Cabbage collars are a great way to forbid problematical cabbage root flies ( Delia radicum / Hylemya brassicae ) from negative cole harvest plantings . Although gardener have been making cabbage collars for age toprotect plantsfrom this pest , these are a little unlike from the flat lucre collars others use . Their form afford an added stratum of auspices and it make for like a charm .
What Are Cabbage Root Flies?
pornographic cabbage source flies see a muckle like bristly houseflies only slightly smaller . They ’re about 1 centimeter long with bristly hairs all over their gray bodies . This European species is now found across much of North America and up into southern Canada .
Cabbage stem flies overwinter in the soil as pupa . When fountain arrives , they pupate into adults , bung on heyday nectar , and go on to breed and lay bollock over the course of the next five to six hebdomad .
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Female wampum rootage flies lay nut on or in the soil right next to the base of plants in the Brassicaceae kinsperson , include lolly , broccoli , cauliflower , Brassica oleracea gongylodes , Brussels bourgeon , horseradish , and now and then turnips and Raphanus sativus . The 1/8 - inch - farseeing , oval - shaped , white eggs hatch into tiny maggot a week or so later . The maggot feed on the ascendent and stems of infest industrial plant for three to four weeks before pupating into grownup . There are two to three generations of cabbage root flies each season .
Because there can be twelve of maggot feeding on a single flora , the plant ’s health is quickly affect . Signs of plague are wilt leaves even when the plant receive copious moisture . Sometimes the leaves have a bluish - empurpled tinge to them . lettuce root maggot hurt looks standardised to some other disorder , include golf-club base and cutworm , so the only way of life to confirm the perpetrator is to dig out up a flora and go over the roots and lower stem for the white-hot , wriggly maggot .
How To Prevent Cabbage Root Maggots
Because distaff cabbage root fly lay their eggs on or right next to the base of host plants , harbor the land around the foot of the plant is primal to preventing this pest from becoming problematical . This is well performed within a few days of plant out susceptible cole harvest .
Typically I recommend traverse cole harvest withfloating row coverto keep pest away , but in the case of cabbage etymon flies , covering them too ahead of time may actually trap newly emerged adult flies underneath the row cover , so rather I change state to make cabbage collars to protect my plant . I put a collar around each plant by late April because the first generation of grownup flies typically starts to come forth in early May through June here in my Pennsylvania garden .
How to Make Cabbage Collars
What You’ll Need
Step 1
Cut the cardboard into a 6- to 8 - in lap , making one square for each susceptible plant in your garden . If you ’re using recycled frozen pizza cardboard polish , you ’ll just have to turn off them to a 6 - to 8 - inch diameter if necessary .
Step 2
Fold the rotary in one-half to mark the center line , and then spread out it . fold up it in half in the other management , and stretch it to score the exact center of the circle . Use the scissors to edit down one of the lines from the outermost edge of the circle into the exact snapper .
Step 3
Starting at the marrow distributor point , use the box cutlery to reduce four 1- to 2 - inch railway line that radiate out from the heart and soul point . seek to space them evenly .
Step 4
The final step in making lolly collar is to deflect the small flaps create in Step 3 upward .
Step 5
set up the leash around the flora by drop away the cut product line around the flora ’s stem . Once in place , overlap the cut business line slightly until the diminished flaps are pose broadly speaking around the plant stem . There should be enough distance for the bow to amplify , but not enough for the tent flap to gain access to the dirt around the base of the works .
Step 6
Once in place , staple the overlapped cut production line of the circle close in two or three places .
Tips For Using Cabbage Collars
