Organic v pesticide control

I've never seen one of these flies in my garden yet nor do I have an aphid problem. Maybe they are there and I've just never noticed them before.
Useful blog Scotsgran and thanks for the picture - I shall have to look closer in future.
How are the winds with you today? I am supposed to be having the shed moved today but am doubtful of their appearance this late in the day!

Scottish, no aphids means no greenfly, no blackfly, no white fly,and more.
You are sure you live in Scotland not your own private estate in Heaven.lol

I don't think anyone could move a shed or anything else with a large surface area today Scottish. It is back to a howling gale here so i don't suppose its much better where you are. Its bucketing rain so I hope you are not threatened by flooding again. I expect to lose more slate. There has been a lot of crashing about going on outside but its too windy to investigate. I can't see any damage from inside. I do not like this weather but it is better than having snowstorms blocking everything up. The wind is supposed to be less during the week so you will probably be wakened to the sound of workmen if they can get a window of opportunity before Christmas. Bjs we live in Shangri-la up here. I thought we told you about it lol.

Bjs - they are there, just not in their droves as I have seen in other gardens. They know what's good for them, they don't want squished between my finger and thumb. Watch this space.....next year I'll be complaining of an infestation...lol :)
Scotsgran - update on shed guys, they were still coming despite the weather but one of them got a nail through his hand at the previous job!! Poor guy but I'm now getting sore ears because the house is full of my stuff from the shed. The guy is hoping to get another labourer at the beginning of the week. I've told him if he can make it before Thursday, not to bother. There is no way will mum tolerate all that stuff in the house after then! Especially with everyone coming here for Christmas. Best to stay indoors and investigate your roof when it clears. I hope there's not too much damage done.

We used to get quite a lot of these at the last place, Scotsgran, but haven't seen any here as yet !

Great blog, Scotsgran. To get a healthy balance in the garden is the ideal - pesticides always unbalance things. When I gave up on them altogether, I think things took a few seasons to adjust, but now I have very few problems. I do see aphids, but not too many. I have lacewings, and ladybird larvae eat aphids as well. And then, there are always the tits, who "steam" through the trees in flocks, scouring the branches!

Melchisedec I do think its time to take stock. I gave up on pesticides a long time ago and fingers crossed I hope that it is one reason why my plants are healthy. I used to open the garden to the public and local people were very generous in giving me plants to sell. I got a huge wake up call when I found the plants a near neighbour had donated were alive with vine weevil. Now I tend to quarantine new plants just in case. It took me two or three years to feel confident that I did not have any in the garden but occasionally I come across the odd one or two. We have a wildlife friendly garden so its important to me that I do not kill any of our "friends". The birds are great at cleaning up anything before it becomes a problem. I was surprised to find that most of our gardening club members thought centipedes were bad bugs and they would kill them on sight. In fact they kill lots of bugs and should be encouraged.

As with so many insects, lacewings have been rather rare here for several years :o(
I shall try the spray method to attract them next year. I don't like using pesticides myself :o(

I have never seen a lacewing here. We do not use any kind of sprays other than soap water in the greenhouse if the aphid problem gets out of hand.
I wish I could find them available to me to purchase.
I have huge problems with whiteflies, but no aphids, on grape vines. Last year on my Austin roses also. This year I kept spraying the roses with a garden hose which kept all under control.
Living as we do on acreage and no near neighbours we have a natural environment.
I shall try the spray method to see if I can attract them.
Clementine

The lacewings here have a greenish tinge rather than the beige of your photo.
I rarely use chemicals ( greenhouse is the occasional exception)
diluted washing up liquid works for me, still chemical I suppose.....wonder if I should use the eco one?

Clementine, google 'lacewings in British Columbia'. You might be able to discover which lacewings are in your area or find a site where you can ask about their availability in your area. E-Fauna BC does have some information but as I am having google problems at the moment I cannot be more specific. I'm pleased to hear so many of us are choosing an eco route. I think you might need to be sure the lacewings are around before spraying with sugar and water. If anyone can tell us more it would be interesting to better understand the science.

Hi Scotsgran ..
Thanks for the info ...
... and the lovely pics of the lacewings :o)

We've not seen lacewings here either, but its good to know what to do to encourage them.

Re the centipedes. I was told that anything that moves quickly is a predator, and generally to be encouraged. (That doesn't seem to apply to lily beetles, though, and I'm sure there are plenty of exceptions. I would expect prey to have developed a fair turn of speed, after all.)

I generally leave it all to sort itself out, and it usually does. (Except the vine weevils and the lily beetles, that is. But they get squished, not sprayed)

Thinking about it, lily beetles drop pretty quickly, but I've never actually seen one run off.

Scotsgran, thanks for the info on obtaining lacewings. I shall look into it. I too, would be interested in more info on them. I planted lots of plants which attract beneficials this year which I think helped.

Melchisedec, we don't have the lily beetle here yet, it is in eastern Canada though. I have beetles on my asparagus and I, like you, pick them off and squish.
I too, generally leave everything to sort itself out. Some years there is a large population of one insect, the next year another. Alas, the white fly, that which flies off in a cloud when one goes near, seems to be making its permanent home here. The garden centre said spraying with a hose every ten days is the only answer.

Clementine

That's interesting, Clementine. I found the lily beetle not too damaging this year. I think I managed to eradicate most of them before they laid any eggs. The beetles look quite pretty - scarlet and shiny. The larvae are disgusting. They cover themselves with excrement. And, of course, they devour the leaves of the host plant. I don't get many greenfly, or any whitefly, but I find that if I try to grow nasturtiums - which I love - they get covered with blackfly, which I spray off with water. I have learned to avoid planting nasturtiums!

Melchisedec, the asparagus beetle is pretty too. My husband grows the tall nasturtiums beside another couple of grape vines at the back of the vegetable garden and has no problem with aphids on them. They are really lovely, growing about 6' tall. The garden is fenced with stucco wire in case the deer get into what I call the compound, our land which is fenced off from our fields. Rarely do they jump the outer fence. There are many deer around here.
I probably sound silly, but I hate killing bugs and only do so when they become a problem.
This year I planted two kale plants in beds at front entrance to house. They were LOADED with aphids yet those in the veg. garden didn't have any at all. I wondered if the plants were stressed. Strange.
Clementine

You don't sound silly at all, Clementine. I also hate killing anything. I even relocate some of the lily beetles to the woods at the back of our garden! (That's a confession which will amuse many readers, I'm sure.) OH is a great lover of snails and slugs. Fortunately, the balance has improved so much in the last ten years or so that they are not the problem they used to be. I throw them into the woods. (He lifts them over very gently!!!)

Melchisedec, I too, am partial to slugs and snails. I relocate the small grey ones. The huge black ones I leave as they feed on decaying vegetable matter and dog feces. My sister collects them and drives to open land and releases the snails she has. She is in the UK still, in the country.
We used to have the black slugs in their thousands moving across our road from the waterlogged land in early summer opposite us. The road would be black. They went through our fields and on, to where I don't know. Past the fields is the creek.
I feel that a life is a life and wild creatures want theirs as much as we want ours. I can still get angry at a man we know stomping on an ant on the terrace, just because it was there. Sorry about the rant. :) I can remember Mum picking up worms on the concrete in London and finding a place with soil for them. The apple doesn't fall far from the tree.
Clemie

Very true ;-)