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Post by plantsnobin on May 28, 2010 9:53:00 GMT -5
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Post by peppereater on May 28, 2010 10:56:08 GMT -5
Indeed. I read a post once where a woman had planted fennel to attract swallowtail butterflies. She repeatedly sprayed to kill the "worms" that were eating them...until someone explained that those were swallowtail larva.
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Post by ottawagardener on May 28, 2010 13:49:23 GMT -5
The only pest control I use is handpicking, barriers and biodiversity. I have learned to re-appreciate insects. Insterestingly, it was a hobby of mine before I got into gardening and now they are merging again. I find that most of the time, in my garden anyhow, nature sorts itself out. I do lose some plants but never the whole harvest.
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Post by peppereater on May 29, 2010 11:17:38 GMT -5
The only pest control I use is handpicking, barriers and biodiversity. I have learned to re-appreciate insects. Insterestingly, it was a hobby of mine before I got into gardening and now they are merging again. I find that most of the time, in my garden anyhow, nature sorts itself out. I do lose some plants but never the whole harvest. Barriers and biodiversity, and tolerating some loss of appearance and harvest....people who garden should appreciate that they should not be at war with nature, but working with her... A few years of low or no spray allows things to sort themselves out, and for beneficials to get established. Some things will require intervention from time to time, but a good appreciation for what is going on in the system, and, like you say, some attention as to what insects are living in your garden, can mean allowing for balance and harmony. A gardener who approaches growing with only their harvest in mind is really not a gardener......food shouldn't be the only focus. BTW Karen, great pics. |
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Post by castanea on May 29, 2010 12:41:59 GMT -5
Indeed. I read a post once where a woman had planted fennel to attract swallowtail butterflies. She repeatedly sprayed to kill the "worms" that were eating them...until someone explained that those were swallowtail larva. LOL ! |
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Post by mnjrutherford on May 30, 2010 8:51:56 GMT -5
Handpicking insects has been our method of choice for the last 4 years. Unfortunately we have failed to achieve the hoped for balance. We are overwhelmed with all kinds of hoppers, beetles, worms, grubs, etc. I don't believe this is because handpicking has failed. Rather it is because of the chemically intense farming practiced by the farmer right next door.
This is the FIRST time we have actively considered using ANY sort of insecticide and we are not exactly dancing up and down with joy about it. I've been reading a lot about different chemicals and Bt appears to be the safest choice. It is important for us to use it specifically in particular areas to protect the veg that is most endangered.
We want to be SUSTAINED agriculturalist, not groveling in the dirt subsistence farmers.
I think it would be a good idea to perhaps list out the more readily available products (i.e. soaps, oils, etc.) that are minimally invasive yet effective, how they work, what they work on and what they DON'T work on. How to use them to best effect. Perhaps a downloadable guide?
Another thing is barriers. I'd really like to hear about tree barriers because we intend to surround our various plots with trees, shrubs, and fruiting vines. All with their own little quirks and issues of course!
Now it's time for pancakes...
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Post by mnjrutherford on May 30, 2010 9:24:08 GMT -5
BATS! BIRDS! Insecticides should NOT be just chemical, we need animal help as well.
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Post by ottawagardener on May 30, 2010 15:01:14 GMT -5
Do you use poultry in your orchard to clean up grubs and windfalls? I have heard of various ones being used to various affect and often requiring certain barriers to be in place to keep the birds and trees mutually happy. I have not had experience with this method but it appeals to me.
As for barriers, I LOVE floating row cover for many new flying insects - leek moth - that the local predators have not learned to eat yet. Friends of mine use them for brassicas like broccoli and cabbage. Also, making a carrot fence to limit carrot rust fly if you have it. Cutworms are probably my most annoying pest most years but they are nearly fully controlled by various collars and physical barriers.
As for other invasions, I'm lucky in that the Colorado Potato beetle is trapped by physalias and my planting is small enough to easily hand pick. Cuke beetles just don't cause havock every year and I don't have squash borer (yet at any rate).
I honestly don't use any sprays so I don't know much about them though I have used soapy water over winter to control aphids indoors. I know some people use garlic or other plant sprays but I don't have any experience with them and some of them sound dangerous, ie. tobacco spray. I've heard of people squishing up hand picked bugs and spraying them back on the plants. It's supposed to work by increasing the spread of disease and I presume, grossing them out...
Telsing
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Post by flowerpower on May 31, 2010 6:03:26 GMT -5
I feed the weeds from my garden to the goats. So I don't use any kind of insecticde. I will let my chickens and ducks in there before & after the season. I'm sure they are of some help, but I mostly see them eating my earthworms. lol I do see alot of predatory animals in my garden like toads,snakes, salamanders, ladybugs. And I have very few bug issues.
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Post by mnjrutherford on May 31, 2010 6:52:10 GMT -5
Our birdies are new in the garden so they haven't been able to demonstrate their fullest ability yet. We have 30 brand new babies by the by...
But the birds are yet another reason to be careful with insecticides. Some of the corn I want to spray is intended for their food source. The cabbages are going to be mostly theirs as well.
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Post by peppereater on May 31, 2010 10:40:20 GMT -5
mj...apply a drop of horticultural oil to the corn tassels where they enter the shuck.... i have not tried this, but have read several articles about it. This should control the cornworms you would otherwise use Bt for.
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Post by mnjrutherford on Jun 1, 2010 5:56:32 GMT -5
uh oh... ok, I confess myself confused now. Peppereater, I bought the Bt because I was under the impression that the corn application you say was done with Bt, not horticultural oil...
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Post by peppereater on Jun 1, 2010 15:20:53 GMT -5
Bt powder or spray will control the worms just fine, I just thought I'd mention a barrier technique I've read about. I can't vouch for the oil technique, but it sounds like it's been used with success.
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Post by grunt on Jun 1, 2010 23:42:18 GMT -5
The oil does work, applied right after the silk starts to emerge.
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Post by rockguy on Jun 2, 2010 3:04:49 GMT -5
Plain mineral oil is what I use for the corn silks. Whatever you put on the silks will end up on the kernals. I know a person that used baby oil, since it's made with mineral oil. It worked good, no earworms, but you couldn't eat the corn!
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