How to Control Cabbage Maggots

Cultural Control Methods

• 1

  Remove all debris, roots and foliage from the current year's crops. Do not allow these materials to stay in the soil, as they provide food and shelter for overwintering cabbage maggots.

• 2

  Remove wild mustard species that are adjacent to crops. These are also food sources for cabbage maggots, and adult cabbage maggots can easily fly from one host plant to another.

• 3

  Thoroughly till field and growing areas in the late fall. This exposes overwintering cabbage maggot eggs to freezing temperatures and/or the drying winds of winter.

Preventative Control Measures

• 4

  Plant maggot-tolerant crops when possible. This includes those species that are normally susceptible to cabbage maggot damage but have shown tolerance through field trials, and those species not susceptible to cabbage maggot damage.

• 5

  Apply beneficial insects to the fields. These include nematodes and parasitic wasps that naturally attack cabbage maggots.

• 6

  Apply a fine mesh screening over the top of recently planted susceptible crops. This screen should be finely woven to prevent adult cabbage maggots from flying on or near the seedlings and laying their eggs. The edges of the netting should be buried to exclude the flies from entering from the bottom.

• 7

  Avoid planting maggot-susceptible crops in recently tilled fields. This activity can turn over maggot eggs and provide them with an immediate food source. Allow time to elapse between tilling and planting.

Chemical Control Options

• 8

  Apply an insecticide registered for use on cabbage maggots at five- to seven-day intervals. Organics options include insecticides containing spinosad and pyrethrins. Synthetic options include insecticides containing pyrethroids or rotenone.

• 9

  Apply a soil drench to the field areas. This is done using the same compounds as in the spray insecticides, but is instead applied directly to the soil.

• 10

  Place buckets of soapy water around the margins of the growing areas. These attract adult cabbage maggots as well as other flying pests. They should be dumped and changed at least once per week.