Aphids - Several aphid species are pests of carrots. Most aphid damage is caused to young carrots when aphids feed on tender growing plant tissue. Carrot leaves will often become yellow and wilt and the distorted growth of roots and shoots often results. Aphids have many natural enemies such as lady beetles and green lacewing larvae that help to keep them under control . Horticultural Oil Spray Controls aphids, mites, galls, mealy bugs, and other insects. Kills insects by blocking their pores and smothering them. Aphid & Whitefly Trap is another simple and economical way to get rid of aphids, whiteflies and other small insects in your garden
Worms
Wireworms
Wireworms are the slender, yellowish-brown, hard-bodied larvae of various beetles There are many species of wireworm , various species attack Beans, Carrots, beet, celery, lettuce, Onion, sweet potato, turnip, and mustard . These worms reek their havoc by puncturing and tunneling stems, roots and tubers. Carrots are a particular favorite.
- Clear the garden bed of weeds. mulch and plant debris.
- Lay down a wooden board or boards in your garden bed - 2X4 , plywood - whatever you have space for, and leave it there overnight.
- Check under the boards in the next morning and you should find wireworms as well as other pests attached.
- Take the board ,bugs and worms to an area away from your garden where you can either have a bug massacre with insecticide or release them where they can't do any harm to your plants.
- Add compost to where the wireworms infestation occurred. Add organic fertilizer that contains green manure, which also will help to kill any wireworms you may have missed.
- Continue managing your garden by removing weeds and applying organic fertilizer . Don't spray pesticide on the area to remove or prevent the wireworms from returning as it could easily do more damage than the wireworms ever could.
Garlic Spray is another way to get rid of wireworms as well as ants, aphids, caterpillars, Colorado beetle, diamondback moth, whitefly, cabbage worm, mice, mites, moles, and termites as well as some fungi and bacteria. Garlic is a broad spectrum insecticide. This means that it will kill beneficial insects as well as pests. Try to spray only the affected areas where pests are doing the most damage.
Celery worm
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The Celery worm also known as the carrot caterpillar is the larva of the black swallowtail butterfly. The adult butterfly is black with two rows of yellow spots on the outer border of the wings and light blue areas on the lower wings.
The most common host plants are carrots, celery, parsley, dill, and parsnip. This pest chews leaves and stems and destroys tops. Hand-picking the caterpillar is generally sufficient . |
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Carrot Rust Fly - The maggots of the Carrot Rust Fly damage plants by eating the small fibrous roots and by tunneling in larger roots. A rust-colored material develops in the tunnels, giving the insect its name. Affected plants may become yellow, stunted, and die. Usually the plant tops continue to look healthy. Maggots often continue to feed in stored carrots. Disease organisms may enter the feeding tunnels and cause them to rot. Bioneem has proven effective against this pest. |
Carrot Root Flies - The worm stage will attack carrots and other root crops. They feed directly on the roots. If you identify these pests in your garden, harvest immediately to avoid them spreading and living on after the harvest. Crop rotation and deeply tilling your soil can also help eradicate this pest.
The main host plant is carrots but they also attack celery, celeriac, parsnips and parsley
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- Remove damaged plants to reduce the smell of carrot which attracts the flies.
- Companion plant with strong smelling plants to mask the carrot smell, such as onions.
- Avoid sowing susceptible plant seed during the early spring and late summer when carrot flies will be laying eggs.
- Thin seedlings in the evening when adult flies are less active and then destroy all thinned plants.
- Firm the soil around the plants after thinning as this deters the flies from laying eggs.
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Carrot Weevil - The Adult carrot Weevil is a dark-brown snout beetle about 6 mm long It over winters in plant debris in and about carrot fields that were infested the previous year.
They feed on foliage, chewing out notches, damage is usually not severe and the use of pesticides in backyard gardens for this purpose shouldn't be neccesary.
Predatory nematodes will parasitize the larvae . Spray any visible adult weevils with a pyrethrin/pyrethrum insecticide product as directed on the label.
Flea beetles - These pests will eat small holes in the leaves of carrots and other root crops. They also carry plant diseases, so be especially careful with these pests. Use an Organic Pesticide to control these pests.
Nematodes - microscopic worms which live in the soil and feed on the host plants roots preventing the the plants from taking up the nutrients they need to grow . Some forms of nematodes are highly beneficial , while others can wreak total destruction . predatory nematodes are effective against destructive nematodes.
See Also: Oregon State University - Carrot Nematode
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