small greenish white caterpillars inside my leeks. help please!

[Andrew in Cardiff]

hi everyone, i'm new to this site. i registered just yesterday and am new to allotmenteering. unfortunately i have to make my first thread a sad one, i've got tiny pale caterpillars in many of my leeks. i have not properly researched it yet, i thought i'd try here first. i think they maybe from the leek moth but this is just a guess. i pulled a couple of leeks for disection and found 7 or more caterpillars deep inside. the symptoms (just in case you want to check your own leeks) are.... newest central shoots have holes or white papery stripes as they emerge to the point where they are dying back.
does anyone know if there is a simple cure without having to pull up and disgard the infected plants. it seems that triyng to get directly to the bug would be hard as they are deep inside the stem. i have read that a nicotine solution may help??
as i say, i'm only guessing at leek moth caterpillars. thanks in advance, Regards Andrew.

[nick the grief]

Croeso Andrew (thats about my limit !)

Sounds like it could be . The only way around this is to either spray them if your non organic or in future years cover with fleece till about October you should be clear then.

They may recover but probably won't be as good.

[Andrew in Cardiff]

thanks for the welcome nick. will spray as a last resort, and will definately cover in future (you dig n' learn)

[scooby]

hi andrew had the same problem last year with onion fly larvae in my leeks gave them a really good soaking with liquid derris and followed it up with another about a week later cleared the problem and the leeks seemed none the worse for wear when they were eventually harvested. cover young plants with a really fine net or fleece as soon as you plant out, make sure you have at least a three inch clearance and anchor the bottom into the soil to prvent the problem in future

[SueA]

Hi Andrew, does sound like leek moth larvae & Dr Hessayon says remove & burn the worst affected leaves & spray with bifenthrin ( probably illegal now & no use if you try to be organic like me!)
Thought Nick was advising using creosote until I realised he was trying out his Welsh on you! On another subject why has Wales suddenly started spelling it's name with a G instead of a C ?

[Andrew in Cardiff]

Hi Andrew, does sound like leek moth larvae & Dr Hessayon says remove & burn the worst affected leaves & spray with bifenthrin ( probably illegal now & no use if you try to be organic like me!)
Thought Nick was advising using creosote until I realised he was trying out his Welsh on you! On another subject why has Wales suddenly started spelling it's name with a G instead of a C ?

hi there, not all of wales spells it that way, only in the north(i think), different dialect thing. i've heard about this Dr Hessayon only yesterday, will have to look up his work.
i have quite a few leeks in the ground, around 100, quite a few are showing the symptoms. i was really looking forward to picking some on st. davids day next 1st of march i'll try looking into the suggested sprays, thanks everyone, this site seems really helpful.

[Andrew in Cardiff]

hi andrew had the same problem last year with onion fly larvae in my leeks gave them a really good soaking with liquid derris and followed it up with another about a week later cleared the problem and the leeks seemed none the worse for wear when they were eventually harvested. cover young plants with a really fine net or fleece as soon as you plant out, make sure you have at least a three inch clearance and anchor the bottom into the soil to prvent the problem in future

hi, i have covered many other items on my plot with net but never in a million years thought that leeks would need protection as they smell so pungent, but i guess thats exactly why some species find their way to them so easily. thanks for the help.

[nick the grief]

...........i've heard about this Dr Hessayon only yesterday, will have to look up his work......

A couple of books that most of the grapes will reccomend are the

Fruit & Vegatable expert by Dr Hessayon
(available from most garden centres if your stuck) &

Grow your own vegetables by Joy Larkom


There are others but these are definately worth getting.

[Lesley Jay]

Actually Nick it is The Vegetable And Herb Expert by Dr. Hessayon and The Fruit Expert by Dr. Hessayon.

[SueA]

My favourite is The Pocket Garden Troubles Expert by Dr. Hessayon. It only costs £3.99 full price & sometimes you can pick it up for 99p in book outlets (I did) or get it free from magazine offers. It comes in handy for identifying problems but most of his 'cures' involve chemicals , so not much use on the organic front. All the Hessayon books are being revised & lots of them are now called 'The New' ...... Expert & are around £8.99 each for the full size ones. I picked up a box set of 1970's slim paperback Hessayon books for 50p a couple of years back in a second hand book shop, it has 'Be Your Own Vegetable Doctor' in it which is quite useful.

[Andrew in Cardiff]

well folks, there is going to be some definate further reading on the cards.
cheers everyone.