getting ready for bugs!!!

[txredneck]

oh and as far as squirrels we put up squirrel feeders and they have stayed outta our garden

[rbrgs]

Gotta be a bird, then. 

[txredneck]

well i have bird feeders to. i guess i will have to sit on the back porch w/my daughters pellet gun!  i have done good not having bugs this yr. i think it toooooooooo dang hot!  i did have to get a bird for getting my tomatoes so you might be right. 

thank yall

[Tropicalgirl]

oh and as far as squirrels we put up squirrel feeders and they have stayed outta our garden

Me too, txredneck.... for a while!    Then... the little buggers stole every single mango and avocado babies off the trees.  And that was with me filling 6 feeders every day for the "piggy" squirrels.  Next year, bird nets and other solutions will be employed to keep the thieving rodents at bay!

[rbrgs]

I got one of those plastic Great Horned Owls for the garden.  I move it every day, and so far, the birds are leaving the strawberries alone.

[txredneck]

man those squirrels better stay off my stuff!!!  we dont shoot them hubby likes to watch them but if they get in my garden again i will shoot them!

i have seen those owls at walmart.  i will have to pick one up next time  i go to town!

thanks

[pamela]

hey, I know what you're talking about.
we had something get to the corn recently.
raccoons most likely.
it'll make a person mad after putting all that work into gardening and then have something come along and ruin it.

Hey, if you have any gardening neighbors, you  might want to ask them what kind of insects or varmits they're having trouble with.
I'd asked around to some of my neighbors and found out that many people around here have that black spot bacterial disease in their tomatoes.
I had though that it was something we were doing wrong here but works out it's just something in the soil in this area.

[Melis]

I have a bug question for the bug experts. Has anyone ever had something chewing on their citrus trees that eats everything except the leaf veins? I'm guessing it must be some kind of caterpillar but google isn't helping me today. I used to work in a garden centre and never saw anyone with this problem, but they are young trees we only planted last year so maybe the leaves are still young and tasty? There are no bugs to be seen on the plants. I'm planning on trying a home made spray to see if that will make a difference. Any ideas?

[Wishful]

Not sure where you are located but California has a nice website for pest issues.  Here is the link to citrus problems that may help you:
http://www.ipm.ucdavis.edu/PMG/GARDEN/FRUIT/citrus.html
Good luck and let us know how it goes.

[Oceana]

Do frogs eat Japanese beetles?  I've noticed this year a sharp drop in the problems I've had with Japanese beetles, which I'm not sure if I should attribute to the strangely cool summer we've had in the upper Midwest, or whether it has to do with some relandscaping we did in the garden.  We have one of those little plastic pond shells the former owner of our house put in.  It used to be above the ground, surrounded by rocks and some dirt, and we'd always have a proliferation of toads in it, but no frogs.  This year, we dug it out and put the pond shell in the ground (so the lip is level with the garden surface), and made little rises and hills and stuff out of the rocks, and now we have a proliferation of several species of frogs in it, instead of toads.  And boom!  No Japanese beetles!  And happy unchewed-on squashes!

[wardoc]

Here in East TN, we've been attacked by whiteflies (who prefer squash, tomatoes, and eggplant), slugs (who prefer cabbage, cauliflower, and chinese lettuce), and most recently, Irish potatoe blight (a fungus that attacks everything from the nightshade family, except for capsicum/pepper plants--capsicum is anti-fungal); it devoured our potatoe, tomato, and eggplant leaves.  This is the blight that drove the Irish from Ireland to America; its very powerful. 
We lost many tomatoes and eggplant and virtually all our potatoes to the blight; Once I realized what the problem was (i.e. made a correct diagnosis) I starting using neem oil near daily and that helped but we still lost a lot of potential produce.  The whiteflies, we're still fighting with "organicide," a fish oil based anti pest that is sprayed on.  The problem is that you have to spray the underside of EACH leaf of each plant, a major pain.  If you attack them at least every other day, you can suppress, but not kill, them. 
I used all sorts of things against slugs: beer (which they loved and drowned in when intoxicated but this did not get them all), coffee spray (which works if sprayed on every plant every night, without exception, another pain), and finally "sluggo" and sluggo plus; the latter did the trick. 
Point is:  I have an active medical practice and I simply don't have time to fight pests on a daily basis, in addition to the usual watering, weeding etc that gardening requires.  I've decided the hell with being organic, and next year I'm going to use pyrethrim and malathion early on in hopes of getting in front of the bug problem.  Otherwise I don't think a part time gardener has a chance against bugs. 
I can't imagine how the pioneers coped with insects with limited chemistry knowledge and availability; they must have worked at it constantly and even then lost a lot of potential veggies.  The big organic gardens: I doubt that all of them are really organic, but if they are, then the labor intensiveness must be incredible and that's obviously translated into high prices. 
Anyone have any easy non time intensive solutions other than the above?  They will be appreciated. 
Astounded at the power of bugs.....   
Wardoc

