GREEN FLY - help please

dh0661

I sprayed roses for green fly with "rose clear". Problem is that when I checked them today there seemed to be loads of green fly still crawling around.

I used the stuff you have to mix yourself 10ml per 1 litre of water and used 5 litres on about 20 rose bushes, trying to get all the leaves top and bottom.

So now I am wondering if there is a better product I could use, or should I just spray them again and hope for better results.

Gordon Gekko

Why bother spraying dangerous chemicals which damage your health and the environment, when the simple fact is you will never ever beat greenfly (or any of the other garden 'pests' out there)?

You'd be better off not using chemicals, and instead (a) making sure your roses are as healthy as they can be (make sure they're well watered, well fed, in a good aspect with plenty of sunlight, good air circulation around them) and (b) planting flowers that will attract beneficial predatory insects that will attack the greenfly far more effectively than you ever will e.g. plant marigolds under your roses, which will attract hoverfly, which will lay eggs and whose larvae are completely voracious greenfly killers.

By doing the above you'll have far less trouble with your greenfly because you'll establish a natural balance between greenfly and predators in perpetuity, and any greenfly you do get won't weaken your roses if they're as healthy and strong-growing as they can be.

Plus, you'll have a healthier environment and more time in which to enjoy your roses :cool:

The Sweeper

+1 to Gordon Gekko's tips, plus one other - use a dilute solution of washing up liquid and water and spray your roses with it, over and under the leaves, to kill greenfly and other soft bodied pests. Use this while you're waiting for your companion plants to establish and it'll keep the greenfly down some, but a healthier rosebush is definitely the way to go.

byhookorbycrook

if you are not squeamish ,you could handle the stems and squash the gits, I'd still treat with sudsy water though. (Cover the pot with a plastic bag so that none goes into the soil)

dh0661

Minesajackdaniels wrote: »

+1 to Gordon Gekko's tips, plus one other - use a dilute solution of washing up liquid and water and spray your roses with it, over and under the leaves, to kill greenfly and other soft bodied pests.

Thanks - can you tell me what ratio of water and washing up liquid I should use ?

The Sweeper

I'd go very dilute. I'd also use a 'green' washing up liquid, something biodegradable with 'earth' in its name.

If you don't want to make a large volume of stuff to spray, try making a concentrate that you apply carefully with craft brush. Mix 1 part vegetable oil or white mineral oil (which is baby oil, basically, but without the perfumes - if you can't buy mineral oil from the hardware store or garden centre don't use baby oil!) to 1.5 parts water and add up to two teaspoons washing up liquid. Mix and you'll get quite a gloopy substance that you can apply sparingly with a brush. I like the brush method, because you won't accidentally spray good critters, but it's a bit time consuming. Still, if you use a brush you can be sure you'll get to the backs of the leaves where the buggers hide.

You can also paint a 'collar' around the plant a few inches above ground level to stop the ants who tend the aphids.

dh0661

byhookorbycrook wrote: »

if you are not squeamish ,you could handle the stems and squash the gits, I'd still treat with sudsy water though. (Cover the pot with a plastic bag so that none goes into the soil)

Thanks - I have been doing that, but with twenty bushes it is too time consuming.

dh0661

Minesajackdaniels wrote: »

You can also paint a 'collar' around the plant a few inches above ground level to stop the ants who tend the aphids.

As in ants you mean the regular black ant or is there a green fly ant out there as well ?

The Sweeper

Regular black ants tend aphids the way farmers tend cattle.

Sonnenblumen

Roses are generally a high maintenance plant in the garden and it doesn't matter whether you prefer to use chemical sprays or soapy water mixes.

If you insist on planting roses in the garden, it would be worthwhile to do some research and select varieties which are disease and pest resistance. It ain't rocket science, but it is staggering how much the garden workload can be reduced by making more informed selections.:cool:

hedgeh0g

Gordon Gekko wrote: »

Why bother spraying dangerous chemicals which damage your health and the environment, when the simple fact is you will never ever beat greenfly (or any of the other garden 'pests' out there)?

You'd be better off not using chemicals, and instead (a) making sure your roses are as healthy as they can be (make sure they're well watered, well fed, in a good aspect with plenty of sunlight, good air circulation around them) and (b) planting flowers that will attract beneficial predatory insects that will attack the greenfly far more effectively than you ever will e.g. plant marigolds under your roses, which will attract hoverfly, which will lay eggs and whose larvae are completely voracious greenfly killers.

By doing the above you'll have far less trouble with your greenfly because you'll establish a natural balance between greenfly and predators in perpetuity, and any greenfly you do get won't weaken your roses if they're as healthy and strong-growing as they can be.

Plus, you'll have a healthier environment and more time in which to enjoy your roses :cool:

Hoverfly larvae - Ive heard about them any pics so I know its not another pest hitting the plants?

