Tweet
Hi all,
A nasty infestation in my autumn sowing of peas and broad beans has forced me to finally stop lurking and start posting... if you can help confirm the identify of the pest and/or suggest appropriate action (organic, within reason) I would be very grateful
I recently transplanted 4 x 4' double rows of peas (sown in guttering) and 40+ broad beans (sown in 3" - 4" pots). All seedlings seemed healthy and vigorous. Within five days, a quarter of the peas had collapsed and a few days later now, almost all have given up. The beans held up longer: half a dozen have collapsed and about half those remaining are already starting to wilt. I have no doubt that they will all die off within a few more days
At first we wondered whether they objected to the cold damp soil thanks to the recent miserable weather, but today I discovered the real culprit - an infestation of some sort of larvae. These small (5mm - 7mm) cream coloured fellows were easy to find on the broad beans - gobbling the remains of the seed and tunnelling up the stem. Some pictures of the offenders (if I managed to figure out how to attach them!): a wilting broad bean plant - the blackened stem near the soil line shows where they have been tunnelling; several of the larvae attacking the seed; and a closeup of one of them ugly bugs...
I have had a look around and the only suggestion I could find was 'bean seed fly' larvae, but I have not had any experience of these before - can anyone confirm this identification and/or suggest what I can do to deal with it now or prevent in the future...?
In particular, I am a bit concerned about what I can now plant in that bed. This was a newly cultivated bed (just reclaimed from rough grass and weed), and (if I have the identification wrong) whether it is possible that the pest was brought in with the manure I dug into the bed a couple of weeks ago.
Hope someone can help
JV
A nasty infestation in my autumn sowing of peas and broad beans has forced me to finally stop lurking and start posting... if you can help confirm the identify of the pest and/or suggest appropriate action (organic, within reason) I would be very grateful
I recently transplanted 4 x 4' double rows of peas (sown in guttering) and 40+ broad beans (sown in 3" - 4" pots). All seedlings seemed healthy and vigorous. Within five days, a quarter of the peas had collapsed and a few days later now, almost all have given up. The beans held up longer: half a dozen have collapsed and about half those remaining are already starting to wilt. I have no doubt that they will all die off within a few more days
At first we wondered whether they objected to the cold damp soil thanks to the recent miserable weather, but today I discovered the real culprit - an infestation of some sort of larvae. These small (5mm - 7mm) cream coloured fellows were easy to find on the broad beans - gobbling the remains of the seed and tunnelling up the stem. Some pictures of the offenders (if I managed to figure out how to attach them!): a wilting broad bean plant - the blackened stem near the soil line shows where they have been tunnelling; several of the larvae attacking the seed; and a closeup of one of them ugly bugs...
I have had a look around and the only suggestion I could find was 'bean seed fly' larvae, but I have not had any experience of these before - can anyone confirm this identification and/or suggest what I can do to deal with it now or prevent in the future...?
In particular, I am a bit concerned about what I can now plant in that bed. This was a newly cultivated bed (just reclaimed from rough grass and weed), and (if I have the identification wrong) whether it is possible that the pest was brought in with the manure I dug into the bed a couple of weeks ago.
Hope someone can help
JV
Comment