On Mon, 10 May 2004 23:32:50 +0100, Stephen Howard
wrote:

On Mon, 10 May 2004 23:08:09 +0100, "Brian"
wrote:

This is the ultra common Flea-beetle aka Turnip Fly. Dusting with BHC used
to be the precaution as soon as emerging~~repeated weekly until the rough
leaf stage.
This pest is only serious in dry weather and spraying with water each
evening [after sunset] is a good deterrent. Talk to other allotment
holders~~they can be most helpful.

Another deterrent is to place a few old marg tubs around the plants
and fill the tubs with a little old cooking oil ( up to a depth of,
say, 5mm )
The flea beetle gets around by hopping ( hence the name ) and these
traps will catch a fair few of the buggers. Once they're in the oil,
they're caught.
It's very satisfying to walk past the crop and watch the beetles pile
into the traps.

As oil floats on water these traps will tolerate a fair bit of rain
too. Just empty onto your compost heap when done.

Regards,

Thanks to both respondents for your help, I've treated the
seedlings (or what's left of them) with both spray and dust, so
hopefully that will do the trick. Oddly enough, there were none in
evidence this morning, though it was fairly cool hereabouts - I get
the feeling they had retreated a safe distance to watch...

--
Regards,

Will.