Stuff to pour in a planting hole to deter cabbage root fly maggots

[Croila]

Hello,

I was at the Dundee Flower & Fruit show on Saturday and was speaking to a chap who was an official of the National Vegetable Society. (Crikey. That's a story in itself ..!)

He was very friendly and asked what I was growing, and during the course of conversation I mentioned I'd had to rip out my broccoli and cabbages as they'd all succumbed to cabbage root fly maggots.

He told me that the next time I plant them out, put "some pesticide stuff in the hole first of all, can't remember what it's called but you can get hold of it anywhere, then put the plant in on top of it, and it'll stop the maggots getting at them."

I'd probably rather go down the organic route of stopping my brassicas getting attacked, but I'd still be interested to know what on earth product he's talking about, just to keep my options open.

Does anyone know what this stuff could be, I wonder?

Thanks!
C

[flighty1]

Sorry i have no idea but personally find a thin sliver of rhubarb helps. Its something to do with the acid in the plant (oxalic acid I think) I understand that Nemasys also sell a packet of stuff to water around your plants. If you find out what the pestercide stuff is called I would love to know its name. Good hunting

[Queen of Spades]

Bromophos was the thing that really did keep root fly off all the brassicas, but you can't buy it now, same as most things that actually worked! I have used cabbage collars on all my brassicas, for as long as I can remember, and the only plants I've ever lost to CRF were the ones I planted without them, honestly. I get them in bulk on ebay now, so I always have some ready for planting out at all times of year, they don't "go off" like chemicals.
I always used 'Multiveg' too, (combined pesticide and feed spray) for all my veg and soft fruit, but now I can't get that either.

[Bren In Pots]

I've had a look on google and found a couple of sites mentioning putting diluted ***** fluid into the planting hole.

meon-valley-garden-club.co.uk

also on here they mention ***** :-

http://www.allotments-uk.com/

think I'll stick with using collars.

[Two_Sheds]

I've heard ***** too, but you aren't 'allowed' to use it as a pesticide. Cardboard collars work, so why use anything else?

[Snadger]

Used to be Bromophos/Clorophos granules as a soil insecticide for carrot root/cabbage root flies and a Calomel dust paste for clubroot control.

Neither of these are legal to use these days.

[King Carrot]

Used to be Bromophos/Clorophos granules as a soil insecticide for carrot root/cabbage root flies and a Calomel dust paste for clubroot control.

Neither of these are legal to use these days.

but I believe you can still lay your hands on them if you so wished

[womble]

Yep cardboard collars work fine and they're free!


Now if I can just learn how to actually grow brassicas, I'd be alright.

[Croila]

Thank you so much for the replies everyone! I must say, the cabbage collars sound a goer. I'd really rather not go down the chemical route, but then again - i WANT to grow cabbages! I'm going to plant out my spring cabbage seedlings, oh, sometime soon ... And I'll put collars on them. Not sure when the cabbage root flies stop bothering us though? I mean when in the year? Summer is most definitely over up here!

[Croila]

Sorry i have no idea but personally find a thin sliver of rhubarb helps.

That's definitely worth a try too! Thank you

[Two_Sheds]

You're quite late planting out spring cabbages, they'll not put on much growth now the days are shortening. Good luck though, give it a go

[Snadger]

Another 'organic' way to deter cabbage root fly (or any other fly for that matter) is to grow under enviromesh!

[Alison]

Another 'organic' way to deter cabbage root fly (or any other fly for that matter) is to grow under enviromesh!

That's what I do

[Croila]

You're quite late planting out spring cabbages, they'll not put on much growth now the days are shortening. Good luck though, give it a go

I've got seedlings that have grown about 7-8 inches tall, so I'm really hoping these will work!

[Croila]

That's what I do

I actually bought some mesh/fleece stuff, I've just not tried it out yet. That's a job on the to do list!