Update: This post is from May when I found wireworms eating my tomato plants. If I had prepared some traps in March these could have been saved. Plan now, save your plants too. Don’t let the wireworms win.
Finally some nice weather has me outside to check on my newly transplanted early tomatoes and…WHAT THE?!
The wilty and pale sad little transplants looked perfectly healthy 2 days ago.
I pulled one up to replace it with a backup and WHAT THE %$^&%$%^&*?! There’s wireworms eating them from the inside out.
I think this one is actually drooling….
I dug around in the soil only to find a whole bunch of these ugly critters. I had planted lettuce transplants early in the season in the same raised bed which all mysteriously disappeared days after planting. I blamed the slugs. I killed LOTS of baby slugs to terrify the other hidden slugs. But could it have been these nasty little wireworms that ate my lettuce?
If you recently transformed a grassy part of your yard to a garden bed (check out Turning Lawn into a Vegetable Garden with Raised Beds) then you may have an abundance of wireworms just waiting for tender seedlings. The best way to remove them is by setting up a wireworm trap.
Cut a potato in half and skewer it with a long stick. Bury the potato in the soil (or make a few of these for large beds/lots of wireworms), ensuring that the top of the stick stays above the soil so you can find them. In a week or so, carefully dig (not pull) up the trap and remove the wireworms. Replace and keep removing the worms until you don’t find them anymore. You are now ready to plant!
I have been battling wireworms in my raised garden beds for three years now. What I learned: plant later, pick them and drop them into a half filled soapy water milk jug and keep it handy, squish the parental units when you find them (they will congregate beneath boards laid on grass near your garden), and use old fashioned non-chemical warfare against them: chickens. This year I borrowed three of my parent’s retired laying hens for six weeks prior to planting – they did an excellent job of dining on the wireworms and reduced the population by at least 80%. I am estatic! I have since planted up the garden and veggies are growing gangbusters. Now if only the sun would come out and stay out, we will be fine! One thing I did last year that I would also recommend is the potato or carrot bait and switch trick – it helped along with the hours of picking and dropping into Mr. Soapy Milk Jug. Also, to determine whether my efforts were effective or not, I placed a calendula transplant in the “victimized” bed. When it didn’t grow, I knew I was under seige. At last it took off and doubled in size and I knew I was the victor; until 2011 that is. Now I have little potato sprouts coming up hither and yon around the bed. I just tossed some manure around them (well aged) and planted my edamame seeds around them. Hopefully potatoes will be a lovely accompanyment to the beans! Good luck. Keep at it — that is key — do not give up! Margo’s urban homestead in Victoria BC
Ugh!! Sorry to hear that, Stevie. I’ve just spent the last hour and a bit researching pill bugs as one of my beds has an infestation of them and slugs. Ripped out a whole patch of lettuce that had eggs in it from some creature, maybe either of those. It was way out of control and had bolted because I haven’t been making enough salad, and I have a second patch so I am not too worried about the lettuce, but I’m worried about the strawberries, carrots, onions, leeks, chives, tomatoes and peas that are left in that box!
The leaves nearest the ground (of the pea especially) are being nibbled on. Little jerks!!
Good luck!
Tamara
PS Delish Summer issue should be done THIS WEEK!
Those same little nasty creeps ate my dahlias and some of my cosmos. I squished as many as I could find and while the cosmos died, the dahlais rebounded. Good luck and happy squishing!
UGH. Great post Stevie. I’ve learned lots by reading the comments. :) I hope the worms are all gone by now and your tomato plants are huge healthy and full of fruit.
In the Southern Tier are in great shape for fishing hats fishing, but handle these prize
fish with care and release them safely so they’ll be able to assume that aroma.