Help

Plese can someone help? I have for the first time this year decided to try my hand at a spot of gardening, i had no idea about how addictive it would become. I am a complete novice apart from my meemories of helping my grandad in his vegetable gardening and my vegetable expert book that i have brought .

I have planted various vegetables in my garden, cabbage, lettuce, runner beans, beetroot, peas, onions and garlic and all seemed to be going well until i noticed that one of my onions didnt look to healthy. I thought rather than tend to it i would pull it up and discard it. To my sheer horror it was crawiling with tiny little squirmy maggots. I thought it would just be one of those things (being a complete novice and ver niave) but thought it would be best to pull up a few around it to make sure that none of them were affected also. I was horrified to see that each and every single onion i oulled up was crawling with the vile little creatures . I also pulled up a garlic and of course they were to affected so i dug up and burned all of my onions and garlic and thought that this would be the end of it.

I noticed yesterday that one of my runner beans had wilted and looked a little yellow around the bottom leaves, so as i did with the onion dug it up not even for a second thinking it would be riddle with maggots but you guessed it, it was. I have today noticed a couple of my peas wilted and discoloured so again i have dug them up to find the same thing...i have chucked the whole lot of my peas away as they were all infected. The onions and beans were in the same veg bed so i can rationalise how the beans got them, but my peas are in a seperate bed.... please someone help what i can i do stop the rest of my veg getting them??? or is there just no stopping them now will i have to dig everything up and start again next year??

Thank you in advance Toni

 

Oh bother Toni,

Sounds like Onion fly. You did the right thing in getting them up & burning them.

Not known them to go for Bean family though, unless they had nothing else to eat.

You can get stuff from the garden centre to control them.

 

Thank you Ziggy,

My first thoughts after looking in my book were onion fly, but with them attacking my beans and peas i dont kniw if it is or not. is there anything in particular i can use to stop these horrid little wriggley creatures eating my lovely veg?? as the stuff it says to use in my book is not for sale anymore due to pesticide laws?

Thanks Toni

 

Hmm, if its not onion fly then i'm not sure, rat tailed maggots spring to mind but they would only be there if the site was waterlogged.

We need another opinion, come on guys & gals, lend a hand here

 

Blimey Toni,

Nearly missed that,:hapbirth::hapbirth::party:

 

Try this link toni I think these might be your culprit.Root Eating Insects: Identifying Vegetable Root Maggots And Root Maggot Control

They sound horrible.

Mrs Chopper

 

Hi Toni,
Welcome to the site and happy belated birthday for yesterday What a cryin shame about your veg specially as this is your first attempt too. I hope Mrs Choppers' Link will help, have read it myself as it's best to be for armed. Good luck and keep us posted on how you get on?

Thanks Mrs Chopper great link x

 

Thank you so much for you replies, and the happy birthdays

I do think you could be right there with that link, sounds like everythings going to get them it does say tho that if the plant is established then it is possible for them to survive so hopefully my runner beans and my cabbages that are well established will survive these horrid little things.

It is so frustrating, i thought my only issues would be getting the seeds to germinate and if they did it would be plain sailing from there onwards, how wrong can you be. I came very close to digging everything up yesterday in temper haha.

Thanks again Toni

 

So glad you didn't throw ur plants out your plot Toni :gaagh: I too thought all I would have to worry about was if my seeds would come up and don't want to put them in the ground but protect them by container gardening but guess that might have it's drawbacks too. We all live and learn even if it is by others misfortune.