patsylabrador Posted July 15, 2010 Share Posted July 15, 2010 My beans have a lot of black fly/aphids on them. I was going to spray them with Fairy Liquid yesterday but noticed around eight of what I'm sure are ladybird larvae. Should I trust to nature or spray anyway? I'm very excited about all the larvae and would rather have a poor crop than kill off ladybirds. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sjp Posted July 15, 2010 Share Posted July 15, 2010 have you tried blasting them of with just water and the sprayer set to jet, the other way is to use the hose pipe Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Valkyrie Posted July 27, 2010 Share Posted July 27, 2010 If you see predator larvae don't use the killer/soap solution, water is best or squish the aphids in your fingers (which is indeed quite gross - see me cringe at the thought of it ). Ladybirds will soon polish them off, give them a chance. If they are the harlequin ladybird larvae (and there is another nuisance, but useful nonetheless) they will decimate the population really quickly. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tiggy Posted July 30, 2010 Share Posted July 30, 2010 you dont say if these are broad beans or not, if they are you need to pinch out the growing tips to discourage black fly, the ladybirds will soon polish them off Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
