Pests Guide
Stunted or wilting seedlings
Plant will commonly break at soil line if an attempt is made to pull it up; If infestation occurs when plants are bulbing, bulbs will be deformed and susceptable to storage rots after harvest;
Adult insect is a greyish fly which lays white, elongate eggs around the base of the plant; the larvae that emerge from the eggs are tiny and white and bore into the bulbs; mature larvae are about 1 cm (0.4 in) long with feeding hooks
Management of onion maggots is heavily reliant on good sanitation
All chive bulbs should be removed at the end of the season as maggots will die without a food source
Home gardeners should try to remove any volunteer wild onion and chive plants as these can act as an infection source
Floating row covers may provide protection by preventing females from laying eggs around the plants
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