I planted some huge planters with a cottage-gardeny mix of tomatoes,
heartease, pot marigolds, nasturtiums and other stuff.

It's filled the planter, the tomatoes have set and everything's fine, except
that the marigolds and nasturtiums have got a mega-infestation of blackfly.
I have little hope of knocking them out using a contact spray as I couldn't
get to every affected stem: is there a systemic I could use that wouldn't
linger on in the tomatoes?

I reckon the tomatoes are at least 2 - 3 weeks off ripening, so it'll have
time to disperse.

--
Sally Holmes
Wakefield, West Yorkshire, England

"Sally Holmes" wrote in message
o.uk...

I planted some huge planters with a cottage-gardeny mix of tomatoes,
heartease, pot marigolds, nasturtiums and other stuff.

It's filled the planter, the tomatoes have set and everything's fine,
except
that the marigolds and nasturtiums have got a mega-infestation of
blackfly.
I have little hope of knocking them out using a contact spray as I
couldn't
get to every affected stem: is there a systemic I could use that wouldn't
linger on in the tomatoes?

I reckon the tomatoes are at least 2 - 3 weeks off ripening, so it'll have
time to disperse.

--
Sally Holmes
Wakefield, West Yorkshire, England



Sally on a couple of occasions now when we have had heavy infestations of
blackfly, 'as if by magic' either or both Hoverfly and/or Ladybirds appear
and swipe them out. We were very heavily covered on the Runner Beans, but
overnight, magic:-))

Mike

On Sat, 30 Jul 2005 07:54:25 +0000 (UTC), "Mike"
wrote:


"Sally Holmes" wrote in message
. co.uk...

I planted some huge planters with a cottage-gardeny mix of tomatoes,
heartease, pot marigolds, nasturtiums and other stuff.

It's filled the planter, the tomatoes have set and everything's fine,
except
that the marigolds and nasturtiums have got a mega-infestation of
blackfly.
I have little hope of knocking them out using a contact spray as I
couldn't
get to every affected stem: is there a systemic I could use that wouldn't
linger on in the tomatoes?

I reckon the tomatoes are at least 2 - 3 weeks off ripening, so it'll have
time to disperse.

--
Sally Holmes
Wakefield, West Yorkshire, England



Sally on a couple of occasions now when we have had heavy infestations of
blackfly, 'as if by magic' either or both Hoverfly and/or Ladybirds appear
and swipe them out. We were very heavily covered on the Runner Beans, but
overnight, magic:-))

Mike

People do plant marigolds and nasturtiums among things like runner
beans in order to deflect the aphids interest. As Mike says, they may
just go if beneficial insects find them, but could you sacrifice some
of the worst affected, removing plants and aphids in one go?



Pam in Bristol

"Sally Holmes" wrote in message
o.uk...
:
: I planted some huge planters with a cottage-gardeny mix of tomatoes,
: heartease, pot marigolds, nasturtiums and other stuff.
:
: It's filled the planter, the tomatoes have set and everything's fine,
except
: that the marigolds and nasturtiums have got a mega-infestation of
blackfly.
: I have little hope of knocking them out using a contact spray as I
couldn't
: get to every affected stem: is there a systemic I could use that wouldn't
: linger on in the tomatoes?
:
: I reckon the tomatoes are at least 2 - 3 weeks off ripening, so it'll have
: time to disperse.
:
: --
: Sally Holmes
: Wakefield, West Yorkshire, England

If you squash a good few of them they seem to die out pretty quickly

Hi Sally,
If you dont mind chemicals you could use provado ultimate bug killer which
is systemic and fruits such as toms can be eaten after a few days. although
id wash them first.
normally i dont use chemicals, just soft soap, but having an infestation of
lily bug, and aphids spreading viruses on sweetpeas last year. I had to
resort to other means.
Hope this is of some help
regards
Cineman
West Mids

"Sally Holmes" wrote in message
o.uk...

I planted some huge planters with a cottage-gardeny mix of tomatoes,
heartease, pot marigolds, nasturtiums and other stuff.

