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market-farming - Re: Wire worms

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  • From: Marie Kamphefner <kampy AT grm.net>
  • To: "market farming" <market-farming AT franklin.oit.unc.edu>
  • Subject: Re: Wire worms
  • Date: Sat, 06 May 2000 23:49:24 -0500


> We have tried carrots and potatoes as
>a trap crop with little success.
>
>Mike
>Flying Frog Farm
>Sebastopol, CA

Mike, I was just reading about wireworms in "The Organic Garden Book" by
Geoff Hamilton.

The book says "In the first year or two of cultivating newly turned soil,
grow a row of wheat between the crops at intervals over the plot. The
wireworms will be attracted to the wheat, which can be dug up and carted to
the local dump.

You can also use old potatoes or carrots to trap the wireworms. These can
be spitted on a stick and buried, so that you know where the trap is and
can easily remove, and destroy. Alternatively, trap them by splitting an
old cabbage stalk and pushing it 5-7 cm (2-3in) into the ground near the
afected plants. As with the potatotes they should be lifted periodically
and the worms removed and destroyed." Sounds like you already tried this.

From the book, "The Best of Organic Gardening", a recipe: "Chop up about 3
ounces of garlic bulbs and soak them for 24 hours in about 2 teaspoons of
mineral oil. Then add 1 pint of water and 1/4 ounce of liquid soap. Mix
well and filter through a fine-mesh screen. Try this against wireworms,
cutworms, slugs, and whitefly. (Be sure to test any homemade spray on just
one plant before you spray your entire crop!)" I don't know how you would
soak 3 oz of garlic in 2 teaspoons of mineral oil, but that's what it says.

I'm sure there is some wholistic approach like making the plants super
healthy so the worm won't want to bite them, but I don't know how to do
that yet. Good luck.

Marie in Missouri.





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