and most seems to be growing,
however, looking at my broad beans today, they are
covered in black fly.

I wonder if you're new to this 'growing lark 'how you knew they were
blackfly?


Something to do with them being black and their ability to fly?


Erm, there are plenty of insects that are black and fly. And have you
ever seen blackfly flying around a plant they have already settled on?

Not much help for this year, but the older gentlemen on the allotments
around mine have claimed that broad beans planted in the autumn and
overwintered are more resistant to blackfly than spring-planted ones.


That is interesting Carol, if planted in the autumn will they stand up to
the winter weather or do they have to be protected in some way ??

Wally


I don't know if this is true or an old wives tale, but certainly the
ones I inherited from the previous allotment holder don't seem to have
any blackfly on them.

--
Carol
"The glassblower's cat is bompstable"
- Dorothy L. Sayers, _Clouds of Witness_

Wally wrote:


Not much help for this year, but the older gentlemen on the allotments
around mine have claimed that broad beans planted in the autumn and
overwintered are more resistant to blackfly than spring-planted ones.


That is interesting Carol, if planted in the autumn will they stand up to
the winter weather or do they have to be protected in some way ??

I think it depends both on what part of the country you're in and how
severe the weather is - I suspect it's more of a gamble the further
north you go.

I'm in the Midlands, near Derby and mine weren't protected at all, as
far as I know, but I only took the allotment over in January. It wasn't
a particularly harsh winter here at all.

My copy of _The Vegetable Expert_ says that the best varieties for
overwintering are "Aquadulce" and "The Sutton", but I've had the book
for over fifteen years now, so there may well be more recently
developed varieties that are better.

--
Carol
"The glassblower's cat is bompstable"
- Dorothy L. Sayers, _Clouds of Witness_

I think it depends both on what part of the country you're in and how
severe the weather is - I suspect it's more of a gamble the further
north you go.

I'm in the Midlands, near Derby and mine weren't protected at all, as
far as I know, but I only took the allotment over in January. It wasn't
a particularly harsh winter here at all.

My copy of _The Vegetable Expert_ says that the best varieties for
overwintering are "Aquadulce" and "The Sutton", but I've had the book
for over fifteen years now, so there may well be more recently
developed varieties that are better.


Thank you Carol, I might give that a try, I live a bit further south than
you do, near Milton Keynes.

Wally

Frank Booth Snr writes
Martin wrote:

On Sat, 26 May 2007 00:27:59 +0100, Frank Booth Snr
wrote:

Wally wrote:

Hi, I'm a newbie to this growing lark, I've recently
taken a allotment and having a go for the first time this
year.
Been burying seeds and stuff and most seems to be growing,
however, looking at my broad beans today, they are
covered in black fly.

I wonder if you're new to this 'growing lark 'how you knew they were
blackfly?
Something to do with them being black and their ability to fly?


Erm, there are plenty of insects that are black and fly. And have you
ever seen blackfly flying around a plant they have already settled on?

I knew what blackfly were long before I grew broad beans. Such knowledge
is not exclusive to gardeners. What point are you trying to make?
--
Kay

Frank Booth Snr wrote:
Martin wrote:

On Sat, 26 May 2007 00:27:59 +0100, Frank Booth Snr
wrote:
Wally wrote:

Hi, I'm a newbie to this growing lark, I've recently
taken a allotment and having a go for the first time this
year.
Been burying seeds and stuff and most seems to be growing,
however, looking at my broad beans today, they are
covered in black fly.

I wonder if you're new to this 'growing lark 'how you knew they were
blackfly?


Something to do with them being black and their ability to fly?


Erm, there are plenty of insects that are black and fly. And have you
ever seen blackfly flying around a plant they have already settled on?

The wings are a give-away. I knew immediately last summer when I was in
Wally's shoes and found my first ever broad beans covered in blackfly.

Wally, I left the plants and the flies alone and they didn't seem to suffer
too much.