[aaronmcl]

muscovy ducks 

One of the main reasons the muscoy ducks were brought to the us several hundred years ago, is to help keep down the mosquito and bug population, and that they do, and do it well. There are billions of insects on a acre of land, and the muscovy ducks are worth their weight in gold at eating mosquitos and insects. They eat the mosquito larva right in the water, and they nip in the air and eat the ones flying around. They love roaches and eat them like they are candy, they eat flies, and maggots and do a lot to keep down the fly population. They even eat those rolly pollies that you find under rocks and all around the outside of your house. They have a bad taste, and most birds won't even eat them, the Muscovies are one of the few things that will eat them. I have even seen them eat ants, they eat every bug they see. But what even makes them more valuable is they love spiders, and they eat even the poisonous ones, the Black Widow, and the deadly brown spider that is worse than the Black Widow. It is quite common in Florida. They are in our garages, around our house, (some are right in our homes) under our picnic tables, all around us, and the Muscovy Ducks have saved many peoples lives from spider bites and people don't even know it. They should have these ducks in all parks for these reasons. They go under the bridges and picnic tables where kids play, and reach up in the corners and crevices and eat the spiders, along with other insects, making them more valuable than people will ever know. Many farms use the muscovies to help control the bugs, flies, mosquitos, and weeds on their farm. Muscovy Ducks also come in handy on farms because they go around and eat all the excess food laying around that can draw rats

[Hardondee]

Here in East TN, we've been attacked by whiteflies (who prefer squash, tomatoes, and eggplant), slugs (who prefer cabbage, cauliflower, and chinese lettuce), and most recently, Irish potatoe blight (a fungus that attacks everything from the nightshade family, except for capsicum/pepper plants--capsicum is anti-fungal); it devoured our potatoe, tomato, and eggplant leaves.  This is the blight that drove the Irish from Ireland to America; its very powerful. 
We lost many tomatoes and eggplant and virtually all our potatoes to the blight; Once I realized what the problem was (i.e. made a correct diagnosis) I starting using neem oil near daily and that helped but we still lost a lot of potential produce.  The whiteflies, we're still fighting with "organicide," a fish oil based anti pest that is sprayed on.  The problem is that you have to spray the underside of EACH leaf of each plant, a major pain.  If you attack them at least every other day, you can suppress, but not kill, them. 
I used all sorts of things against slugs: beer (which they loved and drowned in when intoxicated but this did not get them all), coffee spray (which works if sprayed on every plant every night, without exception, another pain), and finally "sluggo" and sluggo plus; the latter did the trick. 
Point is:  I have an active medical practice and I simply don't have time to fight pests on a daily basis, in addition to the usual watering, weeding etc that gardening requires.  I've decided the hell with being organic, and next year I'm going to use pyrethrim and malathion early on in hopes of getting in front of the bug problem.  Otherwise I don't think a part time gardener has a chance against bugs. 
I can't imagine how the pioneers coped with insects with limited chemistry knowledge and availability; they must have worked at it constantly and even then lost a lot of potential veggies.  The big organic gardens: I doubt that all of them are really organic, but if they are, then the labor intensiveness must be incredible and that's obviously translated into high prices. 
Anyone have any easy non time intensive solutions other than the above?  They will be appreciated. 
Astounded at the power of bugs.....   
Wardoc

Wardoc, I have been using neem oil after a huge infestation of white flies last season (in GA).  Slugs are also killing me.  It's a big PITA to spray each leaf, especially when it has been raining for the past month.  All 150 or so of my collard and broccoli plants have been destroyed.  It's really infuriating.  But I'm determined to grow organically. 

What does help is planting garlic in between each plant.  I've noticed the spinach and kale have hardly been touched when compared to the other leafy vegetables.  I highly recommend using garlic where ever possible.  On my next round of broccoli, I'll be planting German garlic throughout the rows.  I've also got some onions growing in flats right now that will go out soon enough.

