I have been talking to other plot holders and they have been telling me about a problem with their garlic, it seems they are suffering from oinion fly due to last years wet summer we had over here. I have checked my garlic and dont seem to have the grub that is killing theirs but I have some tiny thread like white worms crawling around the bulbs. There are good roots on the plants. What are they as my books dont mention them. Are they a threat and if so how do I get rid of them and is their an organic way of doing this? P_eople who have grown oinions from seed seem to have the same problem but those who used sets dont seem to be suffering the same problem.
Any help welcome.
I'm not sure about your worms; onion fly makes the plant grow twisted and stunted. I had it very badly on my spring-planted onions last year, but on nothing else. So far this year I have one elephant garlic plant that looks as though it's infested.
It may be Onion Root Magot. do a google for images and treatment as they burrow into the onion
I had a look on google but cant identify the thread like worms at all. Dids see some ref to using crushed garlic as an incetcide, any one had any sucess with anything like this?
The only advice I could find for garlic pests was in a very old gardening book which suggests DDT. Not much help there.
But there is a web site which gives a very trendy recipe for making pesticides from garlic. Copy and paste below to go there.
http://www.sierraclub.ca/national/programs/health-environment/pesticides/non-commercial-pest-spray.pdf
printed off the recipies and will give them a try and report back. anything is worth a go.
Looked at oinion magot and they are nothing like it, still pondering and hopeing to get a cure