turnip are vulnerable to several pests , include bread aphids and root maggots , that plague other crucifers .
In add-on , other insects are more annoyances than serious pests . Examples let in whiteflies and caterpillars that feed on the white turnip foliage .
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Turnip aphids (Lipaphis erysimi) have light green bodies.
We provide an overview of the major insect pests of turnip and rutabagas and advice on how to verify them .
Aphids
While several form of aphids can plague turnip crops , including the turnip aphid ( Lipaphis erysimi ) , the black bean aphid ( Aphis fabae ) , and the green peach aphid ( Myzus persicae ) , the cabbage aphid ( Brevicoryne brassicaea ) is particularly rough .
This small gray - green insect does n’t look very scary . However , the populations of the cabbage aphid can build to large level , and it can stunt the ontogeny – or in the worst - case scenario – kill your industrial plant !
you could belittle the chances of infection by checking your transplants for aphids before you constitute them . If you do find aphid , endeavor to rationalize them out .
Turnip aphids (Lipaphis erysimi) have light green bodies.
An choice to keep these pests from decide on your plants is to surround the white turnip plants with meditative mulch like silver - colourise plastic .
A democratic andeffective biologic controlis to bring out benficial , aphid - devouring insects such as soldier beetles , ladybug beetles , big - eyed bugs , and hover tent flap .
If the populations get too large , you may treat your flora with some eccentric of insecticide . Oils like neem or canola crude or insecticidal soaps will generally work to control the bread aphids infesting your white turnip .
If you do apply insecticidal soap , do so in cloudy weather condition that is less than 90 F.
Read more about fighting aphid infestation here .
Cabbage Flies and Root Maggots (Deliaspp.)
An adultroot maggot(known as a cabbage rainfly , cabbage theme fly , root fly ball or white turnip fly ) looks like a Musca domestica , while their maggot are bloodless or white - yellow grubs that are approximately 0.3 inches long , taper toward the head .
These terrible pests can cause extensive origin damage to swedish turnip and turnips . In fact , the crop can be too badly damage to harvest them .
Another bummer about these insects is that the tunnels they dig in the rootspredispose the plants to rotby soil fungus kingdom .
The louse overwinter in the soil as pupae . If they are not present in your soil , you have some chance of fending them offby using be adrift row coversto prevent the female flies from laying testicle .
Seal the edges with soil to keep the females out . Row enshroud work well with springtime crop . If you use them in the dusk , your crop may have depleted issue and poorer root quality .
If you are using a run-in cover song , make certain that no aphids are present because the aphids will increase in numbers without their innate enemy to keep them in curb .
If your crop is severely damaged , your only choice is to remove and destroy all the crop debris . No pesticides are registered for root maggot that can be used by habitation gardeners in the US .
Another affair to worry about with source maggot is that if the temperature is cool in the early fall , the eggs from late - time of year flies will pull through .
say more about cabbage fly and maggot control here .
Cabbage Whiteflies (Aleyrodes proletella)
If you see cloud of petite livid insects flying up from your turnips whenever you upset them , your plants are infested with cabbage whiteflies .
The bottom of the leaves will attend like they have white scale . These are the nymph of the loot whitefly .
you could tolerate small amounts of these insects , since they only feign the leaves .
However , heavy infestations can resultin a black sooty moldon top of the foliage . If this is the grammatical case , you should go through dominance measures .
It is authoritative to note that this plague is not the same as the nursery whitefly ( genus Trialeurodes vaporariorum ) . However , similar types of predatory insects ’ quarry on the whiteflies .
For this reason , you should try and avoid using pesticide to control these whiteflies . These type of treatments can defeat the lifelike predator and cause the populations of the whitefly to rally .
Organic sprays are a good selection because they willkill the whiteflieswithout affecting insect like grownup ladybugs . you could expend horticultural oils or insecticidal soaps and cause very little harm tobeneficial organisms .
If you employ insecticidal grievous bodily harm , be sure and practice them when the conditions is cloudy , and temperatures are less than 90 F. ward off the Sunday will protect your turnips , since treatment with insecticidal soaps can make them sensitive to the Sunday .
Flea Beetles (Phyllotretaspp.)
Such bantam insects and so much price . Flea beetles do n’t look very shivery . They are 1.5 - 3 millimeter morose colored ( dark , shiny gree to black ) insects that parachute when disturbed .
However , flea beetles masticate holes in the leave that make them look like they have been shot with buckshot . Young plants are more susceptible than fledged ones .
And a specific mintage , the cabbage stem flea mallet ( Psylliodes chrysocephala ) , is not just content to devour cole crops as an grownup .
It lays its eggs at the base of many different brassicas ( including turnips and rutabagas ) where they creep into the root word as larvae and provender on the host plant .
You may be able-bodied to protect the immature works if you employ floating course cover version before the beetle come out in the spring . Trap crops are an option , too – cruciferous ones work best .
Another option is to utilize a thickheaded layer of mulch . Organic growers can utilize vegetable oil like neem or diatomaceous earth .
Insecticidal control include spinosad , which is usable in organic formulations , carbaryl , permethrin , and befenthrin . They will work for approximately a hebdomad , but then you will demand to reapply them .
Read more about fighting flea mallet infestations here .
Slugs
Unfortunately , slugs flourish in the cool humid weather condition that turnips thrive in , and these slimy pestswill voraciously feed on all cruciferous veggie .
If not hold in , slug can destroy your whole crop in just a few days .
However , all hope is not lost ! You have alternative ranging from beer traps to lure andbeneficial nematodes .
understand more about controlling punch here .
Turnip Sawfly ( Athalia rosae )
The turnip sawfly was an highly serious pest in Britain in the 1700 and 1800s . Reports abounded of clouds of these pests that “ darken the sky ” and were “ like escape of bees . ”
This dread pest looks relatively harmless . The orange grownup is about 7 mm long with a black head . Its larvae look like disgraceful caterpillars .
However , a individual female person can rest up to 300 egg in the turnip leaves . After they think of , the larvae start out feed inside the leaf , but then they feed on the bottom . finally , just a skeleton of the foliage remains .
The larvae pupate in the soil for 10 - 13 days before the next genesis of adults emerge .
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Bt will not control these blighter . Although they look like cat , they are a different type of insect . you could use Spinosad to see to it turnip sawfly .
Wireworms (species ofAeolus, Annchastus, Melanotus, orLimonius)
These awful plague can invade the dirt for up to five years as yellowish - brown , shiny larvae . They can kill the seedlings or deaden the stems of the turnip or rutabaga plant .
There is no way to operate wireworms once a crop is growing . You ask to regale with insecticide at preplanting or as a semen discourse .
If you make love that your soil is infested with wireworms , leave the field fallow over the summer and frequently till it .
Rotate to a harvest that is not a innkeeper for wireworms , i.e. , annul cereal .
There is a Reason They are Called Pests!
These four groups of dirt ball can do a turn on your turnip or rutabaga crops . There is not much you may do if your territory is infested with wireworms .
However , you have some hope of foreclose infestation by flea beetles or root maggots byusing words underwrite crop .
you may curb aphid with neem oil colour or insecticidal craw before they kill your crop .
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About
Helga George , PhD
