Send in your gardening questions and be in to win a fabulous prize from McGregor’s! This week: how to prevent root veggies being munched.
Send in your gardening troubles to [email protected] and all questions answered on the Good website will win a fabulous prize from McGregor’s
Q: What natural remedies can I try to get rid of the worms that devour my carrots and potatoes? And if they don’t work, what chemicals? It is so frustrating pulling out all my root veggies and finding them already eaten. -Stephanie
A: Your carrots I suspect are being eaten by the carrot rust fly. Try applying a light covering of dry grass clippings over the tops of the carrot (green growth) as this will trap the weevil in the clippings so they don’t travel down into the root. Check and replace during the season.
As for the potato invaders – if they are feeding on the tubers in the ground, they are probably wireworms. They can be an issue and difficult to control especially if your garden was once a lawn.
Crop rotation is really important with this pest, so plant the area this season with a quicker growing salad crop, as frequently turning the soil will disturb the worm and the adult beetle.
One natural remedy is to use bait. This is a carrot or potato stuck on the end of a stick, the potato is buried a few centimetres deep in the soil with the stick above ground as a marker. Check, destroy and replace.
If all this is too much then try McGregor’s pyrethrum spray on your carrots and potatoes. It only has a short withholding period so it is safe for use on fruit and vegetables. Apply the spray in the evening as it is harmful to bees, and make sure you spray the undersides of the leaves as this often where the eggs are laid and bugs hide.
There are a few good ‘green’ garden practices that will benefit the entire vegetable garden:
• Don’t leave root crops in the ground over winter, harvest as soon as they are ready.
• Always dig over the soil before planting as this will expose pest larvae to the weather and the birds.
• Practice crop rotation. Many soil-borne pests and diseases can be controlled by removing their favourite host plants.
• Remove weeds as they can acts as a host and shelter for the adults.
–Sandra Johnson, Team McGregor’s
McGregor’s is a passionate team of gardeners with collectively more than 100 years of gardening knowledge. They aim to provide affordable, good value quality products that make gardening tasks as easy as possible.
Team McGregor’s is committed to supporting the younger generation of today and does so through their partnership with the Garden to Table and 5+ a day trusts as well as the creation of the McGregor’s Seeds in Schools fundraiser, all to encourage homegrown produce and healthy eating.
Send in your questions and be in to win!
Send in your gardening troubles to [email protected] and all questions answered in this column will win a fabulous prize from McGregor’s! Stephanie has won a packet of McGregor’s Pyrethrum for control of insects on fruit, vegetables and ornamentals.
Try McGregor’s Garden Doctor, which has been designed to take the guesswork out of treating common garden problems, whether it is a pest, weed or disease that is attacking your garden. McGregor’s Garden Doctor aims to offer a solution.
