Pests & diseases › Pea Moth

Pea Moth

Small moth whose caterpillars feed inside pea pods — the maggoty peas you find when shelling.

Symptoms

  • Small cream caterpillars inside pods when shelling
  • Frass and silk webbing inside pods
  • Outside damage minimal

Lifecycle

Adults fly June–August.

What to do

  • Bag affected pods
  • Pheromone traps (limited control)

If it's bad

  • Spinosad 7–10 days after first flowers open

Stop it coming back

  • Very early or very late sowings dodge egg-laying window
  • Fine mesh over flowering rows

Crops it goes for

Plan the plot, track every sowing, cook the harvest

Sowing reminders and harvest forecasts for your own frost dates, the Seed Tin, Scan Centre for any label or packet, and the Potty Mouth Garden Club. Free to start.