Arggggh! cabbage root maggot!!!

[thepopela]

Anyone know any miracle cures to get rid of these little sods? My newly dug front lawn (now my veg patch) has loads of the buggers in what looks like my cabbage bed and my raddish/carrot bed. Onion bed seems fine so far and also my potatoes and peas/beans.

Dont really want to use pesticides either. Should i just dig it all up and start with something else next year???

They have eaten all the raddish and a few of the cabbage on the one end of the bed.

[Two_Sheds]

You need to put collars around the seedlings when you plant them out. You've still got time to sow more (I can't grow summer radish at all, because the root fly is so prevalent here)

[thepopela]

Hmmm, but wont the ones already in the soil just move on to the next ones i plant?
Thanks for the reply btw.

[Two_Sheds]

The collars work like this:

adult fly lays eggs next to stem of cabbage; if collars are in place, the egg dries out and dies.

The maggots don't go wandering around, they stay in the stem, munching away. Compost or bin the affected plants and replace

[thepopela]

Ok stupid question time... how big do these collars have to be? Will cardboard do the trick?

Cheers again!

[womble]

I use cardboard. About 7" diameter will do it.

[Snadger]

Your lawn will probably be full of bibionid larva not cabbage root fly larva. The cabbage root fly will only lay its eggs/larva next to an existing brassica!
Cabbage root fly larva only attack the roots and cause the plant to wilt and die.

[Lotsaveg]

Your lawn will probably be full of bibionid larva not cabbage root fly larva. The cabbage root fly will only lay its eggs/larva next to an existing brassica!
Cabbage root fly larva only attack the roots and cause the plant to wilt and die.

Agree with you Snadger. Too early for seeing lots of root fly larvae anyway. I'm trying phorid mites this year which are natural dipteran predators. Although I'm able to get a commercial pack, they're sold in smaller units by Harrod Horticultural and called Mighty Mites.

[thepopela]

cheers guys,
may give them 'mighty mites' a go

[Lotsaveg]

cheers guys,
may give them 'mighty mites' a go

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