Topic: Flea beetle

[Mothy]

I put a row of radish in a couple of weeks ago and when they germinated put some fleece over them simply weighed down with a few bricks etc.
I noticed today that the leaves have holes in. I suspect flea beetle, my question is will they affect the radish itself? What about other crops like turnip & swede etc? What do others use to deter them?

Thanks folks.

[tim]

Good morning, Timothy!

I can ony assume that you acted too late? I've not known the beetle attack with fleece in place.

The damage can kill young seedlings & retard older ones, but won't prevent you eating anything of the right size.

Yes - all brassica are affected.

[Mothy]

Thank you Tim, they are very small seedlings so would I be better to re-sow? Or wait and see?

[redimp]

resow and wait and see - then you have succesional planting  :)

[Mrs Ava]

Mine were munched last year, but I still had more radish than I could eat!

[tim]

Don't know how many you have, or how many you can eat but, as Red says, sow for succession. And cover!

[Mothy]

Thank you, succession & cover it is!!

[derbex]

Perhaps I misunderstood, I thought flea-beetles lived in the soil as well as the surrounding area? If that's true aren't you keeping them in?

Little sods decimated my brassicas last year, perhaps including ones that were cloched or under fleece.

Jeremy

[moonbells]

Perhaps I misunderstood, I thought flea-beetles lived in the soil as well as the surrounding area? If that's true aren't you keeping them in?

Little sods decimated my brassicas last year, perhaps including ones that were cloched or under fleece.

Jeremy

They got mine too. My poor cabbages didn't do anything. Still, I'm hoping that this year will be better.  I am tempted to pot them on into 3" pots rather than straight from modules into the lottie, to get them well past the 5 leaf stage. Perhaps an experiment, half and half.

I know flea beetles prefer radishes above all other brassicas, so it's sometimes useful to sow a sacrifice crop of them at one end of the bed, so they eat them not the cabbages. The other one is to hold one of those sticky yellow card things just over the leaves and go along the rows, brushing them. The beetles pop straight up and stick. You can get rid of a lot that way.  Course this doesn't exactly help if you want the radishes...

moonbells

[Svea]

hmm, is that what makes the holes in radish leaves?
i thought the woodlice had been nibbling, myself :-\

how can one tell?
svea

[tim]

The other prophylactic treatment, db, is to erect a barrier, to stop them flying in.

Svea - the nibbles often do not go right through the leaf. Most likely the beetle!

[Svea]

ok, will have to google and find what the beasts look like

i have already squashed some big fat caterpillars - white butterfly ones if i regocnised them correctly.
residing in my compost bin! along with some fat snails.

nonono, they are not allowed at all
svea

[Svea]

ok found it.
now, how do you control/kill it?

[tim]

Glad you mentioned that. Picked sprouting today & it was COVERED!!

And I don't think it is the Rape beetle - too early??

Compare my little offering with 2 'official' ones. All are 2mm in 'real life'.

Treatment? Go out & annoy them. Prefer not to spray.

[Svea]

annoy them how?
read somewhere keep the plants moist as they dont like moist environments. but otherwise? they are in my tunnel cloche....

[tim]

I meant 'brush plants' to make them choose somewhere else. Difficult under cloches? And don't know if it would work!

So - your tunnels have open ends? Or you put them over a bit late?

[Svea]

they have closed end but perforated plastic.
certainly big enough for beetles to find their way in if they look for a bit.

i will take it off soon though - was put on early march to help germination and protect spinach, spring onions and lambs lettuce.
after this cold spell i might well take it off.

or put it over freshly transplanted stuff in lieu of hardening off ;)

[Sarah-b]

Enviro-mesh is meant to be fine enough to stop them  - but apparently they do creep out of the soil too.
They did huge damage on our plot last year - am really fed up with the d a m m things.
Together with pigeons they are the twin evil.

sb