Allotments 4 All

any idea what this is ,thanks in advance gaz

A wireworm hole?

As above, just cut it out and they'll be fine,
Cut across the hole and it will be easier to cut out,
Always use these first as they don't store very well
Then again nothing has stored that well this year.     ::)

thanks chaps

So how can we get rid of wireworm? Our new plots are riddled with the wriggly little thingies.

Give them time. They normally live on grass roots, and I'm guessing that you've got them where you've got rid of turf, same as I had at one stage. They mature into beetles and go looking for better pastures. After about five years they shouldn't be much of a problem.

Five blinkin' years? Blimey!
Yes Robert, the allotments are new and were grassland for twenty-odd years before being turned into lotties.
Is the only thing to do, plant around them?
I spoke to a chap on there yesterday talking about someone else saying they were going to throw the towel in if they couldn't grow their spuds there.  Seems a bit daft to me, as when his tatties are ready, and they are nothing special, they are just about the cheapest veg he can buy at the shops! I think they are probably one of the least-valuable veg on the plot... Not that I don't love them myself, but there must be other things to grow instead of simply giving up!

Do wireworm attack sweetcorn roots, does anyone know? None of us managed to do any good with them last year. I tried three times to grow them but they never got away at all.

I never had problems with them on anything but roots.

On any roots Robert?
Sorry to press you for answers, but Its almost planting time and if there's anything I can do (and at no cost) I'll do it before chucking me seed taters in.

There is always likely to be some wireworm, but whenever I dig, I always destroy any wireworms I come across.
I do not think that they attack sweetcorn, though it is a grass. Your problems are more likely to be lack of moisture last year, not enough feeding as it is a greedy crop.

Hi Realfood,
It was dry indeed. The site is also quite exposed to the seaward side as well, and I wonder if the wind didn't contribute a fair bit to it too.
The wireworm problem was really quite bad though. Most refused to eat their potatoes completely. I must have lost more than fifty percent of my own including the ones I had to throw away and the amount lost to the knife when preparing for cooking.
I was kind-of hoping the problem might halve this year, then half again next, if you know what I mean, but if the buggers can live for up to five years.....  >:(
That'll be disappointing, at best.

I don't remember wireworms on parsnips, but they'll go for carrots as well as spuds.

When we cut our current allotment out of grassland we expected (and got) a wireworm problem. Within a year of finally eradicating the twitch and other grasses, we had just a minor problem, and a year later they had gone.
As has been said, they live in grassland: remove grasses and cultivate thoroughly and they will pack up and trundle off to happier pastures. Keeping grass border areas/ paths as far away as practicable will obviously be helpful too.
In the meantime, as you said, cultivate more expensive crops!

i only had problems in one spot and that was the last part retuned from years of weed /grass area

my patch was a rubbish tip / compost heap / fire site