Allotments 4 All

Pea Moth Maggots................

I  dread to think how many my 5 year old has eaten recently.
At least he's getting his protein.  :D

Only found one so far.... indeed the home garden seems to have few pests beyond blackfly and whitefly (now I've killed most of the snails)... I don't think anyone else round here grows veg..... on the lottie you can't grow  peas or leeks without moths taking an interest.....

what do they look like? If the pea pods are in tact, are the peas okay?

unfortunately not... the hole is tiny and frequently invisible, you find them when your're shelling them.... one or more peas in the pod will be a mess of frass with a writhing maggot inside it.....

Have you got it round the roots lincsyokel2?

Quote from: jennym on July 05, 2010, 23:43:11
Have you got it round the roots lincsyokel2?

i dont know, ill check tomorrow when i go for my daily visit. What am i looking for?

If you've got an infestation you might soon notice the pupa (cocoons) in the soil near the roots, the grubs drop down and pupate, then overwinter in the soil. Not sure what the cocoons look like though, not seen them.

When you open the pod, check each pea before you eat.  You see a hole in the pea and you usually see the maggot either hanging out the pea or next to it.

I think you can usually tell because there's some scarring on the pod, look like rusty patches.  I dispose of those before they swell into peas and it seems to keep the population down a bit.  This year's not been bad as it's dry not humid.  Although I do notice they prefer some varieties over others.  Alderman seems v. popular.

Anyway, the maggots shouldn't be bad for you; they've been raised on nothing but your own peas - nice and organic  :D  Quite gourmet in fact, like some of those French cheeses which drip in maggots.

Quote from: earlypea on July 06, 2010, 07:26:43Quite gourmet in fact, like some of those French cheeses which drip in maggots.

I just had to go and google 'maggot cheese' as dinner is cooking.....  :-\

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Casu_marzu

And I just had to go and follow the link while I was digesting mine....don't do it, folks....

The earliest sowings are least affected and it helps if you cover the whole lot, down to soil level, with fleece well before the flowers appear and grow in a different part of your plot each year

Quoteone or more peas in the pod will be a mess of frass with a writhing maggot inside it.....

Frass - I learn new words on this forum!

 :-X omg omg omg bleaurgh!!!  ??? why eat summat that can give u parasites etc... dont read it yuck yuck yuck......
am hoping we dont get pea moths but u bet ill check every darn pea now... and to think the mil thought the guy at the farm was trying 2 poison her with a raw broad bean and a large fresh raspberry that she was adamant wasnt a raspberry  ::) (but was vv yum!) lmao do they do that cheese in france? shes into her cheese and loves france ...  ;D

OMG i just found this...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Casu_marzu

Italian cheese, made and served with maggots in. EWWWWWWWW!!!!