What's eating my chicory 'puntarelle'?

Chicory 'Puntarelle' — an Italian cutting chicory harvested for its distinctive hollow shoots — is most threatened by slugs on the young emerging shoots and aphids in the dense leaf crown. Leaf miners affect outer foliage in summer. Rabbits will readily graze the entire plant if garden protection is absent.

Hollow young shoots bitten through; outer leaves holed and slime-coated; worst damage as shoots emerge in autumn. Iron phosphate pellets or copper barriers; nightly hand-picking during wet weather; avoid overhead watering in the evening.

Green colonies on inner leaves and on the developing puntarelle shoots; honeydew deposits attract ants and sooty mould. Blast with water; encourage natural predators; treat with neem oil or insecticidal soap if colonies are heavy.

Pale, winding tunnels through the outer leaf blade; cosmetic damage to leaves, not the edible shoots. Remove and destroy mined leaves; use insect-proof mesh during summer to exclude egg-laying adult flies.

Shoots and outer leaves grazed to the crown; plants stripped entirely overnight in exposed or rural gardens. Rabbit-proof mesh barrier (90 cm tall, 15 cm buried); individual plant guards around crowns in early season.