Attack of the aphids
While down at the allotment today I noticed something strange about our broad beans. The stems and leaves of some plants appeared to be black in colour. On closer inspection it became clear that we were being attacked. The colour was being caused by an infestation of black fly. Thousands of them sucking away happily. It isn’t only the broad beans but the runner beans too. Thankfully there seems also to be a healthy population of ladybirds. But not enough of them. There’s a lot of eating in several thousand black fly when you are the size of a ladybird, so the ladybirds might need a little help.
Our allotment is a chemical-free zone, so we will have to do it natures way - with perhaps just a little help from Proctor and Gamble. Planting some marigolds between the bean plants might do the trick. Marigolds attract hoverfly, which, after feeding on the pollen, will lay their eggs on the black fly (and green fly). When the eggs hatch the larvae will eat the black fly. While this might work, it will take a while to get going and we are being attacked now. So some water with a drop of Fairy Liquid might work if sprayed on the plants once a week – so long as it doesn’t scare off the ladybirds.
We planted our beans in spring but it seems those in our allotment area with more experience plant their broad beans in the autumn so that by the time the aphids arrive in summer they will already have been harvested, so the aphid damage is limited. As we are experiencing, planting in spring risks an attack.
Written by stephen007 on June 11th, 2006 with
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