Pests & Diseases

02
Jul, 2017 By Sally Osgerby

Blackfly on Broad Beans

Blackfly    –  Latin name: Aphis fabae (in the family of Aphididae) Blackfly is a serious pest of broadbeans in the kitchen garden. A whole mass of shiny black insects cover the growing tips, flower buds and the underside of young
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01
Jul, 2017 By Sally Osgerby

Pinch Broad Bean Tops to Control Blackfly

Gardeners often pinch out the tops of broad beans to curb black fly. We very rarely pinch out the tops.  But if blackfly are a problem, the tips may be pinched out when the first pods are set. To pinch
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30
Jun, 2017 By Sally Osgerby

Bean and Pea Seed Fly

Bean and Pea seed fly (Latin name – Delia platura, Delia florilega) Adult fly is very small (3 to 6 mm long) & grey in colour Eggs are pearly white, elongated & 1 mm long, laid on the soil surface
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29
Jun, 2017 By Sally Osgerby

Caliente mustard reduces potato cyst nematodes.

This post contains affiliate links. Caliente Mustard: reduces potato cyst nematodes improves soil structure – as a green manure suppresses soil disease and weeds – as a  biofumigant Caliente Mustard produces a naturally occurring biofumigant gas (isothiocyanate (ITC)) when its
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24
Jun, 2017 By Sally Osgerby

Grey Mould Spoils Strawberries

Wet weather is causing strawberries to suffer from grey mould (Botrytis cinerea). Grey mould, sometimes known as Botrytis blight, is caused by a fungus Botrytis cinerea which spreads in cool, rainy weather around 60 F. The disease is particularly damaging
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23
Jun, 2017 By Sally Osgerby

Slug Control in the Vegetable Garden

Watch out for slugs, and control them in the vegetable garden! Slugs eat young seedlings and will completely destroy your plans. Slugs like warm, moist conditions. So this spring has been perfect for them. Assume you will have slugs and be
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23
Jun, 2017 By Sally Osgerby

Slugs on Strawberries

  This is a bad year for slugs  on strawberries. The slug population has exploded in the ideal conditions provided by the wet conditions last summer & this spring. To reduce slug attacks on strawberries:     surround the strawberry row
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22
Jun, 2017 By Sally Osgerby

Trap Crops

A trap crop is a plant that attracts pests, usually insects, away from the fruit or vegetables which are growing nearby. Trap cropping is a type of companion planting and another form of organic or biological control. Examples of trap
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21
Jun, 2017 By Sally Osgerby

Powdery Mildew Disease in Courgettes

Powdery mildew is a fungal disease which flourishes on courgettes when the weather is warm and dry. Infected courgette plants are covered in a greyish-white mould, mainly on the upper surface of the leaves and young shoots. Mildew in courgettes
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07
Jun, 2017 By Sally Osgerby

Potato Blight Disease

TopVeg has (inadvertently) demonstrated that potato blight spreads in warm wet weather. When the weather was warm and wet, and for some reason a cloche had been put over half the potato row, so covering those potato leaves and keeping
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