leek moth nightmare

[hawthorns]

just been upto the plot tonight and noticed some damage to my leeks. on closer inspection its bloody leek moth . i have the leeks covered with enviromesh and the gits still got in. ive cut 15 leeks to the ground hoping they will come back. anybody else under attack

[mrbadexample]

First year I've grown leeks - what should I be looking for?

[Lotsaveg]

I think you'll find that a covering of enviromesh could still allows the little moths to get through. There's also Allium leaf miner (which is a fly) that causes similar symptoms.

[Two_Sheds]

I haven't planted my leeks out yet, for this very reason. Leek moth is very bad over here, they'll do out later this month under mesh

Cutting them back is good: they'll regrow

[Ja9]

I had my leeks wiped out last year and intend to cover them with environmesh this time. Certainly the leek moth is much more wide spread than the RHS initially recognised . I am in Worcestershire and quite a few of my neigbours had problems with it last lear too.

[Lotsaveg]

You need to try a covering called Veggiethrow. It saved the leeks on my local allotment last year!

[Aberdeenplotter]

How big is this moth? We haven't been bothered with them up this way yet but as the climate warms up we will no doubt get them shortly.

[Germinater]

There seems to be a moth or a butterfly ready to destroy pretty much everything we try to grow dam things

[Lotsaveg]

How big is this moth? We haven't been bothered with them up this way yet but as the climate warms up we will no doubt get them shortly.

They're about 6-8mm long and around 3-4mm wide, but their narrow abdomens also allow them to lay eggs onto leaves that are touching the covering. I reckon the best way is to use a reflective mesh that fools them into thinking it's water.

[Two_Sheds]

^ or from their point of view, every source of food is getting covered in mesh by humans

[Germinater]

Well if they would like a source of food I'd be glad to give them a small part of my garden for them to sow and grow there own food so long as they leave my ruddy veg alone !!.I think that's a fair solution..

[Ja9]

There seems to be a moth or a butterfly ready to destroy pretty much everything we try to grow dam things

I completely agree..think you have one bug beaten and you find a new one the folowing year on something else!!

[hawthorns]

You need to try a covering called Veggiethrow. It saved the leeks on my local allotment last year!

i cant find it online where did you get it from

[Two_Sheds]

^ Is it this stuff? Great Hockham Gardening Club | Discount Offers

[hawthorns]

this is as far as i got but no pics etc

^ Is it this stuff? Great Hockham Gardening Club | Discount Offers