What can I do now that my carrots have succumbed to wireworm please? I'd prefer an organic method of control.
Rick Blanchard (02.09.07)
Elisabeth: Are you sure it is wireworm and not carrot root fly maggots? If it is root fly, the best way of solving the problem next year is to cover the growing plants with enviromesh, or fleece, to prevent the female flies from laying their eggs around the plants.
Wireworms are more often a problem with potatoes, but if they are the culprits with your carrots I suspect that you are growing on land that had not been used lately and was perhaps covered by grass. The best way of getting rid of the horrid little beasties is to watch closely when digging and pick them out – and to turn over the soil regularly, perhaps with a rotovator, to allow the wild birds to peck out the wireworms.
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