This range of products allows gardeners to boost such naturally occuring populations of live predators, targeting against specific garden and horticultural pests. Pest control is achieved using predators, parasites or even parasitic worms called nematodes. These products are effective, safe for the environment, children, wildlife and pets. They are easy to use and pests cannot build up natural resistance to them as they can with some chemical based toxic pesticides.
We sell individual pest control to target specific pests or buy our New Nemasys Grow Your Own Pest Control, a unique mix of different nematode species to target a broad range of pests.
What pests does Nemasys Grow Your Own control and how do they live (lifecycle)?:
Carrot Root Fly - Carrot Fly is a serious and widespread pest of carrots, parsnips, celery, celeriac and parsley. It is a weak flier and lurks around field and garden edges locating the target vegetable by scent. Attacks are particularly bad in old established gardens where the population builds up each year. It lays its eggs in the soil adjacent to the plant, the eggs hatch out and the 9mm yellow/white maggots burrow into the roots. The maggots stay in the ground over winter, pupate and the life cycle starts again in the spring. Two further generations can appear during the year. The first and worst attack occurs early in the planting season; subsequent attacks are in autumn and winter in mild seasons.
Cabbage Root Fly - The Cabbage Root Fly is a pest of all brassicas; cabbages, cauliflowers, broccoli, calabrese, Brussels sprouts, kale and root vegetables such as turnip, swede and radishes. It also attacks ornamentals such as stocks, alyssum and wallflowers. The fly has three generations from mid spring to early autumn and lays its eggs in the soil near to the stems of the plants. The eggs hatch out into white legless maggots up to 9mm in length which feed on the plant roots. In about 3 weeks the maggots are fully grown and become a small brown pupae, in another week the fly emerges ready to lay more eggs. This rapid lifecycle means that the cabbage root fly is a problem throughout the season until it overwinters as a pupae.
Leatherjackets - Leatherjackets are the larval stage of the crane fly or daddy-long-legs. Leatherjacket larvae are about 2.5cm (1" long), greyish black in colour, legless and with no distinct head. When you start to see the adult daddy-long-legs in your garden (towards the end of August) you will know that in a few days they will be laying eggs. These will hatch quickly, within two weeks. The young start to feed, continuing throughout winter, ready to gorge on roots in the spring.
Cutworms - Cutworms are soil-dwelling caterpillars of several species of moth. In June and July the moths lay eggs in batches of 30-50 on leaves and stems. The emerging caterpillars are up to 40mm long and are often creamy-brown, greenish-brown or greyish-white in colour. They feed on many vegetables, fruit and ornamental plants and, after a couple of months, pupate in the soil. A second generation hatches out in August or September to feed, and to overwinter when the weather gets colder.
Onion Fly - The onion is the most susceptible plant to the Onion Fly. Leeks, shallots and garlic can also be attacked as well as ornamental alliums. The maggots of the onion fly are up to 8mm long and white and are laid near the base of the plant or in the leaves. There are up to three generation a year, from the spring till late summer, the last generation overwintering as pupae in the soil.
Ants - Ants have 4 stages, egg, larvae, pupae (or cocoon in some species) and adult. Ants comprise three main castes, which have different roles, workers, queens and males. The life span of the ant varies with species from a few weeks to several years. The queen of the black ant (Lasius niger) can live for up to 15 years. There are about 50 species of ants living in the United Kingdom, but not all are native. The ones that are a problem to gardeners are Lasius niger, the common black garden ant, Lasius flavius, the yellow meadow ant and Myrmica species, red ants.
Sciarid - Sciarid Fly or Fungus Gnats are greyish-brown flies, about 3-4mm long and have slender bodies. They are found on the soil surface and leaves of pot plants. The maggots, which are white with a black head and up to 5mm long live in the soil and can damage vegetable seedlings or the base of soft cuttings.
Caterpillars - The caterpillar stage of the butterfly and moth's lifecycle comes in a vast range of sizes, shapes and colours. Fortunately very few of these are of any problem to the gardener that need controlling. The most common of the troublesome ones are the distinctive Large and Small Cabbage White Caterpillars, up to 40mm and 25mm long respectively. The Large Cabbage White has distinctive yellow and black markings and a hairy body. The Small Cabbage White Caterpillar is pale green with a velvety appearance. They both have two generations a year with caterpillars occurring from spring to early autumn.
Gooseberry Sawfly - The Gooseberry Sawfly is a pest that attacks gooseberries and red and white currants and can strip them of all leaves. All three species of Gooseberry Sawfly Caterpillars are up to 20mm long, pale green and with two of the species being heavily marked with black spots. Damage starts mid to late spring, but there can be several generations in a season.
