# Green fly remedy tips



## mort (25 May 2017)

Found one of my young apple trees (Falstaff and looks like it would've been a great year for apples) infested with green fly this morning and i'm guessing they have been there a few days as they already have their ant bodyguards in place. Does anyone have any remedies that might help? i'd prefer non pesticides after ready just how nasty they are on the bottle today.
So far I have sprayed them with a slightly soapy water mixture after taking a lot out with my thumb and forefinger. Have heard rapeseed oil painted onto a section of the trunk works to stop the ants climbing up and natural predators having a chance but don't know if that is an old wives tale.

TIA


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## Andy D (25 May 2017)

I do what you have already done. Spray with soapy water. Just stay on top of it. 

You can buy sticky strips to go around the base of the tree.


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## Zeus. (25 May 2017)

Did read about putting something around the base off the tree to stop the ants going up and harvesting the flys. Cant remember off top of head what it was! but it was something the ants didnt like climbing over as t was very sharp or something like that.
We have the same issue with Black fly on one off our garden plants. Just noticed it really bad at weekend. I did use a pesticide I got last year which kept it clear for months.


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## mort (25 May 2017)

thanks for the replies. I have some rapeseed oil so I will give that a go first. Apparently the canola oil is horrible for the ants and they won't pass it. The other trees look fine so fingers crossed I can stem the tide.


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## PARAGUAY (26 May 2017)

Very much use Andys method,also depending we lay a hosepipe in situ near the plant/tree,ours is a climbing rose,and jet off greenfly when walking past,you have to be more careful with apple trees I suppose as to not jet off the flowers assume its important for the fruit?Found out a lot of the off shelf sprays also kill bees etc so never use them


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## zozo (26 May 2017)

Very effective natural remedies are stinging Nettle tea. Soak it in a bucket for a number of days/weeks, than filter the muck water and use this for spraying. More insects than green fly only will die if not get highly irritated by the nettle tea. The stincky muck left after weeks can be used as green manure fertilization..

Or make tobaco tea, nicotine is poissoness to green flies.. So find somebody who smokes and ask for the pitches.. This also works like a charm for smaller potted houseplants. Cover the plant with a large enough plastic bag, buy a cheap cigar and blow the smoke in the bag and close it with wrapping tape around the pot. The nicotine in the smoke will kill all the green flies..


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## mort (26 May 2017)

PARAGUAY said:


> Very much use Andys method,also depending we lay a hosepipe in situ near the plant/tree,ours is a climbing rose,and jet off greenfly when walking past,you have to be more careful with apple trees I suppose as to not jet off the flowers assume its important for the fruit?Found out a lot of the off shelf sprays also kill bees etc so never use them



Thanks, The tree is outside my back door so easy to get to. I was planning on squitting, soaping and then rinsing off. It wouldn't be the end of the world if I didn't get fruit this year but would like to know how to treat it going forward.
Bees were actually the reason I setup this part of the garden so reading the bottles (mainly for curiosity) I was definetly put off by that.


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## mort (26 May 2017)

zozo said:


> Very effective natural remedies are stinging Nettle tea. Soak it in a bucket for a number of days/weeks, than filter the muck water and use this for spraying. More insects than green fly only will die if not get highly irritated by the nettle tea. The stincky muck left after weeks can be used as green manure fertilization..
> 
> Or make tobaco tea, nicotine is poissoness to green flies.. So find somebody who smokes and ask for the pitches.. This also works like a charm for smaller potted houseplants. Cover the plant with a large enough plastic bag, buy a cheap cigar and blow the smoke in the bag and close it with wrapping tape around the pot. The nicotine in the smoke will kill all the green flies..



Interesting thanks.


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## Andy D (26 May 2017)

mort said:


> It wouldn't be the end of the world if I didn't get fruit this year



Hey, are you in the UK?

Has the tree flowered? If so you should see signs of the fruit beginning to develop where the flowers were.


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## mort (26 May 2017)

Andy D said:


> Hey, are you in the UK?
> 
> Has the tree flowered? If so you should see signs of the fruit beginning to develop where the flowers were.



I'm in sunny (well at the moment) norfolk and it's all setup for fruits this year. It's the first year this tree will have fruited as it was a small whip last year. I'm not sure how much energy will be used to fight off the aphids and how that will affect the fruit. I've seen on similar sized trees that the fruit doesn't always develop very well when young and all you get is small rock hard fruits. They are however a project for the future so not overly worried if it comes to nothing.


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## mort (30 May 2017)

Just as a bit of an update. It seems the old ways are the best, worked a charm. Just need to keep an eye on it for anymore that come.


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