Gungey leeks!!!!!!

[adjohnson1971]

I've been on the allotment today and was talking to a friend who I've not seen for a while, we were talking about our successes and failures from last year and we got round to leeks. Mine didn't do to well and were coated in a slimey sort of mess, as if they were rotting down. Anyway my friend told me he had the same problem and someone told him that its a bug living inside. The cure is to hold the bottom of the leek at ground level and gently squeeze the whole leek whilst you run your fingers up to the top. Has anyone got a clue what he's talking about and what bug is this???

[zazen999]

Allium leaf miner. Not sure that squeezing the bug out is a cure!

[adjohnson1971]

I must admit it does sound a bit daft, but my friend said he had it on his leeks, gave them a squeeze and everything was ok. He showed me the leeks he still has in the ground and they all looked very healthy. He did mention that only 1 bug will be inside each plant.

[baggyman]

I must admit it does sound a bit daft, but my friend said he had it on his leeks, gave them a squeeze and everything was ok. He showed me the leeks he still has in the ground and they all looked very healthy. He did mention that only 1 bug will be inside each plant.

Allium leaf miner is a fly that has two egg laying sessions a year, around march / april and september / october.
It lays eggs on the onion/leek/garlic and when they hatch the little white maggots eat their way down to the bulb leaving a brown mark in is trail where it turns into a brown crysallis before hatching.

The only way we have found to beat it is netting with fine mesh or to plant inbetween laying times.

Affected leeks will grow through the damage at this time of year but if they are gungy , they are probably too far gone!

Hope that helps!

[binley100]

Last year all my leeks had leaf miner but they weren't gungy .......this year they were fleeced at the important time and are fine....

[Two_Sheds]

leeks... coated in a slimey sort of mess, as if they were rotting ... its a bug living inside.

I have a different problem this week. The leeks were rotting at the base and baby millipedes were feeding on the rotting part. I suspect cutworms did the initial damage (I did find a few nearby while weeding).

Allium leaf miner.

Or leek moth larvae. I get LM not ALM where I am. You can spot the infested leeks when the foliage starts to go stringy and turn brown. The larvae is inside, chomping away on your leek.

You can slice the leek off an inch below the soil and it will regrow. You can compost the infested leaves, esp if you put bury them in the hot part of your heap: the larvae will run out of food and die. If it's already turned into a pupa though it may survive the compost heap.