Is it just me that having problem with greenfly

Is it just me, or is anyone else having serious problems with greenfly/blackfly ??

Almost every plant has now had them and today I noticed even the hanging baskets are infested so have spent ages trying to spray them this evening :( Am now on the 3rd bottle of Provado !!

I have also just now come in from the garden and been watching them flying about everywhere. I have never seen so many EVER

Anyone else having this problem ??? Or is it just me they are picking on this year ??

 

They infested one of my gooseberry bushes. I haven't seen even one ladybird this year yet, so maybe that has something to do with it.

 

Your not the only one Sam, Ive had the biggest infestation ive ever seen in my garden, I had to spray the whole garden a few weeks ago :( I check every day and tho its not so bad, there still there, and im just squashing them now

 

No, it's not just you! I was going to post a similar question, but from reading forums, talking to people etc I know the answer - it's a very bad year for aphids!

I had a horrible infestation. Spraying got rid of the worst of them, but they keep coming back.

I've no idea why it should be a bad "year" for them. Perhaps the harsh winter killed off too many of their predators, and the hot spring weather helped them breed more than usual?

I hope someone has the answer though, I'd be very interested.

 

Thanks all ..... its nice to know I am not the only one struggle. Its starting to really really annoy me now grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr

My honeysuckle was covered a week or so ago all over the flowers (3 years waiting for a decent display off it aswell!!) ..... I ended up cutting off all the flowers in the end as I just couldnt get rid of them. I then soaked all the cut off parts in soapy water to try and kill them off before sticking them in the greenbin.

Thankfully Provado has been on offer in Wilkinson at £2.96 each so brought another two today .... but I cant keep spraying everything!!

We wont be having many BBQ's at this rate either ..... I cannot bear to sit out there with everything flying at me :(

 

Hi Sam,
I posted somewhere else that I have an infestation on my sweet williams-they are absolutely covered. I cut some and brought them indoors before I noticed

I had to spray them [a good way to get rid of pests :hehe:] as they had spread to the petunias in my hanging baskets.
I have never seen them so bad as this year.

 

Have noticed the petunia's in my baskets are all covered. Whereas the geraniums that havent even bothered to flower yet, dont have any on them ..... strange?

 

Not only Green/blackfly. I've had some grey bug all over the Lupins. Never seen them before!

 

try putting nettles in a cloth bag weighted down with a brick in your water butt and letting it soak for 2 weeks.

the water will have a nettle smell to it and should put pests off....never see nettles with green/black fly do ya?:thumb:

 

I haven't ever heard that one before-so it's the smell that puts them off? Interesting, I had thought it was the acid, well you live and learn.


I have greenfly and blackfly -but I can't say it is any worse than it has been in the past, I have seen three ladybirds total so far though:(.

 

Lucky you Claire, we seem to be swamped here with them.

Cant say I have seen any ladybirds though :(

I think it was you Claire, who said about using a dot of washing up liquid in a spray with water ..... do you find this works as well as Provado ? Or just that its a 'greener' way of trying to get rid of them ?

 

Never been too sure about Provado but maybe its just me?

Systemic, says shouldn't pick crops for 3 days but it continues to work for 6 weeks [works for 6 weeks, but unfit for humans only for first 3 days - I'm struggling with that a bit :( ], and only 2 applications per crop allowed on some things (I think Toms, Cues and Aubergines) and only 4 on ornamentals. So can other vegetables have unlimited applications, or do they assume that given the six week active period that a crop will only need treating a couple of times in its lifetime anyway?

The Bayer site seemed to be all marketing, I couldn't find any info about usage - not even the details from the instructions on the bottle!

Ah ... found a zoomable image of the pack on Wyevale's site:

http://www.wyevale.co.uk/Provado-Vine-Weevil-Killer-2-concentrate-+1lt/0800002096,default,pd.html

Currants, Potatoes, and Beet varieties only 2 applications per crop. And Beet can't be harvested for 35 days after application ...

... it scares me a bit. I'm not really Organic, just want to know the provenance of my home-grown produce, but Provado doesn't really "fit" very comfortably with me :(

 

Hi Sam,

Yes I use soapy water-but I can't compare it to Provado because I haven't ever used the stuff, sorry.


I also crush the blighters between thumb and forefinger-this method I use the most because I crush as I spot them ( I always keep clean tissues stuffed in a pocket somewhere for the bodies). It takes some getting used to, but I have no problems with it now.

 

I dont actually grow any veg, just purely plants but I know a lot of people on here do grow veg their own.

What do you use instead of Provado Kristen ?

 

Thanks Claire.

I know a lot of people do use the 'picking off an squashing' method. But its near on impossible with so many at the moment, when you have say 50 on one single petunia.

I had no problem squashing the ones that landed on me yesterday !!

Claire - do you only spray them with the solution if you see them, or is this something that you would do just as a matter of course anyway to try to combat them ?