Scarlet emperor takes on some black ants

[horticultural_hobbit]

May be I am being alarmist. But patches of the beans have amassed clutches of what look like black eggs with ants running around. I'm not particularly squeamish when it comes to bugs. At times, insecticide just happens. But now I'm feeling precious! Have never had this problem before. The whole arm with scarlet flowers on the end is black with the blighters. So far, I have avoided using anti-bug stuff and would like it to remain this way...but this is getting on my wick a little.

[bethduckie]

Blackfly?


Th ants 'farm' the blackfly, unhelpful creatures.

[Pies]

Id get the spray out if the ladybirds arent around

[horticultural_hobbit]

Is this a fairy jobby, or a proper insecticide episode?

[horticultural_hobbit]

::runs to pops' shed and finds organic pest control spray that acts on black fly::

Thank you, my sweets. Haven't seen ladybirds for weeks.

[Two_Sheds]

They are black bean aphids, aka blackfly. Just squish them with your fingers, and/or blast off with a shot of water

You need to keep checking the plants because the flies will keep coming, whatever tactic you take against them

[chris]

I tend to nip the tip of the plant off if it's grown enough and just bung it in the compost bin.

[Chef_uk]

After i started harvesting i noticed one plant had a mass of them so just snipped it off. Everything else has been fine. I must have missed one off when i was nipping the ends a couple of weeks back.

[Florence Fennel]

Like TS, I squish and splash.

[horticultural_hobbit]

Bean is seven foot tall, way taller than me and the Pops, and I pinched it out just as it got to the end of the wigwam. I'll most likely squish and splash as suggested. What's the best reciepe re fairy splashing? Not sure what the organic pest control that i found in pops shed does.