What's Eating my Plants Now?
We all know there are any number of pests just waiting to tuck into our lovely vegetables. One that I find particularly annoying is the cabbage root fly.
Just when you think you've produced a nice, healthy plant which has outgrown the susceptible stage... Bam! The first sign of trouble is a smaller or slow-growing plant with yellowing leaves, which suddenly wilts. On investigation, you find the stem has been chewed through - by which stage there is nothing to do but consign it to the compost heap.
The adult cabbage root fly resembles a house fly so is not an easily-identified pest. Despite it's name it does not just attack cabbages, but all the brassica family including swedes and radishes. The larvae of the fly, which are white, headless maggots, tunnel into the roots, killing the plant.
Early summer transplants, like the calabrese pictured above, are most at risk because of their young, tender root system. Netting with insect-proof mesh can help, but the best defence is to protect individual plants with a brassica collar. This prevents the fly from laying her eggs at the base of the plant. You can buy collars from garden centres or online, or simply make your own.
Just when you think you've produced a nice, healthy plant which has outgrown the susceptible stage... Bam! The first sign of trouble is a smaller or slow-growing plant with yellowing leaves, which suddenly wilts. On investigation, you find the stem has been chewed through - by which stage there is nothing to do but consign it to the compost heap.
The adult cabbage root fly resembles a house fly so is not an easily-identified pest. Despite it's name it does not just attack cabbages, but all the brassica family including swedes and radishes. The larvae of the fly, which are white, headless maggots, tunnel into the roots, killing the plant.
Early summer transplants, like the calabrese pictured above, are most at risk because of their young, tender root system. Netting with insect-proof mesh can help, but the best defence is to protect individual plants with a brassica collar. This prevents the fly from laying her eggs at the base of the plant. You can buy collars from garden centres or online, or simply make your own.
Submitted by Jane, plot 9
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