A question for Brussel Sprout growers

S

Stuart J

Member
Mixed Farmer
Location
UK
Bogweevil said:
Yes, CRF - they tend to go for lower buttons near soil level, seldom spoils all sprouts on stem. If you whack caterpillars with deltamethrin that will help prevent maggots. Organic growers can try applying nematodes a few weeks ago..

Too late now, maggots safe in buttons, oh Metasystox when we need you.
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Devil's advocate said:
The same chemical used for module drenching Verimark is available by another name for foliar treatment, but too late now & you can't use verimark twice so you have to use tracer as the drench.

Never used less insecticide on my brassica but have spent most of summer under nets, to keep the bloody rabbits, pigeons & public off. A right mess with weeds though. Just never had any spare time this summer, everthing has been done at the wrong time.
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Thanks guys. How far up the stem do you think the maggots will reach?
Those ones are in the same bed as some December maturing plants. Will they also have maggots writhing the currently tiny buttons? Or can I do anything to prevent them attacking the later season ones too?

Terrible mess of weeds here too. Used wing-p pre em, which did fantastic job last year, but possibly too dry this year. Lots of redshank.
 
D

Devil's advocate

Member
Location
Posh side of Barnsley
Stuart J said:
Thanks guys. How far up the stem do you think the maggots will reach?
Those ones are in the same bed as some December maturing plants. Will they also have maggots writhing the currently tiny buttons? Or can I do anything to prevent them attacking the later season ones too?

Terrible mess of weeds here too. Used wing-p pre em, which did fantastic job last year, but possibly too dry this year. Lots of redshank.
Click to expand...

Never been a serious problem here root fly in the buttons.

Sheild is best for redshank early post emergence of the weed.

Mine covered up though, usually use weak roundup in a sheilded knapsack to tidy up what pre em misses. This year two weeks of wet & windy weather plus nets to move, followed by all hands to the hay field plus staff illness, really messed me up. Expensive!
 
Bogweevil

Bogweevil

Member
Stuart J said:
Thanks guys. How far up the stem do you think the maggots will reach?
Those ones are in the same bed as some December maturing plants. Will they also have maggots writhing the currently tiny buttons? Or can I do anything to prevent them attacking the later season ones too?

Terrible mess of weeds here too. Used wing-p pre em, which did fantastic job last year, but possibly too dry this year. Lots of redshank.
Click to expand...

Quite common in SE where we always get three generations each summer, but not every year and not every plants, - half way up the stems in worst case - no big deal for amateur crops - you can just cut away infected parts in the kitchen. Right pain for processing crops.

Remember that the maggots leave the buttons to pupate in the soil after three weeks or so.

Minecto One has an on label approval (though some like to keep it/or have used up the two allowed applications, for diamondback moth control):

Cabbage Root Fly (Delia radicum) Timing: Apply at first sign of attack. Repeat if necessary. A maximum of 2 applications are permitted, with a minimum interval of 7 days between treatments. RATE OF USE 185 g/ha WATER VOLUME 200-1000 l/ha (Use sufficient water volume to ensure thorough crop penetration. Consider applying to Brussels Sprouts through a drop-leg sprayer.) [Essential, I would say,but thick weeds can prevent good coverage and may tangle the legs - snap!]

 
D

Devil's advocate

Member
Location
Posh side of Barnsley
Wing P

Appears a very useful herbicide does it have an EMU for field brassica?

It i very difficult to control weeds in swedes under net.

We need the net & on that crop should not be removed because rootfly could get under the net. So as said above we walk on the nets using roundup with a sheilded knapsack with special nozzles & blue dye.

When we had decent insecticides it used to be 3 or 4 passes with the steerage hoe/scuffler, hand hoe once & rogue once.

Something like Wing P applied pre em with a claxton interow sprayer, stacked on the butisan would be ideal, sadly not legal. I know a man who knows a woman high up in research & who does the work on EMU's, I will have a word.
 
S

Stuart J

Member
Mixed Farmer
Location
UK
Devil's advocate said:
Pre planting? So when do you apply it? I'd assumed pre em of weeds but a few days after planting.

Do you not need to steerage hoe?

The weeds that survive an efficent spray, been the ones most important to kill of course.
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Last year I sprayed the day before transplanting.
It worked fantastically and no hoeing was required at all. Brilliantly clean crops.
4litres per ha.

Cant do it the day of planting - the smell is a bit strong!
 
D

Devil's advocate

Member
Location
Posh side of Barnsley
How do the glasshouse growers cope with flea beetle & rootfly in brassica crops?

I know they treat with verimark or tracer at despatch. But in a field in good temps flea beetle would have killed most & rootfly would be starting to kill plants too.

Also radish of course, often grown in glasshouses.
 
Bogweevil

Bogweevil

Member
Devil's advocate said:
How do the glasshouse growers cope with flea beetle & rootfly in brassica crops?

I know they treat with verimark or tracer at despatch. But in a field in good temps flea beetle would have killed most & rootfly would be starting to kill plants too.

Also radish of course, often grown in glasshouses.
[

Used to raise polytunnel cauliflower and had such aphid trouble I think aphicides knocked out everything else.
Click to expand...
 
D

Devil's advocate

Member
Location
Posh side of Barnsley
Supermarkets playing silly beggars again.

But have to say we are really busy.

Be interesting if supermarkets can actually find enougth caulie to give away. Certainly wholesale price increasing every day. Reports locally that every day the caulies are smaller in the supermarkets.
 
S

Stuart J

Member
Mixed Farmer
Location
UK
Hows everyone's sprout crops looking this year?
Upped my acreage to a full 1 acre this year 😂

Looking not bad, but fair to poor weed control by wing-p this year.
Redshank up to knee height within a week of the drought breaking. Should have been hoeing beforehand but other priorities got in the way.

Dont suppose anything will touch it now? See photos.
At least the clean bit is at the roadside!!

20220821_161514.jpg
20220821_161056.jpg
 

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