How do I get rid of wireworms UK?

How do I get rid of wireworms UK?

Cut a potato in half and run a stick through the middle. Bury the spud about one inch deep so that the stick stands vertically as a handle. Pull the traps out after a day or two and discard wireworms. Apply Beneficial Nematodes when planting to attack and destroy developing pests in the soil.

How do you treat wireworm?

Growers are entering their first season without granular organophosphate insecticide Mocap (ethoprophos), which has been the most effective wireworm control agent for many years.

How do I identify a wireworm?

Identification: The wireworm is slender, jointed, usually hard-shelled, with three pairs of legs, and tan brown in color. This is the immature stage of the click beetle, which deposit eggs on soil during May and June. Grasses, sod and sorghum-sudangrass are favorite egg-laying sites.

How do you prevent wire worms?

Crop rotation combined with good cultivation should gradually reduce the problem of wireworms to insignificance in three or four years but there may be a way to speed the process. Sow a crop of mustard and as it starts to flower between July and October, dig it into the soil.

Can you eat potatoes with wireworm?

Potatoes will appear unaffected until the time comes to dig up your crop. The crop can still be eaten but cutting around the damage is likely to be a very tedious process and not worth the effort. To distinguish wireworm damage from slug damage in potatoes, cut an affected tuber into quarters to expose the tunnelling.

Are wireworms good for gardens?

This process can take 2-3 years, as wireworms are slow to develop. While they are not particularly damaging to plants in their first year, the older larvae can devour the roots of plants, causing wilting and plant death.

Can you eat potatoes with wireworm holes?

In dry areas, they may tunnel into the potatoes for the moisture as well as for food, causing additional damage and rendering the potatoes inedible. Wireworm holes also allow diseases to enter potatoes, causing further damage.

How do I get rid of bulb mites?

Destroy any affected plants. A very effective natural treatment is the introduction of Cosmolaelaps claviger, a beneficial mite that is a natural predator of bulb mites. Introduce these predatory mites to the soil and they should take down the bulb mite population.