Allotments 4 All

One of my neighbours showed me that my odd brown parsnip leaves are dying because of caterpillar damage and advised I spray them to avoid losing the crop.

I would rather avoid chemicals, so does anyone know of a pesticide free option I could try other than picking them off?

Thanks Iain

your odd brown leaves, could they have been caused by leaf miner?
i had celery leaf miner on my celery really bad - also spread to related species (parsley, parsnip, celeriac). the leaves have brwon blotches, sometimes you can see something like a 'mine' in the leaf (esp. when looking from the underside of the leaf), also lots of tiny holes like needle pin pricks where the fly lays the eggs, and also small blisters in the leaves which you can squash.

i took affected leaves off and into the bin (not the compost heap) and have been doing it since and it's hardly occuring now :)

just double checking :)

UNfortunately (?) not Svea,  he actually showed me the caterpillars in teh flesh so there can be no doubt!

Thanks for the quick reply!  Iain

hmm, then i would suggest squashing them. but then, you see, i only have a couple of parsnips so it's quite feasible for me.
sorry can't be of help.

Try putting some potato leaves in a pan and then covering them with water, bring to the boil and simmer for a while.  Use the water on the parsnips - it is supposed to kill caterpillars and stop them returning.  If it works, please let me know.

Quote from: redclanger on August 07, 2005, 19:50:36
Try putting some potato leaves in a pan and then covering them with water, bring to the boil and simmer for a while. Use the water on the parsnips - it is supposed to kill caterpillars and stop them returning. If it works, please let me know.

Can't hurt unless wifey asks what the horrible smell is!!!!   May well give that a go and will definately let you know the results.  Any idea if they need to be green leaves or will semi-died down ones do?

I#d use green to be on the safe side.  :-X

Was  all up for redclanger but very few green leaves left on the potatoes and way to many brown ones appearing on the parsnips.  I therefore chickened out of the experiment and derris dusted them this morning on my way to work.....

Must try that next year though and see if I get none as a result.