If I plant lettuce this year..

What can I companion plant with it to deter the pests. Particularly leaf miners..:dh:

Pot marigold? poached egg plant? are they easy?

Abi X

 

Sorry I don't have any advice for you on that Abi, but I'll watch your thread closely as I've just planted some lettuce seedlings outside too and I didn't even think of pests!:dh:

If I find out anything I'll let you know though!

 

I'm not sure leaf miner is a great pest of lettuce

But I might be wrong.

As far as I'm concerned slugs and snails are likely to be more of a problem.

I always though leaf miner was specific to certain plants, ie. the leaf miners of one plant tend not to affect a different species of plant.
So you would be very unlucky to have leaf miners affecting all your plants in the garden at the same time.
I stand to be corrected on that though.

Although I have come across them, they have only ever been a problem in some years on just one kind of plant usually.

 

So you would be very unlucky to have leaf miners affecting all your plants in the garden at the same time.

Yep. Blighters got in everything last year. It was ridiculous.

 

would I be right in thinking that I could deter slugs and snails by surrounding the seedlings with crushed eggshells? Apparently slugs and snails either cannot or simply dislike crawling over crushed eggshells? I just put some lettuce seedlings out the other day and thought I might try that?

I don't know if that is true or if it is a myth though?

 

Slugs and snails I can deal with. I have read the insect populations go in cycles. Could I just have got massively unlucky and this year things might be better? The salad they got was rosso loose leaf... It was gross.

I think it must be true Pink, because I've heard this alot. You must have to eat alot of eggs?
Unfortunately I don't really so that ones out for me. Also coffee grinds *shrugs* surely anythings worth a go.

 

It's kind of out for me too Abi as I'm a vegan. I wonder if my neighbours wil think I'm strange if I ask for their eggshells?