Allotments 4 All
Allotment Stuff => The Basics => Topic started by: Hector on April 03, 2010, 16:48:46
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Silly thought has come to me. We are clearing a bit of field and I've read re wireworm in previously grassed areas...others have said to co-plant with mustard. Would it matter if it was green manure mustard or edible mustard?
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I have read it is green manure mustard is grown so far then cut anddug in to the ground this then decomposes giving of a gas which the wireworm dislikes.
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The version of the story I heard was that the wireworm eat so much mustard that they're big enough to pupate - ordinarily that might me munching away for several years.
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this is quite informative and mentions your mustard, but I think the answer is yes it matters which one you plant, and no, it doesn't really work very well anyway
http://attra.ncat.org/calendar/question.php/2008/08/18/p6138 (http://attra.ncat.org/calendar/question.php/2008/08/18/p6138)
it's mainly a problem for commercial growers - you'll be working the soil much more often, which helps get rid, and you probably don't mind eating potatoes with holes in them :D
we got ours under control in a season or two. think they were more of a problem with our lettuce than potatoes
the article suggests planting potatoes or ripe carrots, leaving them for a couple of weeks and digging them up again to see what you've got
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Interesting article :) I think we are just going to have to live with it.
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the only method ive heard of is similar as before and thats to set a bait
whether growing a carrot or potato crop for a short period or to dig in half potatoes to catch them
ive heard though that they dislike an alkaline soil is this correct?
lime in rotation over a few seasons can drive them away? im growing brassicas where i previously grew potatoes so will see how i go
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I have alkaline soil and wireworms.
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now i know then ;D