Vanisle_BC
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Wireworms! How to deal with them?

Some of my plantings - peas, beets, spinach - have been very poor this year. I'm blaming wireworms after finding one or two in the most damaged areas. I've tried 'trapping' them with carrots poked into the soil but haven't caught many that way; had more success just inspection-delving with a trowel. Burying potatoes on a stick is a suggestion I've seen but the carrots seem more practical/convenient. I don't want to use pesticides even if that were possible. I wonder if just hand-tilling and hand-picking is the best I can do.

I haven't found many so I'm wondering is just a few can do a lot of damage in a short time. Some plantings are decimated.

Anyone have experience and suggestions? If I can't get rid or at least control of these pests, gardening loses a LOT of its attraction.

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TomatoNut95
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Wireworms? Never heard of them, are they dwelling in your soil like grubs? Hand-picking is the only thing I'm doing for my Armyworms.

Vanisle_BC
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TomatoNut95 wrote:
Wed May 27, 2020 9:57 am
Wireworms? Never heard of them, are they dwelling in your soil like grubs?

https://homeguides.sfgate.com/rid-wirew ... 50748.html

Vanisle_BC
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According to Purdue University, wireworm life cycle can be as much as 7 years, and

"Control may be necessary at planting if:
1. using a bait station sampling method - an average of one live wireworm per bait station is found or
2. using the soil screening sampling method - an average of one live wireworm per cubic foot is found."

Control required at ONE per cubic foot! These are hungry little predators. No wonder my peas are straggly & stunted.

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applestar
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Beneficial predatory nematodes might be an option. Your weather is probably still cool enough for it.

Here, we are almost at the last possible window of application IF the summer weather holds back for another week or so — but I think I have enough soil foodweb diversity going on. I don’t want to introduce single-species predatory population and tip the balance or they might end up eating firefly larvae that I’m trying to promote in my garden.

Also, be sure to try to control the adults — is it clickbeetles there or is it something else? I think there are different kinds of wireworms.

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digitS'
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Click beetles.

I have never known how to control them. Fortunately, the larva are only a problem in carrots and potatoes, now and then.

My understanding is that they may be in absolutely everything, including the roots of shrubs and other perennials. The beetles could be sprayed ... somehow ... but, I have lots more predatory beetles than click beetles. I guess that I wouldn't know how to target either one.

One thing, in one garden location, I began to think that the shrubs were harboring a population of the pests. (Wonder if French marigolds in crop rotation would drive the critters out.)


Steve

Vanisle_BC
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Apple & Steve; I don't know whether I have click beetles or not. Would I hear them in an everyday walkabout? I looked into predatory nematodes a couple of weeks ago but didn't pursue and don't remember why - cost? probably; particularly if trying to cover my whole veggie garden; and/or distance from any supplier, plus quite specific conditions and timing for application. As for different types of wireworm, the ones I've read about have only 6 (?) legs close to the head end. I've seen those and they don't move much but there are also very thin squiggly yellow things with many legs along their full length, centipede-wise. Poor things, I treat them same as the first kind - squish or drown in soapy water.

I'm just finishing my second pea re-seeding, now a bit late in the season. Did exploratory delving first and found a few of the pests.

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TomatoNut95
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I've got click beetles. I don't see them very often, but I believe they are called 'Click' beetles because they snap their heads to make a clicking nose when you pick them up.

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I used to have them in carrots and potatoes. They ruined all of the potatoes and most of the carrots. Since neither carrots or potatoes do that well for me, I did not plant any for years. I finally did plant carrots this year in January. This time no wire worms at all. So, rotating out of the crops long enough will eventually make them look elsewhere for food.

Vanisle_BC
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Well, well; the carrot traps work. Here's my most successful one to date - 3 wireworms at work. (sorry for the lack of focus) And digging around where I pulled it I found another half dozen of the little ******. If I have click beetles would I expect to notice their clicking as I walk around the garden, or is it quieter than that? Not planting things they attack isn't an option for me. They like too many types of vegetable. My experience with the carrot suggests they tend to congregate at specific plants. Maybe wider spacing would be a useful strategy.
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digitS'
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The "click" of a click beetle is some kind of defense ... :roll:

The legs of centipedes are used to run down garden pests.

