This topic contains 10 replies, has 4 voices, and was last updated by charles 12 years, 1 month ago.
-
Posts
-
Oh dear, I wonder if there were eggs in your transplants before setting them out. I have experienced a little damage in garlic so the adults must be flying throughout spring, probably in small numbers, but enough to cause damage like yours. One idea is to raise seedlings indoors for transplanting, then cover immediately.
I must go and check my own leeks!
Hello fellas…
We seem to be experiencing the same problem, and were wondering exactly what you might mean by ‘chopping back’? Do you mean trimming off any effected leaves, or thinning effected plants?
Thanks,JP.
Ladbrokes, your soil is clearly in good heart to regrow leeks like this.
Another way: I do not chop as I have found (so far) that leeks recover from about mid October once moths hibernate, and leeks’ regowth is stronger for being able to photosynthesise with their outer leaves still present.
The principal entomologist at the RHS, Andrew Halstead, sent this useful repsonse to a friend’s worries about his disappearing leeks:
Leek moth seems to have had a particularly good year in 2011, judging by
the number of enquiries that have been received by the RHS Members’ advice
service. Garlic and other onions are also attacked but this year’s
infestation is unlikely to be due to the fact that you grew garlic last
year. This pest has become more widespread in southern England and south
Wales in recent years and adult moths could have flown on to your plants
from other gardens and allotments in the area. No part of the moth’s life
cycle takes place in the soil, so nothing needs to be done with the soil.
Leek moth has two generations during the summer, with the larvae being
active during late May to June and again between August and October. The
larvae feed initially as leaf miners in the foliage but as they grow
larger they bore into the stems of leeks and into the bulbs of onions.
Heavily infested plants often succumb to secondary rots but those that
survive can still produce a crop, despite extensive damage to the foliage
during late summer. When the larvae have finished feeding they emerge from
the plant and spin net-like silk cocoons, usually on the foliage. Pupae of
the late summer generation are present during September to October and the
adult moths emerge during the latter month. This pest overwinters as adult
moths that seek sheltered places during the autumn.
It is worthwhile examining the foliage on your leeks to try and detect
pupae that can be destroyed by hand removal before the adult moths emerge.
There is currently no effective pesticide available to amateur gardeners
that is approved for use against pests on leeks and onions. In the absence
of pesticides, gardeners have to either tolerate the damage or they can
try and protect the plants by growing them under the cover of an insect
barrier net, such as ‘Enviromesh’ from May onwards. This is a small mesh
material, which allows light and water through but will exclude most
pests, including the egg-laying females of the leek moth. The egg-laying
period of the second generation of moths comes to an end in late August,
Isn’t there any other natural solution for these pests, besides chopping them off? My plants are also suffering from the moths and so far chopping didn’t worked. Now I’m starting to consider calling advanced pest control in and save my plants once and for all.
You don’t want nasty apc! I find, so far, that growing storng plants in fertile soil enables most of them to survive and then re-grow in late autumn & winter, I never cut them off.
You must be logged in to reply to this topic.