Iceberg popping their socks.

[Bill HH]

Just inspecting my lettuces and I noticed two iceberg that had gone flat and wilted. I pulled them up and there was what looked like bone meal all over the roots. On close inspection there were millions of tiny white creatures similar to aphids. What could these be? They were underground and definitely not grubs.I am worried for the rest of my crop now.

[Nicos]

Lettuce root aphid Bill....'(PEMPHIGUS BURSARIUS) I've never had it, but here's a piccie I found...us yours the same?

[Bill HH]

Thanks Nicos, that's about it, question is what can I do to protect the rest?

[Nicos]

Do you gave a Poplar tree nearby?
Lettuce root aphid

[Nicos]

This suggests there are various varieties, but if you keep the ground wet you may help to contain it....

http://www.which.co.uk/documents/pdf...ids-153697.pdf

[Bill HH]

There are some poplars on the other side of the road. This is a devastating pest, you cant spray them, you cant even see them till its too late. Never seen them before. I am getting fed up with all these challenges. Also being underground makes it unlikely that lady birds will get them. I have my lettuces in a raised bed, perhaps I should pull the lot and destroy the soil.

[Nicos]

* gives Bill a hug

Nah- you'll sort it out - that's the sort of guy you are

[Nicos]

Ha!...sorry- I take my hug back- I thought you meant rip up yr whole garden!!!

[Noosner]

Sorry to hear this Bill, sorry I've got no advice, just wanted to commiserate. Discovering new problems is a reet pain!

[Noosner]

p.s. Do you mean popping their clogs? Or is popping one's socks a Southerner's way of saying it?

[Bill HH]

Ha!...sorry- I take my hug back- I thought you meant rip up yr whole garden!!!

Well I'll take the hug anyway, but no I meant just the soil in that bed. What I have done is pull all the lettuces, washed the roots and replanted them in another bed, then dug out the infested area and chucked it in the compost Dalek. Highly unlikely that will stop them but you never know. Although I washed them I didn't see anymore on the other plants. Next year I shall grow leeks on that bed.

[mothhawk]

Or perhaps if you inter-planted alliums and lettuce the allium roots would mask the smell of the lettuce roots so the aphids couldn't find them?