As you may have noticed, I like to garden organically.
I never use any type of poisons in my garden - but like to let nature keep the balance.
However, every now and again, nature throws us a curve ball so to speak, - it is almost as if it is saying "surprise, surprise - look what I have sent to you - let us see how you deal with this!"
What am I talking about you may ask - well, - something many gardeners have to experience - namely, Aphids!!!!!
For those of you that are new to gardening, aphids spread like crazy and suck the sap of your plants causing deformed leaves and if left unchecked, can kill the plants.
Yes, there are many quick and efficient types of chemicals that will kill them instantly - but, if like me, you want to do the organic thing, then chemicals are out of the question.
However, there are eco friendly ways of handling aphids - the first is to have lots of ladybirds in the garden to eat the aphids - however, here in the winter of the Cape, ladybirds go into hybernation just when the cool crops like kale and other brassica veggies are growing - so what now??
Well , the answer is simple - water.
Yes , water - blast the little critters off with the hose or spray bottle.
Be sure to do the tops and under side of the leaves as well as the stalks.
The aphid is a soft skinned bug and the blast of water will not only get it off the plant, but will also damage its body which in turn will kill it.
Inspect your plants on a regular basis, and blast the hose whenever you see any sign of aphids .
In spring, the ladybirds will come out of their dormant stage and will assist you to keep aphids at bay during the growing season.
And, my father always said, when it came to aphids on broad beans, to use a solution that included dishwashing liquid - not organic, I know, but it does stop them from sticking. Oh, and I meant to let you know: a villager had harvested broad bean seeds after last year's crop and gave us some. So. We shall have broad beans and we will also harvest - just in case :)
Yes some folk add sunlight liquid soap -
Great that you have broad beans - I love them but have yet to try and grow any.
Not difficult to grow at all. And young, freshly picked broad beans with mint, garlic and homemade pasta - hard to beat!
Will have to try that!!
Do - just remember to pop the beans out of their skins. Also lovely in with a french salad dressing.
Will do
That is good to know about aphids. I've never had a problem with them but you never know when they will find you, lol. I probably would have went straight to the dish detergent first thing, but it plain water does the trick, no since wasting the detergent.
Glad to hear you are not troubled by them - you are obviously doing things right.
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Ah - that is so nice - thank you