Swede troubles

[totmtit]

Hi,

I've had a disaster with my swedes. The tops were starting to look poorly so i decided to lift one of them, the root was covered in maggots. Ended up lifting the whole bed every one of them was the same. I suspect it must be cabbage root fly. Anyway, will it be ok to sow some more in the same bed this year? Or will they suffer the same fate?

[Jay-ell]

I know that the larvae will overwinter as pupae in the soil (or in the compost heap if you put your swedes on there) and emerge as adults. Not sure how many breeding seasons they have in the year.

Brassica collars my stop the fly getting to the root to lay eggs or fleecing/enviromesh the rows to stop the flys getting anywhere near - of course if the pupae are in the soil covering the row isn't going to help.