The other day out In the garden and low and behold I noticed the
first carrot rust fly swarming. For some reason they seem to be
attracted to the the white row cover fabric. Usually these guys
(their larvae really) cause cosmetic damage to carrots. The larvae
will eat into the carrots. Except in major out breaks the damage is
minimal. Their mating frenzy only lasts a week or two. They are not
very big, less than a 1/4 inch and dark colored.
These guys will have several hatches through out the year. In bad
years I have had 4 hatches.
A lot of the control is making sure that after harvesting a bed that
all the remaining carrots are removed so that there is no food for
any larvae. I find that the use of row covers prevents any access to
the carrots. An important fact that also helps with their control is
that they are active for a very short time each day. From around 9 AM
until early afternoon. So if your beds are covered you can briefly
work them in the morning and longer in the evening..
They are not strong fliers so they are less active on windy days.
They also do not fly very far off the ground, maybe 2 feet. So solid
barriers can also help with their control.
So really just paying attention that they are around and few cultural
practices their damage can be minimized or eliminated.
The next swarming will be in June followed by August with the last in
the fall. So by not doing anything by the last mating a person could
have a dandy population to over winter and be really pummeled in the
spring. There are lots of good pictures on line. So as they say
forewarned is forearmed!
Good luck and happy gardening.
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