silly question

[growingkasbar]

Ok i know this may sound like a silly question but im a newbie and im here to learn so please be patient with me I have spotted some green flys on my tomatoe plants and im just wondering if they are there to munch on my plants and i need to remove them or if they are there to help and i need to thank them?

[leoblackcat]

definitately need to remove them - they only do harm!

[growingkasbar]

Noooo! are they the ones which i spray with water and washing up liquid to get rid of?

[NOG]

The rule with gardening is if it moves fast its good and if it moves slow its a pest. so prod one.

[growingkasbar]

oooook will do NOG

[Two_Sheds]

Noooo! are they the ones which i spray with ...washing up liquid ?

I wouldn't. It seems to cause more harm (to the plant) and confusion (to the grower) than anything else.
Just squish them with your fingers. If you're cack-handed, blast them off with a sprayer (just water)

[snohare]

NOG, are you having a laugh here ? 'Cos I was under the impression that the rule you quoted only applies to unwinged beasties. The winged ones, the only thing you can be sure of is that they want to move fast, either because they have predators or because they are predators.
Kasbar, if they are really small and lurking on plants then generally they will be sap suckers, or laying their eggs there for their larvae to hatch out and eat leaves. Bigger insects tend to be the predators; when they lay their eggs on leaves it is often so that their young can eat the herbivores.
Try going to google, click on advanced options, click on images, then type in "aphids", "greenfly", "fungus gnats", "blackfly", "hoverfly" etc - that will give you a good idea of what they look like. Click on the "UK only" button and you will filter out the foreign beasties. (Personally I love looking at foreign beetles so I don't !)

[growingkasbar]

ok, i have been out there today and squashed and removed any bugs i can see. How do i spot the eggs on the leaves and whats the best way to get rid of them?

[snohare]

As to how to spot aphid eggs on leaves, I must confess I am at a loss. With some leaf eating besties you can see tiny blisters where they have injected eggs into the surface of the leaf; those you just squish, but most of them must be almost microscopic.
My usual treatment for aphids and whitefly is to expose them to spiders - yes, I spidernap on a regular basis - that soon does a very good job of wiping them out. I think sometimes whitefly etc might lay their eggs in the soil as fungus gnats evidently do, I am going by the fact that when I take potting soil in from outdoors - DIY compost, molehills etc - they sometimes appear a couple of days after I start watering the seedlings. One of the ways to wipe out aphids etc is to expose them to spray from a hose, imitating lots of rain; my guess is that when they get soaked they know they will die and have an orgy of egg-laying, with the eggs programmed to hatch out as soon as the drier weather comes along.
This season I am trying diatomaceous earth of the sort sold as organic slug barrier granules, which certainly works for reducing the numbers of fungus gnats. (Does great against slugs too, I love the stuff.) They love peaty compost and don't mind getting wet (they can swim !) ; I don't have greenfly or whitefly on my windowsills this year (yet) so I don't know if it works against them.
The first sign of whitefly by the way kasbar is tiny little white discarded exoskeletons which they have moulted out of, lying about on the leaves, often with a slight stickiness on the leaves from their frass (droppings). Without a magnifying glass you might just think that the exoskeletons are some kind of tiny seeds, but if you turn the leaf over you will usually find a beastie or two lurking under it; keep squishing on a daily basis and you will notice a difference, assuming you have not left it too late.
You now know about as much as I do, although you probably don't spend as much time as I do photographing beasties on your plants !

[indigox]

As to how to spot aphid eggs on leaves, I must confess I am at a loss. With some leaf eating besties you can see tiny blisters where they have injected eggs into the surface of the leaf; those you just squish, but most of them must be almost microscopic.

You will have difficulty spotting eggs as most aphids produce live young. They are ready to start chomping the moment they are born.

[snohare]

Ooh, I didn't know they were vivipareous ! Thanks indigox, I'll keep the camera ready for a maternity moment ! Typical of young 'uns - always wanting food, eh...

[growingkasbar]

Oh my god!!! Plants were absolutely covered when i went outside again!!!! getting cross now. i squashed all in site! will it help if i close the green house door will it help keep these bugs out?

[thecarnage]

Buy a good organic pesticide?

[Dynamo]

Buy a good organic pesticide?

I've heard that crushing some garlic and mixing it with water and then spraying the concoction onto plants can get rid of the bleeders. Has anyone used this approach?

[Mchanen]

I've been spraying my potatoe leaves with soapy water so hope i'm not doing more harm then good as they have greenfly on them (Only noticed them there this week)

People on here are saying squish them but it's pretty difficuly when your potatoes resemble a forest lol

I have noticed ants on and around them too so i'm goign to put some ant powder around the base of my potatoe planters.