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Nov. 8th, 2019 08:59 pm I've been dissecting leeks all week.
Part of the team in the south is doing research on organic control for allium leaf miner, a new and exciting invasive fly that lays eggs in alliums that hatch into larvae at mine their way down to the bulb, thus making the biulbs unmarketable. They really like leeks. Really really like leeks. So we're doing organic research trial with spray programs, timing trial and different mulches to see if there's anything different there. (side note: you can get 100% organic control if you cover it with insect netting) All in all, there are 1700 leeks we need to dissect and because these larvae are thinner than the leek layers, we need to peel the leeks layer by layer and inspect each layer. Technically we split it into small larvae, bit larvae and pupa
Truly thrilling. We aim to finish 3 bags a day, which is 60 leeks. The less ALM, the faster the checks go because it takes more time to find a count a lot, when the leek layer is in complete shreds than if there's like one.
I currently hold the record for most ALM stuff in a leek and that is 130 in one. leek.
So I've been doing that four days this week. Since the dissecting is happening in the south of the region, I planned to go to my parents to do post season cleanup and I can leave right from work so Mara came with me to dissect leeks. Since leeks are Not Food to her, there was no issues. She was a little grumpy that I wouldn't let her wander around the building as she wished but oh well.
Now we're at my parents and tomorrow's tasks are to harvest potatoes, harvest carrots and pick up the fencing. The potatoes should be fine, even with it being 19 degrees tonight. They're pretty deep in the ground. It's fine.
Part of the team in the south is doing research on organic control for allium leaf miner, a new and exciting invasive fly that lays eggs in alliums that hatch into larvae at mine their way down to the bulb, thus making the biulbs unmarketable. They really like leeks. Really really like leeks. So we're doing organic research trial with spray programs, timing trial and different mulches to see if there's anything different there. (side note: you can get 100% organic control if you cover it with insect netting) All in all, there are 1700 leeks we need to dissect and because these larvae are thinner than the leek layers, we need to peel the leeks layer by layer and inspect each layer. Technically we split it into small larvae, bit larvae and pupa
Truly thrilling. We aim to finish 3 bags a day, which is 60 leeks. The less ALM, the faster the checks go because it takes more time to find a count a lot, when the leek layer is in complete shreds than if there's like one.
I currently hold the record for most ALM stuff in a leek and that is 130 in one. leek.
So I've been doing that four days this week. Since the dissecting is happening in the south of the region, I planned to go to my parents to do post season cleanup and I can leave right from work so Mara came with me to dissect leeks. Since leeks are Not Food to her, there was no issues. She was a little grumpy that I wouldn't let her wander around the building as she wished but oh well.
Now we're at my parents and tomorrow's tasks are to harvest potatoes, harvest carrots and pick up the fencing. The potatoes should be fine, even with it being 19 degrees tonight. They're pretty deep in the ground. It's fine.
