Aphids on indoor french beans

[littlemoney]

I have two pots of french beans in my sunny bay window. They were in the garden and I took them indoors when the temperatures started to drop. They are in flower again and have baby beans. One have black aphids. It's impossible to remove by squashing them all. What could I use/do to get rid of them please and still have edible beans. At least I am hoping the flowers will produce beans. Thanks

[Nicos]

How big are they ?
An easy way it to tip the pot gently on its side and pour water over the leaves etc.
It certainly gets rid of a lot of them. Just repeat it regularly trying to avoid the flowers you will pollinate by hand.

I prefer to cover the soil with kitchen paper tucked in then place it sideways on the draining board and run cool water over the greenery.
I don’t see the potential accidental soil in the U bend as a major problem when you compare it to washing spuds or other root veg.

[ameno]

Realistically, you're not going to be able to remove them all. But you also don't really need to, as they plants can tolerate smaller infestations. My advice would simply be to keep squashing them to keep the numbers down, and don't worry too much if you don't get them all.

[Jungle Jane]

Can the pots be moved outside & sprayed with a plant sprayer to shoot them off with water & a tiny bit of washing up liquid added. I’ve dunked lettuce plants upside down into a bucket of soapy water but not sure you could with delicate flowers?

[littlemoney]

How big are they ?
An easy way it to tip the pot gently on its side and pour water over the leaves etc.
It certainly gets rid of a lot of them. Just repeat it regularly trying to avoid the flowers you will pollinate by hand.

I prefer to cover the soil with kitchen paper tucked in then place it sideways on the draining board and run cool water over the greenery.
I don’t see the potential accidental soil in the U bend as a major problem when you compare it to washing spuds or other root veg.

The pots are 2 litre size and the plant is 20" tall.

[Nicos]

So definitely portable should you choose to spray them with water / soapy water !

As ameno says, you could just keep on squishing them.

Are there any ladybirds outside you could bring indoors to feed off them?

[littlemoney]

Thanks. I will try the suggestions. I need to remove as many as possible as there is a sticky sap on my window sill and small flying insects in my living room. I do have beans from flowers that have developed since I took the plants indoors so I may get some beans to eat.

Must have had aphids on the plants when outside and they have increased with the warmth indoors.

[Penellype]

It is very easy to import aphids into the house when you bring plants indoors, and unfortunately you only need one for them to form a large colony fairly quickly. You could try spraying them with water in which potatoes have been boiled - I have had some success with whitefly using this method. The starch in the water blocks the breathing pores in the insect's skin.