Symphylan bugs are something else. Calling them centipedes is confusing to a gardener but they look like those. However, they are white or close to that color and generally smaller than centipedes. The symphylan will chew its way into a root or tuber and, with its buddies, make a terrible mess.

Root pests and diseases are difficult problems and non-organic remedies look risky to me.

Steve

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Steve; I've had/seen symphylans but they're much smaller (shorter) than these ultra-thin, yellow hundred-leg squigglies that coexist with the wireworms. I do recall that in my beds the symphylans confined themselves to small areas which made them 'somewhat' easy to deal with. As I recollect, I was able to trap them on slices of potato and rutabaga laid on the surface; easier than with wireworms which don't 'come up for air.'

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applestar
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Are we talking about early stages of millipedes before they turn darker colored with shells?

Vanisle_BC
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applestar wrote:
Wed May 27, 2020 10:50 pm
Are we talking about early stages of millipedes before they turn darker colored with shells?
I really don't know. I'm largely ignorant about insect biology, or even simple recognition.

But are these centipedes or millipedes? Too small to count legs. They could be gigapedes for all I know! (Sorry, just kidding - couldn't resist. Flippancy will be my downfall.) Anyway, these are no thicker than a coarse cotton thread and about one inch long.

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!potatoes!
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I had wireworm so bad in my jerusalem artichokes last year I couldn't sell any. I may start sacrificing a few carrots and potatoes, I guess.

Vanisle_BC
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!potatoes! wrote:
Thu May 28, 2020 7:58 am
I had wireworm so bad in my jerusalem artichokes last year I couldn't sell any.
You have my sympathy!

Were you hearing any clicks? No one's told me whether the beetles make a loud enough sound to be noticed, like crickets for instance.

Vanisle_BC
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applestar wrote:
Wed May 27, 2020 10:50 pm
Are we talking about early stages of millipedes before they turn darker colored with shells?
Probably not. I've found there are 2 kinds of wireworm. The one in my carrot photo is called Wheat Wireworm and the other - Sand Wireworm - is much thinner & longer. It may be the one I've described as squiggly and (erroneoulsy?) having many legs along its full length.

Vanisle_BC
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And how about this!

"The eyed elator (Alaus oculatus), a North American click beetle .... genus Pyrophorus, (gives) off a greenish and red-orange light. Several of these species can provide light sufficient for reading, and they have even been used as emergency light sources during surgery." (Britannica)

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!potatoes!
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we have several species of click beetles here. they don't spend much time clicking, it's not something you notice when out and about. it's more a defensive thing (and a means of righting themselves if they get flipped). if I've id'd the larvae right, they look a lot like mealworms but slightly slimmer and orangish in color.

Vanisle_BC
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If I use carrots to trap wireworms, I'm wondering: Would it work to broadcast carrot seed just like a cover crop. I guess many of the seedlings might not survive attack - but would enough grow, to be a useful trap crop. Or would the abundance of young carrot root have the opposite effect, swelling the pest population? The alternative - 'planting' a grid of already mature carrots - doesn't appeal. Some sources say they should have foliage still on them so I'd have to buy a load of fancy ones from the grocery store.

I wonder if Queen Anne's lace would work as well. There's plenty of that in the neighborhood but I've never thought of encouraging it!

As far as I can tell the other wiggly, thin yellow insect I'm seeing is a 'garden centipede' and quite harmless.

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!potatoes!
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if the carrots without leaves are working, I doubt going to extra trouble to buy them with leaves will do much. I feel like the point of the trap is to frequently pull and remove the worms - planting a 'trap crop' that stays there, how is that different from the carrots you already planted that are struggling?

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Gary350
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Here are 2 Beneficial predators that you could get, Gennies and moles.

My father had 6 gennies they are smaller birds than chickens and eat only bugs & worms. They spend the whole day in the garden eating bugs. Illinois had lots of bugs, a lot more bugs than I have in TN and different kinds of bugs. Birds make no noise unless children chase them then they run to get away but sometime make squeaking sounds.

