The last few months have seen the horrid beasts, the blackfly and on a smaller scale greenfly, attempt to take over the garden. The apple tree has been the worst affected. The tips of the branches have become a haven for blackfly, curly over the leaves and laying masses of eggs. Ants then march up the branches and seem to be feeding on the flies. I'm not sure what the ants are actually doing but they are not reducing the numbers as I first hoped.
My method for clearance is to put on the garden gloves and systematically squash and wipe them all away. As the tree is about 5 feet tall it is possible to do this by hand. While the tree is small like this I think it is important to take this much care of it. Once it is taller the apple tree will have to fend for its self but by then it should be much stronger. I have now cleared the flies three or four times over the last few months but it doesn't take long for the critters to re-establish themselves again.
The photo shows a mass of greenfly on the underside of the leaves, while ants crawl around them. More recently they have been blackfly.
I have also found blackfly on the runner beans and Rose of Sharon. Greenfly are in the lettuce but that is to be expected.
3 comments:
hey gorgeous, pesky little critters!!! >:o/
I have put nasturtium in this year and the pesky black fly are all over them....grrrr! They are n ot on any of the other flowers tho'....wierd!
Hope you get it sorted :o)
hugs
sue xxx
I had the same problem with nasturtiums. Tried dilluted washing up liquid but didnt help much. Proper blackfly spray damaged the leaves. I havent grown them since.
yeah, think I will ditch them next year....am really tempted to pull them out now, but can't get over the fact I will be killing the little blighters!!!! :o/
hugs
sue xxx
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