Ive heard that the Poached Egg Plant is the best at attracting that fly.

generalmiaow

I have found soapy water useless unfortunately, I think some of them have evolved a resistance to it somehow. What worked for me in the end was Nicotiana Rustica (a type of tobacco used to make insecticides) boiled in water. You could use rolling tobacco, but that's a terrible ripoff.

It's very poisonous and killed them all in a day, and biodegradable (but not for vegetables!). I have also used isopropanol mixed with water, but burned the plants - I'd say it would be safer with woody plants though.

dh0661

generalmiaow wrote: »

What worked for me in the end was Nicotiana Rustica

Can you tell me where you buy this wacky backy

generalmiaow

I grew it from seed - the seeds are available on the net and it grows fine here once started indoors. I know you can buy the plant material from a certain type of shop online (expensive!) but it might be a bit dodgy because it is tobacco after all and might confuse the poor customs people.

It's also a nice flower as well as a talking point and attracts butterflies and birds, but I wouldn't trust it around children/pets if you have those because it is dangerous even to touch the plant. Another plant that can be used to kill greenfly is lobelia inflata, which contains natural lobeline (similar to nicotine). I don't know if this sort of thing is considered "organic", but my muesli-eating friends give it a seal of approval!

dardevle

.

Hi!...

do you know if this tobacco is a carrier of tobacco mosiac virus?




.

generalmiaow

If you mean is it susceptible, all nightshades are. My seeds were phytosanitarily certified, however I take your point, should restate that one ought not to bring virii in... I wouldn't recommend this method anyway, since it's dangerous.

dardevle

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pyrethrum or a neem oil based soloution maybe a better alternative.



.

dh0661

dardevle wrote: »

.pyrethrum or a neem oil based soloution maybe a better alternative..

Any particular brand names ?

Gordon Gekko

dardevle wrote: »

.
pyrethrum or a neem oil based soloution maybe a better alternative.
.

You're still attacking the symptom rather than the underlying cause. Greenfly will attack everything, however they will only trouble a plant if it is already seriously weakened. Treat the cause of the weakness (be it plant stress caused by environment e.g. drought, lack of fertility in the soil, overcrowding, poor air circulation, shade, overfeeding leading to weak growth, or inappropriate choice of varieties/plants) rather than the symptoms.

Personally, I would steer clear of mixing up your own DIY 'organic' solutions - these still contain toxic chemicals - just because they're 'organic' doesn't mean they don't contain deadly elements.

dardevle

Gordon Gekko wrote: »

You're still attacking the symptom rather than the underlying cause. Greenfly will attack everything, however they will only trouble a plant if it is already seriously weakened. Treat the cause of the weakness (be it plant stress caused by environment e.g. drought, lack of fertility in the soil, overcrowding, poor air circulation, shade, overfeeding leading to weak growth, or inappropriate choice of varieties/plants) rather than the symptoms.

Personally, I would steer clear of mixing up your own DIY 'organic' solutions - these still contain toxic chemicals - just because they're 'organic' doesn't mean they don't contain deadly elements.

. very commendable...but what course of action do you recommend to someone who has an infestation of greenfly on 20+ rose bushes right now?


.

Gordon Gekko

dardevle wrote: »

. very commendable...but what course of action do you recommend to someone who has an infestation of greenfly on 20+ rose bushes right now?

Honestly? I'd chill out and not worry about it - life's too short to freak out over something you can't do anything about. If they really bother you, squish them between your thumb and finger - it's strangely satisfying :eek:

In a couple of weeks, once the weather warms up, predator numbers will rocket e.g. ladybirds, hoverfly, lacewings etc. - an infestation of greenfly etc. always looks worst early in the year as they breed quicker than the predators in cooler conditions. By the end of May the problem will be significantly reduced.

cormywormy

The best thing for that would be decis or deceis ,cant rember how to spell it. I use it on my cabbages when they are covered in a bed of catapillars.You can stand there and watch them fall off. I i remember rightly you can use it for green fly it says on the bottle. Wouldnt know were you would get it , as it is for growers and that is were i get a bit of it when my catapiller problem gets bad.

joseph brand

I mix wash up liquid and bread soda with water and spray.

It works well in conjunction with with squishing the blithers between my fingers.

old boy

whatever you spray feed your roses with, add a little washing up liquid, see if this helps, some folks add wash up liquid to whatever they use to de flea their domestic pets with.

rediguana

I'm with Gekko.

Our strawberry plants take some punishment from various aphids. My wife is tormented trying to manually kill them by hand. We don't want to use any insecticides.

Something I tried, that kind of worked:

Crush garlic and sprinkle around plant.
Place plant out overnight.
Aphids were gone in the morning.

Not so applicable for your rose bushes, I know, sorry.

Good luck. They are little devils.