Moles eat bugs & worms in the soil, termites, ants, grubs, wasp larvae, worms, etc. If you know someone that has moles in their yard moles are very easy to catch using 1 quart size mason jars. Dig a 4" diameter hole down through a mole tunnel straight down 12" deep then put a jar in bottom of hole then cover hole with a flat board. Check the trap every 4 hours when a mole falls in the jar they can not get out. Moles like cool soil dig a hole under a shade tree then cover mole up. Moles are a very good choice to get rid of worms.

When I lived at the other house 10 yrs ago with no moles worm population increased 100 times over when I added lots of organic material to the garden. Last year I add 10,000. lbs of organic material at the new house I am seeing very few worms but mole population is 3 times what it use to be. Mole tunnels all over the garden are no problem moles do not eat or kill plants.
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Vanisle_BC
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!potatoes! wrote:
Thu Jun 04, 2020 7:20 am
if the carrots without leaves are working, I doubt going to extra trouble to buy them with leaves will do much. I feel like the point of the trap is to frequently pull and remove the worms - planting a 'trap crop' that stays there, how is that different from the carrots you already planted that are struggling?
The carrots I used were from the grocery store - not struggling, or planted in the usual sense. They were 'dead' carrots. (Think Monty Python!) They worked but not well. Few of them collected any worms. Some had only the odd shallow, abandoned exploratory hole in them. So I give some credence to the idea that a root with foliage - alive or recently so - might be more effective. Sub surface inspection by delving was successful but is fatiguing and very time consuming.

Scattering seed, as in cover-cropping, would take little effort (and you get thousands of seeds in a packet so it's cheap.) It would be less tiresome than creating a grid of poked-in grocery carrots. How it would work out I can't say - it would be an experiment. Ideally, enough would survive - some unscathed? - to give me a harvest AND worm traps. So I may try it. Or not. We'll see :).

Right now I'm in a cabin at a mostly-shutdown resort with my wife for a muted celebration of our 60th anniversary. Dinner last night was a selection of breads & cold cuts we brought with us and some nice wine. It was lovely. The garden can wait.

Vanisle_BC
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I'm continuing to dig for wireworms with a sturdy trowel. Can't use anything bigger where I already have plantings. Digging reportedly disrupts their activity and maybe their ability to find food (reduces my resolve to try no-dig gardening.) Oddly, some worms I've found appear to be dead. I wonder if that's because of my delving.

One immediate strategy is to avoid direct sowing AMAP (as much as possible :)) and grow seedlings ABAP (as big ...) before planting out, hoping they'll survive attack. A couple of in-ground victims are recovering since I relocated them.

Anyone else's experience with these pests would be welcome. Are there any no-dig people here who've had to deal with them?

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Gary350
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Test your soil with ph paper you might be able to change the ph of your soil enough that wire worms will not like it and leave and carrots will still grow good. I bought a pack of ph paper on ebay 99 cents free postage. Do online research see what ph carrots like. I have poured grocery store vinegar on plant rows to make soil more acid. I have also poured baking soda water on my rows to make them more base. Don't go higher than 8 ph plants don't like it. You can do down as low as 5 ph most plants are ok. If you know for sure what ph carrots like then you know what your ph limits are. Mix a little water with some soil stir well than put 1 end of 1 piece of ph paper in water then remove paper from water then wait 1 minute to get a good reading then compare your test paper to the color chart in the ph paper package.
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Vanisle_BC
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Yesterday I had 3 healthy transplants of Valmaine lettuce. This morning one is dead; its stem completely separated from its roots. It's interesting that the two neighbouring plants are (so far!) unaffected.
Lettuce wireworm2.JPG
Lettuce wireworm1.JPG

Digging into the lifted rootball I found 7 or 8 wireworms. They are now deceased :).

This makes me think lettuce would make a much better wireworm trap than carrots.
- Faster growing, from cheap plentiful seed.
- Simple identification of infested plants (very obvious above-ground damage)
- A rootball that collects many worms all at once.

I have one bed seeded with scattered carrots, not yet emergent. Now I'm going to sow another bed with multiple lettuce. These beasties are very destructive.



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