Early Autumn Bits and Bobs - 2021.

[retropants]

Hi Westi, yes, I used the micromesh, the little blighters still got in somehow then I didn't lift to weed either.

[Westi]

Funny thing is I have never seen a leek moth. Do they pierce the leek layers to lay the eggs inside to grow or lay them on the outside to find their way in themselves? Any leek moth experts?
I was just thinking if I knew how they get in which is via the stem part somehow as they always seem to topple midst if badly attacked; could you not wrap the stems in something? No idea what as yet but if I knew their attack methods maybe some hessian which would breath tied around the stem, but able to be loosened, maybe some fleece? If the eggs are laid on the outside maybe you could just run your hand up & down & squish them regularly?

[Geoff]

https://www.koppert.com/challenges/cate ... leek-moth/

seems it could also be this

https://www.rhs.org.uk/advice/profile?pid=643

[oldherbaceous]

I think Geoff is correct, the leaf minor seems to be the first candidate for a lot of the problems of late….so I stand corrected….

[Geoff]

The symptoms seem almost identical you just have a catch one of the little blighters and identify it!

I've not seen either of them up here but my leeks are collapsing anyway. My garden is riddled with white rot and I have given up growing onions but this year it has got to my garlic and I think the leeks. I'm going to have to try the garlic treatment that I've read about several times including the article in KG. I just wish I could find some detailed information I could work with like gms/sq.metre. Perhaps Steve could contact the people who contributed the article to ask how much of the granules they used.

[Westi]

Hmm? Not only really tiny but nocturnal as well! I think I shall sacrifice a couple of plants & look for leaf miner grubs as they are easy to find then at least I will be able to eliminate one of them. I have white rot on the plot as well so can check the roots for this at the same time. To date it is pretty contained in one area but I realise no matter how meticulous you are it is easily spread.

[robo]

Are we not sure they are living in the soil and only fly off once they have breed but when they fly off they are a tiny fly that’s why the smallest of mesh won’t stop them

[oldherbaceous]

Every time the clocks change, it always takes me a while to work out how to change the clock, on here….you would have thought with all of the years I have been on here, it would be easy……

[Clive.]

...and then there's the car clock to do... Mine decided it was 2013 the other day quite by itself, I think it must have lost the GPS and had a panic..so briefly its clock was set to 6 years before it was assembled...

I also have the tower clock to do this morning, I stopped it yesterday before leaving work.

C.

[Westi]

Obviously everyone is hunkering down now proper autumn weather is showing itself.

Update on the leeks: I pulled 2 poorly soggy stemmed looking ones from each bed. I found nothing, the Lincoln which are tall & thin & early seemed to have just got blown over & bent the stems which softened on the point of bend. The one in that bed which have the windbreak along the fence are as tall or taller & look fine. The smaller ones (Below Zero) are stockier but not tall & I took the saddest looking one, no grubs, no holes, no tunnels & no sign of white rot. Now my hypothesis for this is they are planted in the closest bed to the apple trees about 3' from the tree but know the tree roots are in there, even though they are little roots & maybe they took all the goodness so now the leeks are struggling??

Either way I'm relieved I found nothing & if the Below Zero are small so be it!

[robo]

I caught 2 rats in one trap overnight one was killed when the door trapped it the other one was full of life and hissing at me I could not get the dead one out with out releasing the nasty one so I sent the trap to the bottom of my water barrel to see if it could swim as I was pushed for time this morning I had to leave it I’ll see how it got on tomorrow, I’m also picking six point of lay chickens up tomorrow one of my own died two weeks ago after a few days off hiding in a corner giving the impression she was moulting another suffered a broken leg after an accident in the chicken hut my coworker had her away to the vets on Sunday morning because it was before 9 o’clock they wanted £180 for an emergency so I told the receptionist I would call and pick her up as I would not pay that much she amazingly found a free appointment an hour later that was only £50 the robbing buggers

[KG Steve]

Hi Chaps. Hope you are all OK and avoiding the dreaded lurgy!

You mentioned that you'd like a rate for the garlic granules. Here is the reply I had from KG reader Jacci who carried out the experiment on her plot. I'll publish it in the magazine soonest too:

I scattered 3kg over the whole lot, although not in one go. I guess the area was 4msqd (rough guesstimate).

I raked the soil good and loose - I say raked, but it wasn't an actual rake, more a 'chicken claw' implement - Wolf Garten job
Scattered about half the bag - 1.5k in the area - so not a light scattering, I really went for it!
Raked in again to get good and deep
Let it rain and left for a week, then did the same again, timed with some rainfall
Let it all do it's thing as the temperature warmed up giving the rot time to think there were onions about and bloom
Then planted the onions.
Over-all I'd say the whole thing took about 7 to 8 weeks, all weather-dependent of course.

Hope that helps chaps!

[Shallot Man]

Every time the clocks change, it always takes me a while to work out how to change the clock, on here….you would have thought with all of the years I have been on here, it would be easy……

OH. My computer does it automatically. Or have I misread your letter.

[Geoff]

Thanks Steve, that sounds quite a lot but at least it seemed to work. I'll have to search the horsey sites for a source.

[snooky]

Never flown over the UK on Bonfire Night when the fireworks are being set off;must be quite a sight.Anyone experienced this?