What's Eating my Plants?
At this time of year our new crops mostly consist of peas and broad beans, so it is frustrating when they are attacked by pests. The main culprit is the pea and bean weevil. The damage it causes is easily identified by the symmetrical scalloped leaf edges.
The weevil is very small – about 5mm long, and looks like a very small beetle with a long snout. It emerges in spring and feeds on the leaves of our tender peas and beans. It lays its eggs around the plants and the larvae (white grubs with a brown head) feed on the roots of the nitrogen-fixing plants. When they emerge as adults in mid-summer they generally feed on clover before overwintering.
General wisdom is that the plants will grow out of the attack as both peas and beans are fairly rapid growers. However, a bad attack can remove the growing tips and I have lost entire crops before now. If you are on a plot which is badly affected my advice is to sow your crops later than usual or keep the emerging seedlings well covered with fleece.
The weevil is very small – about 5mm long, and looks like a very small beetle with a long snout. It emerges in spring and feeds on the leaves of our tender peas and beans. It lays its eggs around the plants and the larvae (white grubs with a brown head) feed on the roots of the nitrogen-fixing plants. When they emerge as adults in mid-summer they generally feed on clover before overwintering.
General wisdom is that the plants will grow out of the attack as both peas and beans are fairly rapid growers. However, a bad attack can remove the growing tips and I have lost entire crops before now. If you are on a plot which is badly affected my advice is to sow your crops later than usual or keep the emerging seedlings well covered with fleece.
Submitted by Jane, plot 9
Comments
Post a Comment