wire worms

ralph · « **on:** September 13, 2011, 08:57 »

:my allotment seemsto have more thaits share any iders on how to reduce my potatoes are25% wire5%blight 10%crop reduction soil is heavy but working on it

Yorkie · « **Reply #1 on:** September 13, 2011, 09:46 »

Wireworms are a classic pest for potatoes - did your allotment have a lot of rough grass on it recently?

They will disappear with time.

Blight is an airborne disease that is often triggered by a combination of certain temperature and humidity. If you get it regularly then perhaps grow early varieties, which are often finished before the worst of blight hits.

P.S. Welcome to the site

ralph · « **Reply #2 on:** September 13, 2011, 15:49 »

Quote from: Yorkie on September 13, 2011, 09:46

Wireworms are a classic pest for potatoes - did your allotment have a lot of rough grass on it recently?

They will disappear with time.

Blight is an airborne disease that is often triggered by a combination of certain temperature and humidity. If you get it regularly then perhaps grow early varieties, which are often finished before the worst of blight hits.

P.S. Welcome to the site

Quote from: Yorkie on September 13, 2011, 09:46

Wireworms are a classic pest for potatoes - did your allotment have a lot of rough grass on it recently?

They will disappear with time.

Blight is an airborne disease that is often triggered by a combination of certain temperature and humidity. If you get it regularly then perhaps grow early varieties, which are often finished before the worst of blight hits.

P.S. Welcome to the site

thanks and yes it was unused well most of it for ten years so iam told

sunshineband · « **Reply #3 on:** September 13, 2011, 21:38 »

Hi there and welcome

My plot was filled with horrible wireworms when we took it over 18m ago.

Digging and picking them out is the main strategy, coupled with trapping them in potatoes buried 4-6 ins or so deep, with a stick in them so you can find them again. Must have dug up hundreds in the first few months but...... no problem now, so stick with it and you will win the war

If you start now , give them another blast in the spring before you plant spuds, you'll see a huge difference

lacewing · « **Reply #4 on:** September 14, 2011, 08:05 »

I think I have this pest, some of my potatoes were riddled with little round holes. What do wire worms look like?

Yorkie · « **Reply #5 on:** September 14, 2011, 08:33 »

Quote from: lacewing on September 14, 2011, 08:05

I think I have this pest, some of my potatoes were riddled with little round holes. What do wire worms look like?

http://www.ent.iastate.edu/imagegal/coleoptera/click/3936.11wirewormsoftmr.html

sunshineband · « **Reply #6 on:** September 14, 2011, 09:26 »

Yorkie's link to a pictute shows quite a fat wireworm .. obviously been munching someone's potatoes

You usually can't see their legs when you spot them in the ground and they are very difficult to squash... I gathered my multitudes in a little plastic box and fed them to the chickens.

Mr Sunny used two stones to good effect

lacewing · « **Reply #7 on:** September 14, 2011, 18:35 »

Thanks for the link Yorkie. I think I saw one or two when I was digging my potatoes. Do they wriggle and move very fast? I thought they were millipedes with all the legs, not even sure what a millipede looks like except for the legs.

sunshineband · « **Reply #8 on:** September 14, 2011, 19:27 »

Wireworms do not wriggle or move fast at all. Those you have seen are are a species of centipede which is a friend not foe.

Fast movers are usually meat eaters and the slow movers are vegetarian.

Wireworms (and centipedes too actually

) move slowly, but can crawl away given time

lacewing · « **Reply #9 on:** September 14, 2011, 21:31 »

Thanks Sunshineband. I'll have another look, see if I can spot the dreaded wire worm.

catweazle · « **Reply #10 on:** September 14, 2011, 21:37 »

Quote from: sunshineband on September 13, 2011, 21:38

Digging and picking them out is the main strategy

i seem to have my own personal flock of black birds, robins and spuggies that pick them out for me after digging

sunshineband · « **Reply #11 on:** September 14, 2011, 21:43 »

Quote from: catweazle on September 14, 2011, 21:37

Quote from: sunshineband on September 13, 2011, 21:38
Digging and picking them out is the main strategy

i seem to have my own personal flock of black birds, robins and spuggies that pick them out for me after digging

Perhaps you could hire them out around the country

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