Black Fly

[DirtyDensDog]

Morning, firstly I am a complete novice with gardening but I thought I would ask for help with black fly.

I grew a budlia from a cutting that mum gave me. It grew big enough to go into the ground but it is now covered in black fly.

I've been using the spray setting on the hose to blast them off but they keep coming back.

Help!

That’s gardening for you

They’re not a troublesome enough pest to justify chemical spray. You could use a hand sprayer with water and a bit of washing up liquid. The washing up liquid acts as a wetting agent so the water lies against their skin with no air gaps and drowns them (they breathe through holes in their skin). But it will also kill, in the same way, any beneficial insects, including the ladybird larvae that feed on them.

Or you could remember they’re 90% water and run finger and thumb along the shoots to squash them.

Or, if they’re gathering at the fresh new tips of the shoots, just pinch out the shoots and put them in your green bin.

Or you could grow some decoy plants like Nasturtiums to divert them from the Buddleia, which in my experience isn’t their top favourite, they’re on yours because there isn’t anything more tasty in the area.

Thank you. I even spelt Buddlleia wrong! No hope.

We have an elderberry bush that has blackfly on it ever year. It's fascinating to watch them being eaten by ladybird larvae. I'd leave them and see what starts eating them. If it's getting overwhelmed then wash them off with soapy water as pp has said.

I just use a water bottle spray with a bit of washing up liquid as pp suggested, using the strongest spray setting. But you have do it every day.

Probably a daft question about the washing up liquid trick, but do you think it would matter if the washing up liquid is an antibacterial one? Typically my current liquid is antibacterial. I don't want to ruin the plant.

I can't imagine an antibacterial w up liquid diluted will do any harm. Plus buddleias are hardy buggers, one of mine got all manky and sappy a few years ago; chopped the offending bits off and it bounced back!

Thank you. I even spelt Buddlleia wrong! No hope. Check the number of spellings of Fuchsia on this board

You could use a bar of soap instead if you were worried.

If it's the tips of the plant and if they're flexible enough you could try dipping them in a cup of weak washing up liquid.

That's a good plan. I will try that.

I have exactly the same issue with my buddleia at this time of year. In a month or two the ladybirds will likely sort out the blackfly issue but what I do is cut back the buddleia a bit so I take off all the soft tips the blackfly gather round. I cut back my buddleia yesterday by about a third and it'll bounce back and still flower well.