Sawfly- it just gets worse :-(

[Marb67]

Well up to now i have onion fly , leaf miner and saw fly. I watered in nematodes for each a few weeks ago but has made no difference. It also looks like i have the beginings of spud blight too. I checked my gooseberry bush a couple of days ago and there was no sign. Today they have stripped a lot of leaves. Went to look at why my blueberry tree has been stripped and the same for that. Years ago i had no trouple with pests in my very small garden but with so many to deal with now it is proving depressing, demoralising and too much hard work. :-(

[Scarlet]

Have you actually managed to grow anything successfully this year Marb?
It sounds as if you've had a terrible season.

[Bigmallly]

Ever thought of taking up painting Marb?....................

[Marb67]

Well it seems to happen most years. I do on paper what you are supposed to and things never go right. Have grown toms that are doing well in the greenhouse. I always grow runner beans ok until thrips start to get to the beans and distort them. Too many pests in such a small, walled garden. Also a mild winter has helped them breed.

[Scarlet]

We all have our far share of pests but I think you seem to suffer more than most. Get in some enviromesh and cover the lot.

[Scarlet]

As for the tomatoes, have you added the number you are growing to the "how many tomatoes are we growing" thread? We can have a little nosey at the varieties you've got going.

Sure someone will be along soon that can point you in the right direction on the cheapest enviromesh available. I also use a lot of builders scaffolding netting, worth it's weight in gold.

[Fleurisa]

You are supposed to spray onto the saw fly with the nematodes not water the soil

[BUFFS]

we had the beginnings of sawfly but we have kept feeding the birds this year after the weather warmed up and the small birds seem to have eaten the tiny maggots as we only lost the leaves from one branch, a month or more on and no more damage to be seen although I do have the bird feeder just beside the goosegogs just to make it easier for the birds....

[Scarlet]

Funny that, Im in work today (home office) and ive been watching the blue tits feed their young with the (i presume) grubs from my damaged Conker tree leaves, it suffers really badly with a leaf miner.

[mothhawk]

Do you have many birds in the garden Marb? I find it's well worth the outlay on a bag of sunflower hearts or "no-mess" bird seed (the sort that's been kibbled so it doesn't sprout) in a feeder and some ground up biscuits to chuck under the unprotected plants that are targeted by caterpillars, to encourage birds to peck around. Dunnocks in particular are brilliant insect hunters on the ground, while the blue and great-tits will fossick through the branches.

[Nicos]

You say "Too many pests in such a small, walled garden"..how small is it??...are you trying to put too much in it???

Maybe you need to reduce the numbers of plants and keep to the ones which are doing the best for you..as well as using enviromesh and netting.
You really need to tink positively about what does well for you and concentrate on those.
Then when you have had a good couple of years start trying other veg.
Not every veg and fruit grow well in every plot/garden. Some yoy just have to give up on.

You are lucky to be able to buy the things you can't grow in local shops!...

time to think hard and focus on what does well for you!

If you can grow good toms then that's fantasic...many peeps would envy your success there!

[Philthy]

Just to concur with BUFFS, Scarlet, and Mothhawk; I'd lean towards the 'lack of natural predators for these critters' theory. Maybe there is an imbalance in the eco-system within your garden that these things are such a nuisance?

I have a friend who lives in Brighton who seriously suffers with slugs and snails. Every year by mid summer his hosta plants particulary get stripped, and left looking like bundles of straws. The problem is there are no birds really in his part of town, to eat the snails. And I reckon that is due mainly to every second house in his street and surrounding having a cat! The losses of bird population every year due to domestic cats is well recognised.

[Nicos]

I've just had a second gooseberry plant munched bare with sawfly in 2 days!
Fortunately they seem to leave the fruit alone.

[Chippy Minton]

You have a lot of flies! But you know you'll have seen 'bout everything, when you see.....

an ELEPHANT fly

Sorry couldn't resist. What has grown Marb? I never seem to get very far with brassicas, slugs and caterpillars mostly, but this year my garlic is fantastic!