getting ready for bugs!!!

[pamela]

someone was talking about squashing potato bugs in the potato thread and I got to thinking that maybe we could use a dedicated bug thread where we can put ideas and treatments for the upcoming season of garden destroying bugs.
I hope that we could get some good info in here too on the life cycles of the different bugs, for instance,
flea beetles.
do they winter over in the dirt?
would a mulch of newspaper stop or slow them down?
do they fly in?
would a floating row cover protect the plants?

I'm sure that somewhere in the forum we've probably already covered some of this but, it's a new season!
let's consolidate the info and try and make it easier to go through.
I'll sticky this for a while too and see if it helps.
Let's pool the vast bug knowledge into one mighty buggy thread! 

[kimberley862]

Bugs...... *sigh*
Thanks for reminding me.....
Learned last season that I got a...... small fear of those damn things.....

What a great thread.... I need all the help I can to prevent and destroy them
..... and by destroy I mean.... from a great distance if at all possible 

[pamela]

I'm hoping that we can figure out some things to break the cycle.
Maybe use mulch or row covers or something.
I can never keep up with them, except aphids which I hose off with the water hose! LOL
That's fun too, I like doing that.

[akaskip]

  Great idea pamela, there are sometimes i find a bug and say WTF is that, some bugs are good because they eat other damaging insects, it would be nice to know which are good and which are bad. I have awhile before i plant, and will watch this thread because i know there are many who are planting or have planted already in the different zones

[akaskip]

 It is often more informative to check here than to google it

[kimberley862]

Great idea pamela, there are sometimes i find a bug and say WTF is that, some bugs are good because they eat other damaging insects, it would be nice to know which are good and which are bad. I have awhile before i plant, and will watch this thread because i know there are many who are planting or have planted already in the different zones

Beneficial bugs:

http://www.buglogical.com/



 
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[akaskip]

 added to my favorites, thanks kim 

[rbrgs]

Many bugs can be killed, or at least discouraged, with this procedure:

Gather a good handful of the offending bugs, and whirl them up in the blender with enough water to make a thin soup.  Some people like to add a couple of drops of milk.  Let the mix ferment at room temperature for a day, then spray on the plants that are being attacked.  The idea is to culture whatever bacteria, viruses, and fungi that the particular creature is vulnerable to, then infect the ones that are being pests.

[jock]

Many bugs can be killed, or at least discouraged, with this procedure:

Gather a good handful of the offending bugs, and whirl them up in the blender with enough water to make a thin soup.  Some people like to add a couple of drops of milk.  Let the mix ferment at room temperature for a day, then spray on the plants that are being attacked.  The idea is to culture whatever bacteria, viruses, and fungi that the particular creature is vulnerable to, then infect the ones that are being pests.

Now that idea I like and it makes perfect sense. The missus is gonna be pissed though .

My 2 pennyworth, for broadbeans that suffer with aphids/blackfly a mild mixture of soapy water sprayed on every other day seems to discourage the ants from setting up their honeydew farms.

[Chesyre]

Many bugs can be killed, or at least discouraged, with this procedure:

Gather a good handful of the offending bugs, and whirl them up in the blender with enough water to make a thin soup.  Some people like to add a couple of drops of milk.  Let the mix ferment at room temperature for a day, then spray on the plants that are being attacked.  The idea is to culture whatever bacteria, viruses, and fungi that the particular creature is vulnerable to, then infect the ones that are being pests.

Now that idea I like and it makes perfect sense. The missus is gonna be pissed though .

My 2 pennyworth, for broadbeans that suffer with aphids/blackfly a mild mixture of soapy water sprayed on every other day seems to discourage the ants from setting up their honeydew farms.

you can prolly pick up a blender cheap at  thrift shop.

[kimberley862]

After I spent some time on that site I think I'm going to invest on three things for my garden this year....

Ladybugs- (because they dont scare me)

Beneficial Nematodes- (*shudders* but what they kill shudders me more...)

Praying Mantis (because they dont scare me and they attack the big thingys....)

Anyone had any luck with using Praying Mantis in their gardens?

[jock]

you can prolly pick up a blender cheap at  thrift shop.

Now where's the fun in that? 

[rbrgs]

A couple of decades ago (before they were added to the quarantine list), I released green lacewings, trichogramma wasps, and predatory nematodes and a nematode killing fungus in my garden. 

I don't know what happened to the lacewings.

The trichogramma wasps have naturalized.  Observation...thrchogrammas lay eggs on caterpillars that are eating the same kind of plants that the adults are eating pollen from.  If I want to get good control of cabbage caterpillars, I have to let a broccoli or two bloom so the adults can find enough pollen to eat.

The predatory nematodes and/or fungus have worked well.  My bananas no longer have any nematode damage to the roots.  These creatures are too small to see, so all I have to go by is that the damage stopped and when I dig out cuttings, they're clean (no red spots on the roots).

Hawaii has a native ladybug (that's black), and spotted ones introduced a century ago that have naturalized.  I get good aphid control by growing albezia (a leguminous weed tree...Fukuoka uses black wattle) as an aphid host.  It puts out new growth year round, thereby supporting juicy fresh aphids and a breeding population of lady bugs who are ready to swoop down on the seasonal aphids when they attack the citrus.

Praying Mantises get BIG in the tropics.   

[DoomNymph]

I like using companion plantings. 

You can find good information all over the web, but here's one link...

http://www.seedsofchange.com/enewsletter/issue_55/companion_planting.asp

[kimberley862]

A couple of decades ago (before they were added to the quarantine list), I released green lacewings, trichogramma wasps, and predatory nematodes and a nematode killing fungus in my garden. 

I don't know what happened to the lacewings.

The trichogramma wasps have naturalized.  Observation...thrchogrammas lay eggs on caterpillars that are eating the same kind of plants that the adults are eating pollen from.  If I want to get good control of cabbage caterpillars, I have to let a broccoli or two bloom so the adults can find enough pollen to eat.

The predatory nematodes and/or fungus have worked well.  My bananas no longer have any nematode damage to the roots.  These creatures are too small to see, so all I have to go by is that the damage stopped and when I dig out cuttings, they're clean (no red spots on the roots).

Hawaii has a native ladybug (that's black), and spotted ones introduced a century ago that have naturalized.  I get good aphid control by growing albezia (a leguminous weed tree...Fukuoka uses black wattle) as an aphid host.  It puts out new growth year round, thereby supporting juicy fresh aphids and a breeding population of lady bugs who are ready to swoop down on the seasonal aphids when they attack the citrus.

Praying Mantises get BIG in the tropics.    

I live in Upstate NY thankfully.......

And my affinity for them has nothing to do with their reproductive habits and the fact I've become recently separated....

 

In this life I foolishly married but smartly divorced..... In my next life the Praying Mantis will be my "Creature of Choice" 

Ok... back to topic.....

Thanks rbrgs......