Benjamin Posted June 17, 2006 Share Posted June 17, 2006 I've tried our dictionary and online translators but I can't find the French word for blackfly. Our nastertiums are covered with them. Can anyone help?Benjamin Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cassis Posted June 18, 2006 Share Posted June 18, 2006 It's a 'puceron noir'. Greenfly are just pucerons. Why do you need to know? Are you going to put up a notice warning them off?PS Your nasturtiums are Capucines. You could put 'Pucerons interdits sur les capucines' on your notice. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Benjamin Posted June 18, 2006 Author Share Posted June 18, 2006 Thanks for that Cassis. I had actually got there by going to Wikipedia and typing in Blackfly and it gave me aphid. I then went to Babel Fish and got aphis which helped a bit and then I tried Reverso which gave me puceron!!!!Thanks also for Capucine; our neighbour Beatrice keeps saying she likes our cappuccino but as we've only ever given her the normal ground stuff from Unico we've always wondered what she's on about!!Benjamin Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steph1 Posted June 19, 2006 Share Posted June 19, 2006 Our nasturtiums have what looks like small black eggs on the undersides of the leaves and the leaves are turning yellow, can anyone advise if this is blackfly and what do we do? Many thanks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Russethouse Posted June 19, 2006 Share Posted June 19, 2006 Sounds like blackfly - try putting some washing up liquid in some water and spraying with it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cassis Posted June 20, 2006 Share Posted June 20, 2006 Yes, or eggs of some sort of insect. I like to squish them by hand. You wouldn't want to shake my hand some days. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pads Posted June 20, 2006 Share Posted June 20, 2006 try planting 100s of garlic bulbs among any plant that gets black/green fly i have found since doing this i have not had them on my plants plus i always have lots of fresh garlic Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Unknown Posted June 27, 2006 Share Posted June 27, 2006 Was about to post a thread about this for my spinach plants but then found this thread.Have 6 really lovely spinach plants of which we have been picking leaves from and eating. Over the past week or so have noticed on the underside of the leaves small black dots, perhaps eggs. Slowly but surely each plant is starting to whither and die off. Would this be black fly and what can I do to prevent them bearing in mind I want to eat this plant?Many thanksDotty Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cassis Posted June 27, 2006 Share Posted June 27, 2006 Hi DottyIf they look like eggs they are probably not blackfly, which look like this:[img]http://ccvipmp.ucdavis.edu/insects/images/blackbean/Blackbeanapt.jpg[/img]There are lots of different aphids specific to particular plants - black bean aphid, black citrus aphid - but most look quite similar.Eggs are more likely to be of a butterfly or moth, although I don't know any that are particularly partial to spinach. There again, aphids are not usually a spinach problem, either! Birds are the main bugbear. And downy mildew.Phil Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Unknown Posted June 27, 2006 Share Posted June 27, 2006 Will go and look now and compare. How do I get rid oh clever one? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cassis Posted June 27, 2006 Share Posted June 27, 2006 I squish them if there aren't too many. You may want to wear Marigolds! Or you can wash them off with mild soapy water. You can also get bio friendly insecticides based on fatty suspensions which block their pores and suffocate them. Hahahahahahahaha! Take that, blackfly! Let us know if it's not blackfly after all. Off to do some mortaring now. Ta ta. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Unknown Posted June 27, 2006 Share Posted June 27, 2006 Don't go yet Phil, yes they are black flies and there are loads of them. Will take forever squishing them and some are in areas I cannot get to. Any idea what the bio stuff is called in French, have looked in the supermarket and can't make head nor tail of what to buy.Ta Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cassis Posted June 27, 2006 Share Posted June 27, 2006 I can't off hand, sorry. Try washing them off with a spray of soapy water (a squirt of washing up liquid added to 2 litres water). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Unknown Posted June 27, 2006 Share Posted June 27, 2006 I will have a go and let you know.Thanks Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cassis Posted June 27, 2006 Share Posted June 27, 2006 It should work - bon courage! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Unknown Posted June 27, 2006 Share Posted June 27, 2006 Haven't tried it yet as I got sidetracked with something else, but promise to have a go in the morning. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chris pp Posted June 27, 2006 Share Posted June 27, 2006 Go easy on the washing up liquid, a lot of modern washing up liquids kill the plants.You can get the right product from HDRA / Chase Organics in the UK who will post to France.http://www.organiccatalog.com/catalog/index.php?cPath=58Chris Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Unknown Posted June 27, 2006 Share Posted June 27, 2006 Thanks Chris, will ake a look. Certainly don't want to kill the plants as I want to eat them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cassis Posted June 28, 2006 Share Posted June 28, 2006 You can definitely get 'green' insect killer in the gardencentres and DIY gardening sections here. I promise to have a look next time I'mthere. Don't worry too much about one dose of dilute washing up liquid. As long as you don't overdo it you'll not kill anything. The main danger is if you water potsregularly using used dishwater - it builds up in the pots and will damage the plants, as Chris says. You could just try knocking the bugs off with a jet of water from a spray gun - but adding a squirt of washing up liquid loosens their grip more effectively. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Russethouse Posted June 28, 2006 Share Posted June 28, 2006 I read the other day ,that if you store 'grey water' you should add charcoal, it makes the water clear, but I'm not sure what else it does ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chris pp Posted June 28, 2006 Share Posted June 28, 2006 All of this really depends what you use as a washing up liquid, and in the case of grey water generally, all the other products that you may use, soaps, detergents etc. Although we don't use them, if you look at some of the ingredients on the supermarket shelves it's frightening and include a vast array of chemicals, these will not simply disappear or break down whatever you do and will find their way into any fruit or vegetables you grow if you use them to do the watering, as well as harming the soil structure and good bacteria. Passing water through charcoal is no more than a crude filter and although it may help a little, most micro particulate matter and soluble chemicals will pass straight through. Using a series of mini reed beds would be more effective, natures way.Chris Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cassis Posted June 28, 2006 Share Posted June 28, 2006 Hmmm. Get planting those reed beds, RussetH! [:)] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cassis Posted June 29, 2006 Share Posted June 29, 2006 Been to Mr Bricolage today. Fertiligène (massive national brand, should be commonly available) make a product called "Insecticide pour le jardin biologique". Clearly a lot of thought and imagination went into that name from the marketing department. It is 'utilisable en agriculture biologique'. It is not the fatty emulsion type of insecticide I had in mind. It is based on a plant extract rotenone so I guess you would classify it with things like pyrethrin. Apparently you can use it up to the day before picking and it breaks down completely in the soil. It is also used for flea control on cats and dogs. The pack was 8 euros and makes 60 to 100 litres of insecticide. I would prefer to wash the aphids off the spinach and other foodstuffs but if you get a heavy infestation on something and it can't be got rid of any other way, it may be worth a try. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Unknown Posted June 29, 2006 Share Posted June 29, 2006 Thank you Cassis, will take a trip to town tomorrow.Chrissey P, at the rate the bloomin flies are landing on my spinach there won't be anything left to kill with good old washing up liquid. Can anyone tell me, sure its been mentioned on another thread, but what is the conncestion between ants and these aphids? And can I put out some of those ant killing devices, the one's that are round and you have to punch holes into. Wouldn't that kill the blighters off? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cassis Posted June 29, 2006 Share Posted June 29, 2006 The ants 'farm' the aphids for their sugary secretions and protect them in return. Killing ants won't get rid of an aphid problem, though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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