Maggots are a tiresome topic for hobby gardeners. Especially when growing fruit, an annual infestation can be quite annoying. In order not to swing the chemical club unnecessarily, alternative methods can be used. Luckily there are some of them.
Chickens are a great home remedy for maggots in the garden
What maggots do harm in the garden
Only a certain type of insect larvae is called maggots, namely those of the dipterans. This zoological order mainly includes some species of flies. Compared to other insect larvae, maggots have the following characteristics:
- Total absence of any limbs (caterpillars and e.g. grubs have legs)
- No head capsule
So maggots are completely naked and structurally undeveloped, basically the most rudimentary form of all insect species.
Flies that lay their eggs in the fruits of garden plants in this country and whose maggots are fatal to the hobby gardener are above all:
- the cherry fruit fly
- the cherry vinegar fly and
- the walnut fruit fly
The maggots that hatch from their eggs feed on the pulp of the host fruit, largely spoiling it. Plants that are most commonly affected are sweet and sour cherries, raspberries and blackberries, plums or, in the case of walnut fruit flies, walnuts.
Simple remedies against the maggots
Since the pests discussed here all have a very similar way of life, certain control methods can also be used across the board. All species have a one-year cycle and, with the exception of the spotted-wing drosophila, hibernate as pupated maggots in the ground. In the case of the cherry vinegar fly, the adult insects overwinter in sheltered places.
Home remedies in the classic sense, i.e. ecologically uncritical substances that can be found in almost every household, are less important against maggots. In order to contain the population, it makes more sense to consistently remove them mechanically and let beneficial insects work for you.
Picking and collecting the fruits
In the event of an infestation, it is essential to remove all affected fruit from the tree/shrub and from the ground and to dispose of it in the organic waste.
parasitic wasps
Ichneumon wasps (€22.99) are effective fly killers. Their targeted use can definitely reduce the infestation noticeably.
ground beetle
Ground beetles are also among the natural predators of cherry fruit flies in particular.
Free range chickens
Think about keeping chickens. Chickens are generally very useful in self-sufficient gardens. Because they are effective, voluntary destroyers of pests such as snails, caterpillars and maggots. For them, the maggots that have pupated in the ground are a welcome snack and at the same time satisfy their need to scratch in the ground. Even later, chickens decimate an infestation, because they do not spurn fallen cherries with possible maggot inserts.
nematodes
The use of predatory nematodes can be considered not necessarily a home remedy, but an ecological control measure. The predatory roundworms of the Steinernema genus are particularly helpful against cherry and walnut fruit flies. If you put them under the affected tree or shrub with the irrigation water before the species-specific hatching time, they parasitize the maggots and can reduce them by up to 50%.
Encourage other beneficials
If you make your garden close to nature and bird-friendly, you have better cards against maggots. Especially some species of swallows and swifts catch a lot of flies in flight.