Cutworms
One of the most destructive garden pests is the cutworm - aptly named as it cuts off the stem of the plant at ground level. The cutworm caterpillar ranges in colour from grey, brown, black, red, and greenish-white to striped or spotted. One way to identify cutworms: if poked with a stick, they curl up into a 'C' shape. The adult forms of cutworm larvae are small brown moths often called millers. Millers are very attracted to bright lights and are often seen flittering around a porch light at night. Cutworms also feed and do their damage at night. Prevention is the only cure. The best solution is to put a 'cutworm collar' around each plant, which the cutworms won’t crawl over. Collars should be about 5-8 cm (2-3") high and can be made from many recycled materials, such as small tin cans, rings cut from plastic yoghurt cartons or cardboard rolls, or stapled strips of plastic or cardboard. Press the collars securely into the ground. Natural predators for cutworms include birds, toads, and ground beetles. Bats will also eat the adult moths. Biological controls include parasitic wasps and parasitic nematodes.
Wireworms
Wireworms are the larvae of the click beetle, and are thin orange-coloured worms, pointed at both ends. Wireworms are usually only a problem in new gardens where there previously was grassland. Wireworms feed on grass roots - if there’s no grass, they’ll feed on the roots of your vegetable plants instead. One solution is to dig the new bed in the fall and turn over the soil several times, so that birds can feed on the unearthed wireworms. Beneficial nematodes are another option. Predators include chickens, which will gladly rid your plot of wireworms!
Aphids
Aphids are sap-sucking insects that leave a telltale sticky honeydew, which results in plants being covered with a sooty mould. Beans, brassicas, lettuce and other vegetable crops can be infested with aphids. Beware of adding too much nitrogen to the soil, which can be an attractant. One treatment: blast sturdy plants with a strong stream of water, making sure to spray underneath leaves. Aphids like the color yellow: fill a recycled yellow plastic margarine container with soapy water. The aphids will fly in and drown. Insecticidal soap is another option. Ladybirds (ladybugs), soldier beetles, lacewings, and damselflies all eat aphids. Plant basil, chives, dill, fennel, garlic, or mint as a deterrent.
Vine weevil
Vine weevil in the greenhouse can also be caught this way. These are really troublesome pests which lay their eggs in the compost of many pot plants. The grubs hatch out and rapidly devour the roots, completely destroying the plants. They're extremely difficult to control, even with poisons, but the organic gardener has the perfect answer.
The female weevil is wingless, so to get onto the staging to get at your pots she has to climb up one of the legs. If you simply put a band of grease around each leg, you'll catch the lot. If you feel that this would put you in danger of soiling your clothes with grease when you brush against the staging, as an alternative put each leg into a small bowl of water.
Flea Beetles
These small black beetles - called flea beetles because they jump like fleas - can cause serious damage. They can kill young plants and eat holes in the leaves of larger plants. Time plantings to avoid peak populations, or plant under cloches or floating row covers. Keep plants well-watered, as flea beetles are attracted to hot, dry soil. A shallow pan filled with beer will attract and drown flea beetles. Dusting plants with wood ashes or diatomaceous earth are other alternatives. One of the best solutions: interplanting. Flea beetles find their host plant by its scent. The differing scents from a variety of plants confuses them!
Winter moths
Winter moths and other insects on fruit trees can be trapped with a grease band or a strip of grease applied with a special gun. This method is effective against wingless insects since they can't pass the sticky barrier and get caught as they crawl up the tree trunk.
Cabbage Root Fly
Cabbage-root fly maggots eat the roots of <cabbages, cauliflowers, and all other members of the same family. The first symptom is wilting and finally the collapse ofthe plants. When you pull them up, the roots are often virtually non-existent.
The female insect lays her eggs right next to the cabbage stem, just below the surface of the soil. Then, when the eggs hatch, the larvae can start to feed immediately. If you can prevent her laying her eggs near to the plant, she'll lay them in someone else's garden.
For this purpose, you can buy special felt discs from the garden centre or you can make your own from foam rubber carpet underlay. Just cut it into 6 inch (15 cm) squares, then make a slit to the middle and a small cross slit so that the foam can be fitted snugly round the stem. Note that the operative word is 'snugly'. Ifit's a loose fit, the fly will still be able to lay. The other advantage with the foam rubber is that it provides a hiding place for ground beetles who also eat cabbage-root fly larvae.
Carrot Root Fly
The larvae of the carrot-fly make brown tunnels in the roots of carrots, in bad cases completely ruining them. They can be controlled to some extent by putting a polythene barrier around the plants.
It seems that the female carrot-fly skims along close to the ground looking for suitable crops, but if she comes to a physical barrier she flies up and over the top and misses them completely. Well, I agree it sounds a bit too good to be true, but I've tried it and it does reduce the damage by about 80 per cent.
All you have to do is to grow 20 per cent more than you need. In fact the method works better in the ornamental kitchen garden because the carrots will be grown in a patch rather than a row and can be encircled with the barrier.
To make the barrier, simply put six canes into the ground around the plants and fix an 18 inch (45 cm) high clear polythene sheet to them. There's no need to cover the top. If your patch of carrots is no more than about 1 foot (30 em) in diameter, you'll probably escape altogether. So successful has this method been for me, that I have now invested in some rigid plastic which I've glued together to form a circle. Then I can dispense with the canes and slip the plastic collar over the crop.
You should also remember thaUhere's no need to protect carrots all the time. The eggs are laid in two batches, the first in late May and the second in August to September. If the carrots are lifted before late May there's no need to worry, and those sown in mid-June and lifted before the middle ofAugust will generally escape. |
