I've found (after some googling of images...) that I have wireworm larva in my soil. Quite a lot actually, whenever I'm out in the plot I find more! How do I get rid of them?

There are things like bran use, bran in a bag buried in the ground attracts the wireworm these are dug up after a period of time and destroyed, there is also a plant that attracts the wireworm which enter the plant via the roots the plant then dies and the wireworm die with it or something like that.

Found this if you have loads of money
Green Gardener - Specialists in Biological control inc Nemaslug Nemasys and ladybirds for controlling slugs, vine weevils, aphids, chafer grubs,leatherjackets plus home composting, wormeries and wildlife products.

Gosh my eyes need checking! I read Fireworm and was wondering WHATis THAT??? lol

Originally Posted by PAULW

Found this if you have loads of money
Green Gardener - Specialists in Biological control inc Nemaslug Nemasys and ladybirds for controlling slugs, vine weevils, aphids, chafer grubs,leatherjackets plus home composting, wormeries and wildlife products.

Yeah I saw that too, seems quite expensive though, was hoping I could find a cheaper method. However, I found on an American site that there is actually a false wireworm which isn't harmful. I wonder if we have them in the UK too...

What kind of bran do you mean? Where could I buy it? Thanks Paul!

Originally Posted by RedThorn

Gosh my eyes need checking! I read Fireworm and was wondering WHATis THAT??? lol

Ha ha, that happens a lot to me when I glance at thread titles

Not very sure to be honest..but I do recall that spuds are the main plant they affect- and if you plant earlies there will be less damage.
Also peas tend ot to be affected.

I think they are a 'normal' problem with warm, south facing pieces of grassland, and with each year of cultivation you will have less and less problems!

( I'm concerned about what's in my recently dug up piece of field...hence my interest!!!)

Might be a bit late if you have already bought your spuds..but you can still eat them- they just won't store well!

PS...you need to buy/borrow some chooks!!!!!( if you've not got some already!!!!)

Originally Posted by Nicos

Not very sure to be honest..but I do recall that spuds are the main plant they affect- and if you plant earlies there will be less damage.
Also peas tend ot to be affected.

I think they are a 'normal' problem with warm, south facing pieces of grassland, and with each year of cultivation you will have less and less problems!

( I'm concerned about what's in my recently dug up piece of field...hence my interest!!!)

Might be a bit late if you have already bought your spuds..but you can still eat them- they just won't store well!

My tatties are all planted already, most of the maincrop ones are in containers, so they should be fine, got 1st and 2nd earlies in the soil though, I hope they're ok! My plot is just a piece of an old field (south facing), not cultivated til I dug it up last autumn/winter! Hopefully the birds will get them...

Just been googling and found some info. that said you should bury a piece of potato with a skewer through it, the wireworm should burrow into it and then you can just pull it out with them in it! I'm going to try that and maybe find some bran bags too! Killed another 10, I went for a quick wireworm hunt before tea!

Thanks for the advice!

Originally Posted by Nicos

PS...you need to buy/borrow some chooks!!!!!( if you've not got some already!!!!)

Yup I agree! In the process of convincing my boyfriend, he still says no!!

What kind of bran do you mean? Where could I buy it? Thanks Paul!

I suppose you could get bran in a health food shop or a pet shop, we used to use it to make a bran mash to feed the horses with.

Originally Posted by RedThorn

Gosh my eyes need checking! I read Fireworm and was wondering WHATis THAT??? lol

too much time in the norty corner lol............want an appointment for specsavers?

Originally Posted by allotmentlady

too much time in the norty corner lol............want an appointment for specsavers?

Weeelllll it is you who keeps sending me there.....

GardenTalk.co.uk - HOW TO TREAT WIREWORM? This might help.

Originally Posted by Tam

GardenTalk.co.uk - HOW TO TREAT WIREWORM? This might help.

Thanks Tam! Thats quite useful

I just wanted to check with people on here that this is a wireworm, I've been treating them as such anyhow. They've been attracted to the pieces of potatoes I've put in the ground and I've then squashed them...

Seems to be working, less today than the rest of the week, though I'm finding more of the smaller ones now...