Broad beans

Beginning to look like another crop that is not worth growing anymore, black fly being the big problem, its pretty awful this year and not much you can spray with.
I've sprayed twice now with washing up liquid and I swear I could hear them laughing at me.
I'm thinking of not bothering next year.

 

I’ve got the same problem, plus chocolate spot. Never been a problem before. They look worse than yours. It’s the weather. But I sowed them back in October and started picking them at the beginning if this month so we’ve had several meals worth. With any luck the weather will be different next year.
id have to have more than one bad year to stop growing them.

…

 

@pete We had the same problem some years ago and then did what we should have done before...sowed in the Autumn. Not saying we didn't have blackfly but so few you hardly noticed. Unfortunately this year (or last) we couldn't sow them and so had to do a Spring sow. They are podding up but we haven't looked at them for a couple of days now. Hope they are OK.

 

I've never sown in autumn because the advice has always been Aquadulce is the hardiest and I prefer green seeded ones.
I sow in the greenhouse in Feb.

Last year was bad but after pinching the tips out the blackfly have smothered the whole plants.

 

No blackfly here on my spring sown Ratio but poor return (only 2-3 per pod) .Also a first; slugs actually within the pods, grazing the beans with no shame..or future.

 

@pete agree about the pinching out of the tops. We though grow dwarf broad beans and have to try different ways or times to sow.

 

I quite enjoy using a hand pump water sprayer to squirt the blackfly off the broad beans - two or three times a season, a few days apart, brings the numbers down so that the beans are fine...

 

I might try that tomorrow.

 

I have terrible blackfly on some eryngiums, but the broad beans about 5 metres away haven't been hit yet...