Good luck.

[comrade simba]

A spray made of cayenne pepper, garlic powder and dish soap will flat out drive bugs away from what you are trying to protect. Squash bugs ate the first couple of plantings but once the spray came out the bugs split. Drives off predator bugs as well though, so act accordingly.

[Kitty Killbone]

Here in East TN, we've been attacked by whiteflies (who prefer squash, tomatoes, and eggplant), slugs (who prefer cabbage, cauliflower, and chinese lettuce), and most recently, Irish potatoe blight (a fungus that attacks everything from the nightshade family, except for capsicum/pepper plants--capsicum is anti-fungal); it devoured our potatoe, tomato, and eggplant leaves.  This is the blight that drove the Irish from Ireland to America; its very powerful. 
We lost many tomatoes and eggplant and virtually all our potatoes to the blight; Once I realized what the problem was (i.e. made a correct diagnosis) I starting using neem oil near daily and that helped but we still lost a lot of potential produce.  The whiteflies, we're still fighting with "organicide," a fish oil based anti pest that is sprayed on.  The problem is that you have to spray the underside of EACH leaf of each plant, a major pain.  If you attack them at least every other day, you can suppress, but not kill, them. 
I used all sorts of things against slugs: beer (which they loved and drowned in when intoxicated but this did not get them all), coffee spray (which works if sprayed on every plant every night, without exception, another pain), and finally "sluggo" and sluggo plus; the latter did the trick. 
Point is:  I have an active medical practice and I simply don't have time to fight pests on a daily basis, in addition to the usual watering, weeding etc that gardening requires.  I've decided the hell with being organic, and next year I'm going to use pyrethrim and malathion early on in hopes of getting in front of the bug problem.  Otherwise I don't think a part time gardener has a chance against bugs. 
I can't imagine how the pioneers coped with insects with limited chemistry knowledge and availability; they must have worked at it constantly and even then lost a lot of potential veggies.  The big organic gardens: I doubt that all of them are really organic, but if they are, then the labor intensiveness must be incredible and that's obviously translated into high prices. 
Anyone have any easy non time intensive solutions other than the above?  They will be appreciated. 
Astounded at the power of bugs.....   
Wardoc

I suspect that way back when there were more predator bugs & birds than there are now.  My property backs up to an area of 6+ acres that has been wild for probably forever, and I don't have any extreme pest problems because I have healthy populations of bug eating birds & bugs.

One thing that nobody mentions in articles about "Going Organic" is that it takes time (often years) and conscious effort (planting native plants, building habitats, etc) to build a functioning ecosystem that will help you with your pest control.  Or if they do, they don't really address the situation in a concrete fashion.  They tell you to plant berry bushes to attract birds....well, if they're eatin' berries, they probably ain't snackin' on yer bugs.  And berries are only around for a short time.  Granted, some birds are omnivores, but you get where I'm going here.  There's alot of easy, feel good "solutions" which skirt the main issues.  Like creating & maintaining a continual source of food (and shelter) for the beneficials that will help you out.  Which actually means letting bug populations grow until the invisible hand of Nature shows up to enjoy the bounty.  And letting things go wild a bit on your property.

Old school agriculture knew what they were doing- crop rotation, cover crops & manuring, swaths of wild areas in between fields, no vulnerable monocultures of delicate pretty hybrids that needed to be coddled, companion planting, realistic yield & aesthetic expectations, etc.  And there is also increasing scientific/empirical confirmation to what organic growers have known by observation for decades- that if the plant is healthy from good soil practises, it repels pests on its own.  A weak, stressed plant is a pest & disease magnet.

There's alot more to organic food production than just avoiding commercial pesticides.  And quite frankly, if you're in an area where nature has been subdued, pushed out, or outright eliminated for decades, it'll be an uphill battle to get to the point where it'll be available to help your efforts.  One that may not be winnable.  That's why some folks who'd like to be big O Organic have surrendered & settled with IPM (Integrated Pest Management) techniques because they just can't swing it, with the way things are today.

End of lecture, LOL.  But I highly reccomend Tallamy's "Bringing Nature Home" if you want more info on bugs & birds.  And just about any book by Eliot Coleman for more on organic growing.  Lots of info on IPM is available out on the 'tubes too.  Before you give up and grab the Sevin, take a good look at where you are & what your options may be to enlist Nature to help you out.  And if you're not doing so already, identify & research your pests using the scientific names- you get better results that way.