what can be done about wireworm

[astraman1]

i took my plot on in its second year now was a field when i had it

but this year im losing alot of crops to wireworm everyone i have found so far has been 2 or 3 mm long i kill adults as i dig them and leave them on the shed for the birds

to give an example i had 300 zebrune shallots grown from seed i now have 10 left

[Bigmallly]

I don't know if this info helps:

http://potatoes.ahdb.org.uk/sites/de...0Factsheet.pdf

[Baldy]

As I've been led to believe, clearing the grass and weeds helps break their cycle. I had quite bad wireworm in an area of my plot that had never been cultivated from when it was grassland. Year on year it seems to be getting better, l see less wireworms and maybe worse for slugs
I seem to recall something about sacrificial crop before you put your spuds in, but can't recall the details - might ring a bell for someone.

[Snoop Puss]

This is a bit technical but might be of interest (if not of much help, except to encourage digging rather than no-dig methods):

http://potatoes.ahdb.org.uk/sites/de...0Factsheet.pdf

[bearded bloke]

The adult beetles prefer to lay eggs where there is a dense vegetation cover, and so they occur in the largest numbers in neglected, areas or where turf has been dug up to make a vegetable or flower bed. Wireworm populations will usually decline within two years following cultivation.

Cultivation of the ground can briefly expose the grubs to predators, such as birds.

Remove larvae of wireworms from soil as they are found.

Taken from .... https://www.rhs.org.uk/advice/profile?PID=914

[Jungle Jane]

I was reading about using a mustard cover crop as they have a high glucosinolate content,a biotoxic compound;
"All brassicas have been shown to release biotoxic compounds or metabolic byproducts that exhibit broad activity against bacteria, fungi, insects, nematodes, and weeds. Brassica cover crops are often mowed and incorporated to maximize their natural fumigant potential. This is because the fumigant chemicals are produced only when individual plant cells are ruptured.
Pest suppression is believed to be the result of glucosinolate degradation into biologically active sulfur containing compounds call thiocyanates. To maximize pest suppression, incorporation should occur during vulnerable life-stages of the pest"
Brassicas and Mustards for Cover Cropping in Organic Farming - eXtension

Also a patch of buckwheat would be a good green manure to use where you've grown carrots,onions,potatoes etc it takes up phosphate & disperses into the soil when you dig it in & wireworm don't like it;
"Buckwheat is a great cultivar, as wireworm infested soils which are planted to buckwheat are shown to produce few wireworms (Hawkins 1930). Buckwheat trials involving wireworm in corn plots in Austria have concluded that buckwheat effectively minimized wireworm damage, with only 11% damage found (Brunner et al 2009). In the presence of buckwheat wireworm tend to migrate into deeper soil layers or into nearby plots in search of an edible crop"
https://sites.google.com/site/cropso...wheat-solution

"Wireworms feed actively in March to May and also in September and October"
"Also worthy of consideration is the nematode heterorhabditis megidis, most commonly used for the control of chafer grubs. Although this nematode has not been specifically tested for control of wireworms (contrary to what other websites state), the producers of this nematode are confident a good degree of control can be obtained. You can apply these nematodes as long as the soil temperature is above 12 degrees C."
HarrodHorticultural: Wireworm Control