Help - flying insects eating my spinach !

ProudDUB

Help. My poor baby spinach plants are being devoured by some sort of tiny flying insect.

Last summer, I planed spinach in one of my flower beds. I don't remember when exactly. It may have been as late as late June/early July. It did brilliantly all summer long. I had no diseases, no insects, no bugs, no pests etc etc to deal with. I sprinkled slug pellets on the ground around them to keep the icky, slimey critters away. That was pretty much the only work I had to do, to get a bumper crop of spinach all summer long.

This year, I planed them about two weeks ago, so I could have an earlier crop. I planted some lettuce beside them. Almost from day one, both plants were attacked by some sort of tiny flying insect. They are hovering in the air and devouring the leaves at an alarming rate. What could be causing this & how do I fix it? Did I plant them too early? Is that the issue? Are these flies seasonal and they will go away when the warmer weather arrives? Is that why I didn't have this problem last year, as the spinach plants were planted in warm weather?

The soil was too wet for the lettuce and the plants began to rot, so I pulled them up. I thought the rotting lettuce may be drawing the flies, but even though it is gone now, the little bastids are still around.

I suppose I could go down to my garden centre and ask for a spray on pesticide, but this is for food that I will be eating, so I'd prefer something more organic.

Thanks for any help/advice.

redser7

Hard to tell what the bug is from your description but given the mild winter and fine April we had I reckon this year will be a nightmare for bugs. I think you were more lucky last year than most years. Pests are a constant to some degree in most years.
There is a product called Garlic Wonder which is supposed to work well. It is organic and safe to use on edible plants. Going to be trying it over the weekend as I have greenfly in the greenhouse.

ProudDUB

Thanks. What is Garlic Wonder? Is it a spray? Would the average garden center have it?

I honestly have no idea what the insects are. They look like kinda like the midges that you'd see at a body of water during the summer, the ones that try to eat you alive.

I was thinking of erecting some sort of netting, but the insects are so small, I think they would be able to penetrate it.