My neighbor (who gardens) seems to think they are soil mites, but she also cant figure out why there are so many. She did say that what I thought were webs on the soil was actually a type of fungus and showed me how to turn up the soil (weve had a lot of rain).
She was baffled by the flies. and today we found some tiny grub looking things as well.
I had no idea this would be so hard.
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purplegardener
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purplegardener
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applestar
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OK so I think the little orange/brown thing you are pointing at is fly pupa. The flies could be hatching out of those.
In my garden I'm currently having problems with onion maggots. I had them seriously affect my onion harvest last year -- I was able to salvage the harvest but had to chop and freeze or dehydrate rather than curing and storing whole.
I found them infesting the overwintering Egyptian walking onions and some of the garlic -- fortunately not in the main garlic bed but scattered "volunteers" which are garlic that I failed to harvest for one reason or another last year. I'm afraid to find out if they are in the main garlic bed, and am very concerned about the onions as planted this year.
Onion magggot flies apparently overwinter as pupae.
...but that is only one example of possible flies.
Another nasty one I've had some experience with is cornseed maggot.
In my garden I'm currently having problems with onion maggots. I had them seriously affect my onion harvest last year -- I was able to salvage the harvest but had to chop and freeze or dehydrate rather than curing and storing whole.
I found them infesting the overwintering Egyptian walking onions and some of the garlic -- fortunately not in the main garlic bed but scattered "volunteers" which are garlic that I failed to harvest for one reason or another last year. I'm afraid to find out if they are in the main garlic bed, and am very concerned about the onions as planted this year.
Onion magggot flies apparently overwinter as pupae.
...but that is only one example of possible flies.
Another nasty one I've had some experience with is cornseed maggot.
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purplegardener
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pepperhead212
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Apple,
Another pest that just showed up in our area in 2015, brought in from another country, is the Allium Leafminer (ALM). Your description of the onion maggot reminded me of this. A few gardeners in SE PA as well as MD on another forum had their garlic and onion crops destroyed by the ALM last season; I had no signs of it, but I took prophylactic measures. this year, and covered my garlic and chives, as I do peppers, to prevent pepper maggots. Here is a link:
https://ento.psu.edu/extension/vegetable ... -leafminer
Another pest that just showed up in our area in 2015, brought in from another country, is the Allium Leafminer (ALM). Your description of the onion maggot reminded me of this. A few gardeners in SE PA as well as MD on another forum had their garlic and onion crops destroyed by the ALM last season; I had no signs of it, but I took prophylactic measures. this year, and covered my garlic and chives, as I do peppers, to prevent pepper maggots. Here is a link:
https://ento.psu.edu/extension/vegetable ... -leafminer
I think you need to let the soil dry out. If the plants die it won't be so much from the bugs but from the soil being so wet. You cannot do much about the rain but you can not add to it. Most of the bugs that are there look like nuisance bugs more than things that will harm the plants. Tilling up the soil and adding coarse sand to help drainage may help. Keep tilling as often as you can to expose the bugs to light and take out any pupa or decaying matter you find.
I get those kinds of issues when I put in too much compost. The soil stays too wet, the plants die or fail to germinate. It is like picking up mud and it is water logged and dense. I would see white fungus growing in the soil. And it usually smells pretty bad. I usually have to spread it out in the sun to let it dry and then I usually use it for fill. I don't try to do compost or manure in pots anymore and I don't add more than 4 inches to the garden at any one time.
I get those kinds of issues when I put in too much compost. The soil stays too wet, the plants die or fail to germinate. It is like picking up mud and it is water logged and dense. I would see white fungus growing in the soil. And it usually smells pretty bad. I usually have to spread it out in the sun to let it dry and then I usually use it for fill. I don't try to do compost or manure in pots anymore and I don't add more than 4 inches to the garden at any one time.
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applestar
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Thanks pepperhead212. Definitely sounds like that might be what is causing the problem for my onions and garlic. I'm going to start another thread so we can discuss this more.
Purplegardener -- don't give up. We don't know what exactly you have yet. I'm sorry I jumped in with descriptions of pests I had on my mind. There are many species of flies. Some are even beneficial - examples are fly predator flies that control blood sucking/biting barn flies or tachnid flies that parasitize caterpillars (though they sometimes also parasitize desirable species). And mites that are visible to unaided eyes are often predatory mites or not mites at all but baby spiders from a mass hatching. So they could all be part of your beneficial Garden Patrol.
Gardening is often trial and error. Go ahead and try -- report back and we could work out any problems together.
Purplegardener -- don't give up. We don't know what exactly you have yet. I'm sorry I jumped in with descriptions of pests I had on my mind. There are many species of flies. Some are even beneficial - examples are fly predator flies that control blood sucking/biting barn flies or tachnid flies that parasitize caterpillars (though they sometimes also parasitize desirable species). And mites that are visible to unaided eyes are often predatory mites or not mites at all but baby spiders from a mass hatching. So they could all be part of your beneficial Garden Patrol.
Gardening is often trial and error. Go ahead and try -- report back and we could work out any problems together.