Have You Spotted Blackflies on Your Fava Beans? These Natural Methods Will Stop Damage Fast
Put down the pesticides – these natural fixes will protect crops, guaranteeing a healthy harvest
Fava beans might be easy to grow, but there's one pesky problem to consider: blackfly infestations. To minimize damage, you'll want to act fast: you can pinch the tips, wipe down the leaves, and consider growing companion plants for a more long-term solution.
While you might be tempted to use pesticides to protect your fava beans, natural methods are usually the best way forward; they're simple, cost-effective, and reliable. And if you focus on pest-repellent planting – or planting to attract blackfly predators like ladybugs – you'll enhance your garden's ecosystem, too.
Article continues below1. Pinch Out the Tips
To reduce the risk of blackfly infestations in May and throughout the spring, pinching out the tips of your fava beans is one of the best preventative tactics you can use.
'Blackflies are one of the most persistent broad bean pests, and they almost always show up on the soft new growth at the tips first,' explains Kyle Turner, Pest Control Specialist and President & CEO at Pro Active Pest Control.
To protect your fava beans, you'll need to wait until they start to flower. You can use your fingers to pinch out the tips, or invest in a pair of precise pruning snips, like these from Amazon. (The best part? Once you've removed them, the tips can be steamed or fried and enjoyed in seasonal dishes.)
'Pinching out the growing tips once your fava beans have set enough flowers is the single most effective thing you can do,' confirms Kyle. 'It means that you remove the blackflies' preferred feeding site, while encouraging the plants to put energy into pod production, which will improve your harvest.'
Kyle Turner is President & CEO at Pro Active Pest Control, a family-owned and locally-operated business serving residential and commercial customers across Northern California. Kyle founded Pro Active Pest Control in 2014, after working as a pest control technician in both Northern California and Arizona.
2. Check the Leaves Regularly
May is the beginning of blackfly season; it reaches its peak in late spring and early summer, before winding down in late July.
With this in mind, now is the time to start inspecting your fava beans – it is, naturally, the very best way to catch any infestations before they can ruin your crop.
'Blackflies cluster on the undersides of the leaves as well as the growing tips of fava beans,' says Nicole Carpenter, President at Black Pest Prevention. 'It’s important to inspect these areas once or twice a week.'
If you do spot colonies forming, don't panic: 'You can remove them by hand, or prune off infested tips,' explains Nicole. 'Once you have removed all visible colonies, there’s no need to treat the whole plant, but you'll want to keep checking the leaves twice a week.'
Nicole started working at Black Pest Prevention when she was in high school, and continued working there while attending N.C. State University. Eventually, she became the CEO. Black Pest Prevention is a firm that helps with pest control in Charlotte and serves both North and South Carolina.
3. Use Soap and Water to Clean Foliage
While many gardeners use insecticides and others rely on homemade bug sprays, the best solution is often the simplest – and this means soap and water.
'For fava bean plants that are already affected, a diluted dish soap and water solution sprayed directly on infested stems and leaves suffocates the aphids on contact,' says Kyle. 'It takes a couple applications, but it works without harming the plant.'
Again, it's most important to focus on the undersides of the leaves, where blackfly clusters are the densest.
4. Try Attracting Predators
While regularly examining, cleaning and pinching out your fava beans will target infestations head-on, it's also worth considering longer-term strategies like attracting predators.
When it comes to blackflies, the biggest predators are ladybugs and hoverflies, which will eat large quantities of blackflies and act as a natural form of pest control.
'Incorporating umbellifer plants like fennel, dill, and sweet alyssum into your yard, ideally near your fava beans, will bring in ladybugs and hoverflies – both of which eat aphids in significant numbers,' confirms Kyle. 'Attracting predators is a longer game but worth building in.'
You can pick up live fennel plants from The Home Depot, fragrant 'snow princess' sweet alyssum from Plant Addicts, and mammoth dill plants from Burpee.
5. Consider Companion Planting
Companion planting is another long-term way to prevent infestations. Pest-repellent plants will naturally deter blackflies from attempting to destroy your fava beans, and they can help protect your entire vegetable garden, too.
'Companion plants will act both as a deterrent and a sacrificial crop,' says Kyle. 'I'd recommend planting nasturtiums nearby to draw blackflies away from your fava beans, while marigolds and calendula also repel aphids generally, as well as attracting beneficial insects.'
Many gardeners use nasturtiums for pest control, since they act as a 'trap plant' which diverts attention away from other crops.
'Allowing some nasturtiums to get infested actually protects the beans by giving the blackflies somewhere else to go,' adds Kyle.
You can find 'supernova' nasturtium seeds at Burpee and 'marvel' orange African marigold plants at Nature Hills.
In need of more tips? Check out our guide to growing fava beans in containers, or learn how to harvest fava beans.
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