The most common rutabaga pests are flea beetles, aphids, cabbage loopers, root maggots, and wireworms. Each one attacks a different part of your plant in the garden. Some chew holes in your leaves above ground. Others tunnel into the roots below the soil line where you can't even see the damage until you pull your harvest.
When I first grew rutabagas, flea beetles hit my young seedlings hard within the first week after they came up. Tiny holes covered every leaf and some plants died outright. I tested floating row covers on half the bed and left the other half open. The covered plants grew strong, full leaves with zero holes in them. The open rows looked like lace fabric by week three. That one test sold me on row covers for flea beetles rutabaga growers deal with each spring season.
Aphids on rutabagas show up as clusters of tiny green or gray bugs on the bottom sides of your leaves. They suck sap from your plant and leave a sticky mess behind that draws ants. UGA Extension lists turnip aphids as a top threat. Bonnie Plants suggests planting nasturtiums near your rows as trap crops. Aphids go to the nasturtium leaves first and leave your rutabagas alone. You can also bring in ladybugs and lacewings that eat aphids by the hundred in your garden.
Root maggots rutabaga growers find at harvest are one of the sneakiest pests in your beds. Adult flies land at the base of your stems in spring and lay eggs in the soil surface. The tiny white larvae hatch and burrow straight into your roots over the next few weeks. You won't know they are there until you pull a root and find it full of brown tunnels and soft spots inside. This damage often ruins the whole root and makes it useless for your kitchen table.
Row Covers at Sowing Time
- First line of defense: Lay floating row covers over your beds right after you sow seeds to block flea beetles and egg-laying flies from the start.
- Leave them on: Keep covers in place for the first 4 to 6 weeks until your plants are strong enough to handle some leaf damage from pests.
- Secure the edges: Pin or weight the cover edges with soil or stones so no gaps let pests sneak under your barrier.
Organic Pest Controls
- Flea beetle fix: Dust your leaves with food-grade diatomaceous earth after rain or watering to cut into the beetles' shells.
- Looper spray: Apply Bt (Bacillus thuringiensis) spray to your leaves when you spot green caterpillars eating holes in the foliage.
- Aphid trap crops: Plant nasturtiums at the row ends to pull aphids away from your rutabagas before they can cause real harm.
Long-Term Prevention
- Crop rotation: Move your brassicas to a new bed every 3 to 4 years to break pest life cycles in your soil.
- Clean up debris: Remove old plant stems and roots after harvest so pests have no place to hide over your winter months.
- Watch your plants: Check leaf tops and bottoms every few days so you catch new pest problems before they spread.
I use all of these methods together in my own garden every single season now. Row covers go on at sowing, nasturtiums go in at the row ends, and I check leaves twice a week for any new signs. This layered plan has cut my rutabaga pests damage by about 80% over the past three years. Compare that to the years when I did nothing at all and just hoped for the best. Your rutabagas deserve that same level of care and attention from you in the garden.
Read the full article: Growing Rutabagas at Home