It's filled the planter, the tomatoes have set and everything's fine,
except that the marigolds and nasturtiums have got a mega-infestation of
blackfly. I have little hope of knocking them out using a contact spray as
I couldn't get to every affected stem: is there a systemic I could use
that wouldn't linger on in the tomatoes?

I reckon the tomatoes are at least 2 - 3 weeks off ripening, so it'll have
time to disperse.

--
Sally Holmes
Wakefield, West Yorkshire, England

In article , cineman
writes
Hi Sally,
If you dont mind chemicals you could use provado ultimate bug killer which
is systemic and fruits such as toms can be eaten after a few days. although
id wash them first.

Why? I can see you would wash them to get rid of insect droppings etc,
and any residue of the original application, but apart from that, what
effect will surface washing have on a systemic insecticide?

normally i dont use chemicals, just soft soap, but having an infestation of
lily bug, and aphids spreading viruses on sweetpeas last year. I had to
resort to other means.
Hope this is of some help
regards
Cineman
West Mids

"Sally Holmes" wrote in message
. co.uk...

I planted some huge planters with a cottage-gardeny mix of tomatoes,
heartease, pot marigolds, nasturtiums and other stuff.

It's filled the planter, the tomatoes have set and everything's fine,
except that the marigolds and nasturtiums have got a mega-infestation of
blackfly. I have little hope of knocking them out using a contact spray as
I couldn't get to every affected stem: is there a systemic I could use
that wouldn't linger on in the tomatoes?

I reckon the tomatoes are at least 2 - 3 weeks off ripening, so it'll have
time to disperse.

--
Sally Holmes
Wakefield, West Yorkshire, England





--
Kay
"Do not insult the crocodile until you have crossed the river"

Thanks for all the replies.

No miraculous swarm of ladybirds have appeared. I suspect they've got lost,
along with the plague of frogs that have so far failed to descend upon my
garden to feast upon Slimey and Slimey-in-a-house. I hope they're enjoying
themselves, wherever they are, but I can't keep the buffet waiting for them
any longer.

Squishing them - ah, no, thanks. I have no problem with worms, beetles and
spiders, but I can't deal with squishing blackfly. Besides, there are so
many stems, I'd never get them all.

Provado - well, I do have some left from a previous run-in with the dreaded
vine weevil. I'll give it a go.

Thanks again,

Sally

The message k
from "Sally Holmes" contains these words:

Thanks for all the replies.

No miraculous swarm of ladybirds have appeared. I suspect they've got lost,
along with the plague of frogs that have so far failed to descend upon my
garden to feast upon Slimey and Slimey-in-a-house. I hope they're enjoying
themselves, wherever they are, but I can't keep the buffet waiting for them
any longer.

Squishing them - ah, no, thanks. I have no problem with worms, beetles and
spiders, but I can't deal with squishing blackfly. Besides, there are so
many stems, I'd never get them all.

Provado - well, I do have some left from a previous run-in with the dreaded
vine weevil. I'll give it a go.

If you have a fairly powerful spray gun - one of the pump-up ones from a
garden shop/centre is ideal, put warm water and washing-up liquid in,
and set the spray to rather coarse, and blast them off with that.

--
Rusty
Emus to: horrid dot squeak snailything zetnet point co full-stop uk
http://www.users.zetnet.co.uk/hi-fi/

When using a systemic on your fruit or veggies, you will be putting some of
it into your body when you eat them. I wouldn't use one unless they can
prove to me that what they put in it will kill bugs without causing cancer
or something else just as bad. They sell other chemicals that you can spray
on your garden within 24 or 48 hours of harvesting and still be safe.

Dwayne

"Sally Holmes" wrote in message
o.uk...

I planted some huge planters with a cottage-gardeny mix of tomatoes,
heartease, pot marigolds, nasturtiums and other stuff.

It's filled the planter, the tomatoes have set and everything's fine,
except that the marigolds and nasturtiums have got a mega-infestation of
blackfly. I have little hope of knocking them out using a contact spray as
I couldn't get to every affected stem: is there a systemic I could use
that wouldn't linger on in the tomatoes?

I reckon the tomatoes are at least 2 - 3 weeks off ripening, so it'll have
time to disperse.

--
Sally Holmes
Wakefield, West Yorkshire, England