Pest and Disease

Every gardeners nightmare is a crop ruined by pests or disease My mum used to say that I was a right little pest but that's not what we are talking about here.

There are remedies for a lot of things but there are also things you can do to help prevent some pests and disease

I have listed the most common ones below but if you have something more unusual and you can't find it on the faqs page then you can email me and i will try to help you as soon as possible.

Black Fly

This is an aphid that covers the growing shoots of the plant, a bad infestation will seriously stunt plant growth. There are natural predators such as Ladybirds, Hover Flies which, under the correct conditions nature will take care of itself. Planting Tagetes and Marigolds at the end of each row will encourage these helpful friends.

Spraying with a hose can sometimes dislodge the Black Fly or spraying with a very weak solution of washing up liquid and water. If all fails a chemical insecticide will be needed, although this will also attack the predators.Check Out Black Fly and Attracting Garden Friends.

Bean Seed Fly

In wet conditions and with poor crop rotation the seed will be attacked by the small maggots of this fly and destroy the seed causing the plant to wilt and die. Destroy all infected plants and replant and remember to crop rotate the following year.

Halo Blight

Small brownish or yellow spots on the leaves surrounded by a light colour ‘halo’.
It is a seed-bourne disease, there is no cure, so remove and destroy.  It is recommended to use seed from a well known dealer.

Slugs

These can be a persistent pest. There aere many ways to deal with these pests apart from pellets and chemicals. Check out Slugs and Snails before its too late.