Greenhouse pests

[tlck9]

Hi All

Although i disenfected my greenhouse before using last year I was unindated with pests, silent killers that sapped the life from my plants and turned them brown, not to mention the green and white fly and aphids.

I'm a beginner so wouldnt know one pest from another, all I know was it wrecked all chances of growing in there last year

I've cleaned the glass again, and bought a sulphur candle, however i've been advised not to use this as I grown into the soil and I also have chickens in the immediate area.

So can anyone recommend something that can be used now to eradicate the issue and something to use when it hots up a bit.

[Thelma Sanders]

Washing the glass with a disinfectant - I like Citrox kills off the nasties - but it won't stop pests from finding their way in through open doors and windows during the growing season.

I find that growing French marigolds stops most of flying pests out - so rarely have to deal with those

[Aberdeenplotter]

tickled with you being unindated and not inundated . I use a solutionof j-e-y-e-s fluid and really drench and scrub all ledges and nooks where pests can over winter. It's difficult to stop pests flying in through opendoors and vents but using screens made of environmesh should help

[Thelma Sanders]

but you can't screen the openings if you want things to get pollinated

[VirginVegGrower]

So do I AP. I have a timber and glass greenhouse with concrete floor, then when dried out and aired thoroughly, I do use a sulphur candle, blocking the door keyhole and ensuring the vents are down. I have nothing in it at this point. All overwintering plant matter is removed prior to both of these activities. I use little sticky fly traps in the growing season, have marigolds in pots by the doors, plus nasturtiums in the hanging baskets.

[Aberdeenplotter]

but you can't screen the openings if you want things to get pollinated

bu@@ered if you do, bu@@ered if you don't

[Two_Sheds]

green and white fly and aphids.

Greenfly are aphids.

You need to keep on top of the population, by manually checking plants every day, and squishing with your fingers any aphids that you find. Whitefly too.

[vikkib]

snippity

I've cleaned the glass again, and bought a sulphur candle, however i've been advised not to use this as I grown into the soil.

Sorry to attempt a hi-jack tlck9 but I wondered if anyone else could let me know if you can't use a sulpher candle in a GH if you have soil you grow in?

I haven't got anything growing in mine at the moment (well nothing I can't put back in the house for a couple of days!) but I do have soil in the borders which I intend to plant in when/if it warms up again.

[Potstubsdustbins]

I grow in pots my mate grows in the soil edges, we have both used sulphur candles every year for years with no ill effect.

I also find the yellow sticky traps very useful, you only have to look at them at the end of the season to see what amount of pests they irradicate.

Colin

[alldigging]

You need some ladybirds.

[Two_Sheds]

also find the yellow sticky traps very useful

but they catch beneficial lacewings too

You need some ladybirds.

Trouble is, ladybirds come along a lot later than the aphids, and as greenfly give birth to PREGNANT young, the population explodes before the ladybugs have even come out of hibernation.

Also, I've found that ladybirds really do NOT like being in a gh.

I've now given up moving them in there, cos they just fly out again as soon as poss. Ladybird larvae are a different matter: having no wings, they can't escape!

A very important predator of aphids is the hoverfly, and you get loads of them in greenhouses, buzzing around above your head, where they can't work out the exit.

The best flowers to attract hovers with, I've found, are lilies and calendula. Either can be forced into flower a little bit early in the gh.

[alldigging]

but they catch beneficial lacewings too

Trouble is, ladybirds come along a lot later than the aphids, and as greenfly give birth to PREGNANT young, the population explodes before the ladybugs have even come out of hibernation.

The theory is you need some nettles. Because nettle aphids are earlier than other ones and so the ladybirds get going earlier.

The ladybird larvae are probably useful to add in and won't fly away.

[vikkib]

I grow in pots my mate grows in the soil edges, we have both used sulphur candles every year for years with no ill effect.

I also find the yellow sticky traps very useful, you only have to look at them at the end of the season to see what amount of pests they irradicate.

Colin

Lovely, thanks! : )