There are primarily two pests that can thoroughly spoil our appetite for freshly harvested leeks. You can find out here what they are and how they don't even come into play.
Fight leek moth consistently
The light gray to brownish moths are up to mischief from May to October. At night they swarm out to eat through the leaves and stalks of your leeks. No one wants to eat an infested plant, so deforestation is unavoidable.
To prevent this from happening in the first place, you have a whole arsenal of preventative control methods at your disposal:
- Always plant leeks in airy locations
- Mixed cultivation with carrots, celery and parsley repels the leek moth
- Spray plants regularly with horsetail broth plus 1 percent soft soap
- protect the leek culture with insect nets from the start
Effectively repel onion thrips
The females of the yellow-brown ringed thrips lay their eggs directly on the leek leaves. As a result, the maggots eat their way through the entire plant. Anyone who takes the following prophylactic measures will keep the onion thrips from their shameful activities in good time:
- cut off the stem in the early stages of infestation so that it can grow back
- Always sow leeks under glass and only then plant them out
- Mulching with peppermint, tansy, and sage leaves keeps onion fly away
- stretch a close-meshed vegetable fly net over the bed
tips and tricks
The natural predators of leek moths and onion flies prefer to settle in a garden that is designed to be close to nature. Ichneumon wasps,(22.99€) ground beetles, frogs, hedgehogs and birds are always looking for places to retreat. Leave old tree stumps lying around or pile sticks and leaves into small piles. A dry wall attracts beneficial insects just as irresistibly as a dense hedge.