[chris23005]

Just got home from holiday to find my broad beans covered in black fly - yes, I did pinch the tops out before I left! Have been reading an earlier post on this forum about the same problem where it is suggested that soft soap is used. I have a bar of Sunlight Soap ( a freebie from when we visited Sunlight earlier this year) - is that any good?

Muggy and gently drizzling here so no wonder the blackfly are about - in South Wales it was teeming down and quite cold so we came home a day early!

[Greendream]

I tried spraying washing up liquid diluted in water, worked for Greenfly but not the blackfly! So resorted to a chemical spray safe for veg. hardly organic, but my one ladybird on th plot cant possibly keep up with them all! 

[mjpalin]

the water / washing up liquid (weak mix) has been working ok for me on the runners so far, but I am applying it almost every day.

[chris23005]

Haven't seen a single ladybird all summer!!! It is raining solidly now - maybe they will get washed away! Will have a look tomorrow and see what's what.

On a good note - my first sweet pea flower is out!  A bit late, but I got there eventually!

[mumofstig]

When I was weeding today I saw a lot of ladybirds and relocated them to the runner beans They weren't our native ones though..they were the ones with a lot of spots

[Swing Swang]

If I was an aphid I'd be more afraid of a big one with lots of spots than a small one with fewer spots!