The adult onion fly resembles the house fly, but smaller. The larvae are legless and creamy-white and will cause the plants to wilt and die.
Treatment Options:
- Attracting birds or parasitic wasps can help you fight these onion maggots.
- Sprinkling cayenne pepper or chili pepper can help prevent the laying of eggs.
- Placing insect netting (floating row covers) over your garden will help to protect your plants against the onion fly maggot.
- Another prevention is to place sand or diatomaceous earth at the base of the plant to deter adult flies from laying eggs.
- Yellow sticky traps have been shown to be effective at catching these pests.
- We build DIY insect traps using yellow cups, sticky glue, and clove essential oil that catch these adult flies as well. See our video below for more details!
Plants to Especially Watch:
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