4 responses |
| About the Author lang perth wa 7th April 2010 1:57am #UserID: 3568 Posts: 4 View All lang's Edible Fruit Trees |
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Charles cant spell says... Eggplant Caterpillar, taking over Perth gardens by storm, will target; potato stalks (bores them til lthe plant dies off on top), chillis, capsicuims, tomatoes, and eggplants. It basicallay targets the Solanum genus. I now have to net all my Solanum plants with mozi net if I dont want 3/4 of the crop destroyed. Thats in Innaloo. I also belong to a Organic Gardeners Group and most of the gardeners have been getting attached this year. There is limited info on it, a few papers from Ag dept or CSIRO but now real answers or suggestions. I meant to contact the Ag Dept to discuss but have not got around to it yet. Anyway goodluck I suspect it will be all over Perth in a few years. | About the Author Charlesstillcantspell1 Perth Innaloo 8th April 2010 1:42am #UserID: 2742 Posts: 411 View All Charlesstillcantspell1's Edible Fruit Trees |
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BJ says... Charles, You've got me worried now. I appear to be free of this pest at the moment but for how long? So I have done a bit of googling for anyone that is interested ... Management ideas include: Avoiding continuous cropping of susceptible plants (and avoiding monocropping); Plant early - early season crops are less susceptible (due to the life cycle of this pest); Remove affected crops and skip at least one season before you plant another susceptible plant in the same area; Vigorous cultivate the entire area around where crops have been and where they will be planted. Cultivation needs to be to a depth of over 100mm to ensure pupae and emergence tunnels are destroyed. (This will be much more effective if your neighbours do the same thing); Plant trap crops such as pigeon pea and sweet corn as sacrificial anodes; Destroy these crops 7-10 days after eggs are laid (thus interrupting the life cycle). Re-planting sacrificial anodes may be necessary; Plant crops that attract predators (the standard suite of predatory insects has a very moderate effect and frogs will eat the occasional critter too); Introduction of various viruses (heliothis nuclear polyhedrosis virus) or bacteria (bacillus thuringiensis); and Encourage predators, such as wasps (trichogramma pretiosum, or telenomis) parasitism by these guys turns the eggs black (you want those eggs to hatch rather than be destroyed). You can purchase eggs of these critters! Check out www.goodbugs.org.au and places like www.bugsforbugs.com.au (Im not sure of quarantine restrictions importing to WA) | About the Author BJ11 WA 8th April 2010 10:16am #UserID: 3414 Posts: 215 View All BJ11's Edible Fruit Trees |
| About the Author Charlesstillcantspell1 Perth Innaloo 8th April 2010 1:23pm #UserID: 2742 Posts: 411 View All Charlesstillcantspell1's Edible Fruit Trees |
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Woodsofgreen says... Hi CCS Looks like I have this bug in my jalapeno plant. The little critters bore into the fruit when it is full and green. Pulled one open and found a lavae of 10+mm inside. Any ideas for treatment? Looks like clear the patch and rest the chilli growing for a while is the best option | About the Author Greenwood 9th June 2010 6:38pm #UserID: 0 Posts: View All 's Edible Fruit Trees |
