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Courgette problem update.

Lemondrizzle1Lemondrizzle1 Posts: 21
in Fruit & veg
Previous post about my courgette plants didn’t include photo. Now have two. The photo of the flower looks like blackfly but isn’t. Suggestions as to what and remedy  

Posts

  • ObelixxObelixx Posts: 30,090
    Looks like aphids to me but not very clear.  I expect you'll find some ants about farming them for their sugary secretions and that would indicate the soil is too dry.

    I would remove the worst affected leaves and bin, not compost them.  Use you fingers to squish smaller groups or blast them off with a spray from your hosepipe.   Give each plant a very good soaking - 5 to 10 litres poured slowly so it soaks in - and repeat daily if there is no decent rain.  Once a week, add some tomato fertiliser to the water.  

    You can make a "tea" by boiling up some garlic in water and using the resulting liquid as a spray to deter further infestation.
    Vendée - 20kms from Atlantic coast.
    "The price good men (and women) pay for indifference to public affairs is to be ruled by evil men (and women)."
    Plato
  • LynLyn Posts: 23,190
    Do they hop or jump, if not I’d say aphid. (Blackfly)  what makes you think it’s not? 
    Gardening on the wild, windy west side of Dartmoor. 

  • Lemondrizzle1Lemondrizzle1 Posts: 21
    They do not move, are minute and ended up covering the whole leaf despite treatment of washing up liquid. 
    The courgettes are watered almost daily. I have pots sunk into the ground so water gets to the roots and they are fed weekly with tomorite. Not heard of using garlic to deter aphids but am game to try anything. 
  • BobTheGardenerBobTheGardener Posts: 11,385
    edited July 2020
    I would say those are indeed blackfly - I've zoomed-in to the clearest part of your photo:

    A trowel in the hand is worth a thousand lost under a bush.
  • DovefromaboveDovefromabove Posts: 88,147
    Yes those look like blackfly (a type of aphid) 

    Info and advice here https://www.rhs.org.uk/Advice/profile?PID=797



    Gardening in Central Norfolk on improved gritty moraine over chalk ... free-draining.





  • purplerallimpurplerallim Posts: 5,287
    There has been a population explosion of blackfly in my garden the courgettes, nasturtiums,  and dahlia are covered, but there are also more ladybirds and hoverflies too. I use nasturtiums to help keep them off other plants, sacrificing them to help others survive. 
  • JennyJJennyJ Posts: 10,576
    This year I've got blackfly on, of all things, the tatty old basal leaves of foxgloves that have gone over. I was all set to pull some out but they were full of ladybirds hoovering up the blackfly so I left them. I'll check again in a few days.
    Doncaster, South Yorkshire. Soil type: sandy, well-drained
  • EricsGardenEricsGarden Posts: 151
    edited July 2020
    Looks a bit like what I have on a single foxglove in a pot. They're nowhere else in the garden as far as I know and so far my courgettes are clean. What I find odd about this foxglove is that it looks like ants have built up soil around the lower part of the stem of the flower.



  • ObelixxObelixx Posts: 30,090
    It's very simple.  Ants farm aphids.  They deliberately carry them to plants and then defend them against usual predators such as ladybirds and lacewings and hoverflies because they want the sugary secretions to feed their young.
    Vendée - 20kms from Atlantic coast.
    "The price good men (and women) pay for indifference to public affairs is to be ruled by evil men (and women)."
    Plato
  • Blue OnionBlue Onion Posts: 2,995
    Ugg @EricsGarden those pictures make my skin crawl!
    Utah, USA.
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