Topic: Leek Moth

[Unwashed]

Seems to be bad again this year.  I'd never been aware of it before last year.

[jonny211]

We had something like that last year, allium fly or something. Do you treat them with anything?

[shirlton]

This is the first year that we have had good onions.In the previous 3 years we lost all of our onion garlic and leeks. This year we have covered all of them with enviromesh and we have had a great crop with not a single grub

[KittyKatt]

We suffer with leek moth, but not (so far!) onion fly. I treat leek moth by cutting off all the leaves of the leeks, almost down to ground level and binning the cuttings. It sounds drastic, but it does work, and last year I didnt lose a single leek. The leeks will regrow again surprisingly quickly. In a bad year, I have had to repeat the cutting if they got the moth again, but they still regrow. All that happens is that they may be a bit later than usual, and the ends of the leaves are square as opposed to pointed!
KittyKatt

[delboy]

120 leeks in one of my beds are suffering with it to varying extents.

I will try the slashing down of the leeks!

[Tin Shed]

Using enviromesh as well, as last year the leek crop was decimated.

[macmac]

We suffer with leek moth, but not (so far!) onion fly. I treat leek moth by cutting off all the leaves of the leeks, almost down to ground level and binning the cuttings. It sounds drastic, but it does work, and last year I didnt lose a single leek. The leeks will regrow again surprisingly quickly. In a bad year, I have had to repeat the cutting if they got the moth again, but they still regrow. All that happens is that they may be a bit later than usual, and the ends of the leaves are square as opposed to pointed!
KittyKatt

wow Kitttykat I'm going to try that ,I weeded the leeks today and they're obviously infested so i'll try your chopping down method and post the results thanks :)

[shirlton]

Using enviromesh as well, as last year the leek crop was decimated.

I wouldn't be without it. We use it for carrots too

[macmac]

We suffer with leek moth, but not (so far!) onion fly. I treat leek moth by cutting off all the leaves of the leeks, almost down to ground level and binning the cuttings. It sounds drastic, but it does work, and last year I didnt lose a single leek. The leeks will regrow again surprisingly quickly. In a bad year, I have had to repeat the cutting if they got the moth again, but they still regrow. All that happens is that they may be a bit later than usual, and the ends of the leaves are square as opposed to pointed!
KittyKatt

wow Kitttykat I'm going to try that ,I weeded the leeks today and they're obviously infested so i'll try your chopping down method and post the results thanks :)

Hope your solution works as i've passed it on to several plotholders and we're all giving it a go  :)

[Garden Manager]

What are the main visible signs that you have leek moth?  I have recently been mystified by what has been happening to my leeks, the leaves becoming pale and withered before collapsing and disappearing completely. had thought it might have been the weather (too much wet then dry) until another gardener near me told me their leeks had succumbed to what turned out to be leek moth. I am uncertain that it is the same problem as I have since their leeks were far more advanced than mine so while the symptoms were similar it didn't seem quite the same.

How can i find out if it is leek moth or something else?

Thanks

[shirlton]

Just peel away the outside leaves and you will see brown streaks running up the leeks. I lost everyone of mine last year. This year they are all snuggled up in enviromesh looking pretty good

[Garden Manager]

Looks like yet another crop for the enviromesh! First carrots then beetroot (birds) now leeks. They were alwys an easy crop -just plant and forget almost. not any more!

[Tin Shed]

Leek moth seem to be an increasing quite rapidly. More and more people have it on our allotment this year, having never had it before.
Looks like a good time to buy shares in Enviromesh ;D

[Garden Manager]

Went past my local allotments today. Now I know what I am looking for, I noticed a lot of possible leek moth infestation in people's crops. Saddest thng is they wont know it until the plants either die or they go to use it.

[Unwashed]

Leek moth seem to be an increasing quite rapidly. More and more people have it on our allotment this year, having never had it before.
Looks like a good time to buy shares in Enviromesh ;D

That seems to be right.  A paassing phase you think, or is it a new pest we're stuck with?

[Robert_Brenchley]

It's not new, but warmer seasons are having strange effects.

[Unwashed]

This summer was really rather cool, but I suspect a key factor is that it's been ages since we had a really hard winter.

[LKD]

This thread has been so useful. After two years of totally devastated leeks with the reference books all telling me that leeks hardly ever have any problems (grrrrr), I finally know what's going on thanks to you guys. I found both the tiny caterpillars and the cocoons on my plants today so it's definitely leek moth. I've cut down the foliage and burnt it. It may be too late to save the leeks this year, but if so, at least I'll know what to do next year and can start protecting them early. What a relief!

[Garden Manager]

Just out of interest, has anyone heard of something called leek mite? A fellow gardener in my area contacted Radio Solent's gardening programme about the problem we have been discussing and the answer came back that it was leek mite, not moth. The advice was that nothing could be done except not grow leeks at all next year.

Does this ring any bells with anyone? Could there be some confusion here. I am tempted to get a second opinion from somewhere like GQT or the RHS.