Thrips - Thrips feed by sucking sap and cause a discoloration on the upper leaf surface. Some species can spread plant virus diseases. Adult thrips are 1-2mm long and are yellow and brown, black or black and white. They lay their eggs on leaves, buds and petals and the eggs hatch out into larvae which pupate. Generation time can be only two weeks, so it is important to break the live cycle to control this pest.
Codling Moth - The Codling Moth Caterpillar is small and white with a brown head. It burrows into the fruit of apples and pears in mid to late summer. By the time the fruit is ripe they have finished feeding and drop on to the bark of the tree and the soil immediately underneath to overwinter ready for the moths to emerge in the late spring.
What damage do these pests do and how do I recognise it?:
Carrot Root Fly - Vulnerable young seedlings die first, but often you don't know your vegetables have been attacked till you lift them. The result of a carrot fly attack is tunnels all through the vegetables which are visible near the surface as orange/brown lines. Areas damaged also tend to be susceptible to mould, and then rot and cannot be stored. Quite often there is little left of the crop to eat.
Cabbage Root Fly - Older plants may well survive a maggot attack but grow slowly and wilt on sunny days, cabbages often fail to heart and cauliflowers form a tiny head. Brassicas are particularly vulnerable as seedlings (or when transplanted) as they can be easily be killed by the maggots. The maggots eat the fine roots and just leave a rotting stump, or when roots are swollen as in radish, swede and turnip, they will bore into the roots leaving an inedible mess.
Leatherjackets - If you have soil that has been recently reclaimed from lawn or field you may find the leatherjackets feeding on roots of vegetables instead of the grass. In lawns grass growth slows and yellow patches appear as the leatherjackets get munching. As a result grass is easily pulled up, with little or no root growth. Starlings peck at the grass in an attempt to eat the grubs. Wildlife, such as foxes and badgers, can also create a lot of damage as they dig up your lawn in search of grubs for food.
Cutworms - Cutworms cause severe damage by chewing the base of stems, roots, leaves and tubers. Roots may be severed just below the soil or the outer bark eaten away leaving the plant to wilt and die. Cutworms can work their way along a row, leaving the dying seedlings behind them. You will also find root vegetables such as potatoes and carrots with cavities eaten in them.
Onion Fly - In early summer the first generation attacks the roots of the young plants making them collapse and die. In late summer the second generation then feeds on the swelling onion bulbs causing them to rot and be unfit to eat. The severity of attacks varies from year to year but, in a bad year, it is almost impossible to grow these crops.
Ants - An ants nest in your vegetable patch, greenhouse or raised bed can disturb the plants or mean greenfly and black fly are brought into the area. In the case of red ants you could get a painful sting. Black, red and yellow ants are found in the garden and, towards the end of July, swarms of flying ants take to the air looking for a mate and a place to lay their eggs. Black Ants are most commonly seen, in the house attracted by sweet food and milking greenfly and blackfly for the sweet honeydew. Black Ants can nest anywhere with nests of usually 4000 to 7000 ants. The Yellow Meadow Ant builds its nest in the lawn making unsightly mounds which are difficult to get the lawn mower over. Red Ants are aggressive and can deliver a painful sting if disturbed. The irritant in the sting is formic acid. They live in smaller colonies than the other species, about 300 individuals.
Sciarid - The adult flies can carry fungal spores and plant disease from plant to plant. The maggots mainly live of decaying matter such as dead roots, but can damage young seedlings by eating the fine roots and tunnelling into the soft stems. In your house or conservatory clouds of sciarid fly around your plants can be very unpleasant.
Caterpillars - Cabbage White Caterpillars can decimate a vegetable plot, especially brassicas or ornamental beds, especially nasturtiums. The Large Cabbage White feeds mainly on the outer leaves leaving holes and sometimes completely stripping leaves. The Small Cabbage White feeds mainly on the hearts of cabbages and other brassicas.
Gooseberry Sawfly - By the time that the fruit is ready for picking the Gooseberry Sawfly can completely strip the leaves of the fruit bushes leaving them severely weakened and producing a poor crop the following year.
Thrips - The adult thrips pierce plant cells and suck out the contents resulting in deformed plants and flowers or silvered patches and flecking on leaves. Some species, like Western Flower Thrips, also spread virus diseases on their mouth parts such as the Tomato Spotted Wilt Virus.
Codling Moth - The Codling Moth feeds on the core of the fruit of apples and pear and to a lesser extent walnut and quince. When they have eaten the fruit they exit leaving a small reddish brown hole in the skin with brown droppings know as frass. Upon cutting the fruit open you may find that there is very little left that can be eaten.
