[madcat]

The best crop of leeks we have ever produced - completely flopped with leaf miner.  Goners.

 

And it looks like they have gone through the site - very few patches look unscathed on a quick look round as we trudged up to the gate.  All in the last week.   

[sunshineband]

After last year's similar results here, we grew ours under fine mesh to keep them safe. Will take it off at the end of November when I hope any "flyers" will be gone

I feel for you ☹☹☹

[azubah]

Sorry to hear that, madcat. I had the same thing happen a few years ago. Very disappointing. 3 rows of beautiful leeks disintegrated into slush. We have not had them so much this year where I am.

[DD.]

Also employed the mesh this year and got a cracking crop. Loads on our site been decimated.

[madcat]

Seems like we will have to put mesh on ours from now on.  We fleeced the onions to protect from pigeons and saved them from onion fly earlier in the season.  But leaf miners are relatively new here.

My dad would have been appalled at 'mollycoddling' leeks!

[Lardman]

Having to use enviromesh (nothing else appears to work) for garlic, onions, leeks and shallots is such a waste, I've given up and scratched them off the to-grow list. Pests who knobble 100% of your stuff just aren't funny.

[Potterer]

I guess it depends which veg you love the most. I really love leeks over winter and so am prepared to cover them with enviromesh, although it took some getting used to - before you could put them in and reliably leave them. I had given up on garlic and onions as they just won't grow for me for some reason.

It does feel that increasingly lots of things need covering as new bugs arrive, including the diamond back moth that began to be a pain for my brassicas!

[Blewit]

I feel for you madcat, it's awful. A few years back I binned 500 onions/garlic/shallots and later 300 leeks. Onions and leeks now grow under enviromesh ultra-fine. Have heard said that the first three years of allium miner is worse and it does seem to be following that pattern for our site.

[Salmo]

We have not had leaf miner, just leek moth. Likewise covering with mesh works well but the covered leeks seem to get a lot more rust.

[Plot 1 Problems]

Same here, my lovely crop of Mussleburgh and Lyon leeks devasted 
One person on our site had it last year and now half of the plot had it this year. It'll be enviromesh for me next year as we love our leeks.

[al78]

My dad would have been appalled at 'mollycoddling' leeks!

It wasn't a problem back in the old days, it seems to have migrated here, possibly thanks to a warming climate. In the end you have to adapt to changing conditions, which in this case means covering with fine mesh. I have had my leeks covered since they were planted out and apart from an occasional tiny blemish, seem to have escaped pest attacks. It seems you have to fortify everything on an allotment these days if you want to be able to eat anything from it later in the year.

[Chrysalis]

Same here.  Lost the lot! Grr.