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Post by diane on Mar 12, 2013 14:37:21 GMT -5
I've just been looking through my notes on last year's pea crosses and noticed something unusual.
Purple pods had no worms inside. Green ones, including ones with a bit of purple mottling, did.
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Post by templeton on Mar 12, 2013 16:04:17 GMT -5
Nice observation. Presumably the pod color phytochemicals aren't too tasty for the bugs. Might explain the difficulty some allude to with breeding nice flavored purple snows - for humans.
Is this from one line, or across multiple purple parentages? I haven't had any problem with pests in my pods, but have noticed considerable differences in seed emergence depending on seed coat color.
T
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Post by oxbowfarm on Mar 12, 2013 16:32:36 GMT -5
Pea moth?
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Post by diane on Mar 12, 2013 18:08:30 GMT -5
Yes, pea moth.
I just read on Rebsie's blog from 2008 that she found Carruthers' Purple Podded was more susceptible to pea moth than her other peas.
I found King Tut as seed parent had F2s without larvae, and when it was used as a pollen parent, the F2s were wormy.
I wonder what attracts the moth? It might not be something that tastes good to us. But then, it might. So I guess I'll grow those seeds that had larvae in the pods after all, just in case they produce something delicious.
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Post by steev on Mar 12, 2013 19:50:06 GMT -5
Perhaps the larvae.
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Post by templeton on Mar 12, 2013 20:12:48 GMT -5
Diane,
I've had mixed success planting bug eaten peas. some have germinated successfully, others not. Germination for me has certainly been much less than for intact peas.
T
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Post by diane on Mar 13, 2013 0:27:37 GMT -5
The peas weren't eaten yet.
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Post by galina on Mar 26, 2013 18:39:07 GMT -5
Time of harvest is the main cause for me. Any harvested in June are free from pea moth damage, harvested during July the moth starts to do damage.
However there are good and bad years. Some years are practically moth free, others not. Some years the late harvested shelling peas can be 50% affected and it takes ages to sort the good ones. I have seen them in purple pods too and not noticed any difference.
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Post by robertb on Mar 31, 2013 10:25:34 GMT -5
I agree there's no difference in the rate of infestation between green and purple podded varieties. I've had very little pea moth the last few years, since those two very wet summers. It's really hit the local lepidoptera, and while I had a few infested pods last year, the weather will have hit them again. It's not the pea moths that worry me so much as the general effect; last year was the worst year ever recorded for UK butterflies.
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