Praying Mantis in PA Garden -worried about Hummingbirds-need ID please
Sue Hughes Zone 6b in Pittsburgh
3 years ago
last modified: 3 years ago
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Sue Hughes Zone 6b in Pittsburgh
3 years agorhizo_1 (North AL) zone 7
3 years agoSue Hughes Zone 6b in Pittsburgh thanked rhizo_1 (North AL) zone 7Related Discussions
PLEASE, I need help with my vegetable garden!!!
Comments (19)Well its nice to see somebody else that jumped right in with both feet like I did last year. It was a lot of work and I swore that this year I'd be smarter and cut back some this year. But somehow it actually wound up bigger. I have one plot that is 30'x 40'(tomato's) another that is 24'x 40' (peppers(hot,sweet and bell),green beans,zucchini,lettuce, cabbage,Swiss chard,spinach,onions and okra)12'x20' my watermelon patch 3 at 10'x12' one each for corn, cantaloupe Gurney's giant and sweet potatoes and 5 raised beds 3' x 10', 3 for trellised cucumbers 1 for trellised sugar baby watermelon and one for trellised lil sweet cantaloupe and also a 3' x 24' section outside my fence for Athena cantaloupe to grow up my fence there also. I got in touch with a tree service and got a load of wood chips. I'm using it for mulch that I put down around my tomato okra and corn plants (before I ran out). I put it down 3 to 4 inches thick to help hold the water and also hopefully to cut down on weeding. Plus after the garden is done I'll till it under which will be good for the soil. Also after last year I got leaves from some of my neighbors and piled it in the garden (as my yard is somewhat hilly it helped avoid erosion) and tilled it in this spring again helping with the soil. Also get a soil test done so you can find out what the soil needs to get the ph balanced right (make sure you let the know its for veggies). I am going to try mulching some of the other stuff with hay straw again for water retention and hopefully to avoiding weeding as much as I can. If your gonna have many tomato plants 15 or more I'd say try making your own from either livestock fencing or get some (I forget what its called)but you can find it at Lowes or Homedepot in the building supplies section around the concrete its like the livestock fencing but thicker. Also if your gonna hand water like I do find something that will let you water the roots gently without bending. If you have a lot of plants that can be a back breaker. I'm sure I am missing a lot but thats what I have learned so far...........GOOD LUCK...See MorePraying Mantis
Comments (14)What's with all the double posts? GW is having problems. I tried signing in Mon and Tues. Got error messages, and one message asking if I was sure I wanted to go to.......... Strange. Teen, why did you ask if I wanted PM to control insects? Purple, several months ago, I Googled PM. Several sites suggested these cuties would rid bad insects, and healther for the environment. I checked Ebay, but there weren't any eggs/cases available. Guess they weren't being sold because of the season. Organic gardeners use beneficial insects instead of insecticides...besides ladybugs, mantis were mentioned. And they are cute..:) Can Anole's live inside? If not, our winters would kill them. What I was told about mantis, 'not from a seller,' is adults die but their eggs survive the cold. The woman I talked to on the phone this morning used to work in a plant store. She found two mantis at work, brought them home..she said, the following year they had babies galore.. She lives in IL, too. If mantis eat ants, they'll live happily ever after. The town is loaded w/ants. They're everywhere. For a while we didn't see many, 'walking Coco,' but since the temps increased, THEY'RE BACK! There's all types of insects they can devour here. Anyway, after browsing Ebay earlier, I found a seller that sends 2 or 3 cases and 100 free ladybugs. :) 9.99. I started this post around 4pm. Dh came home, I had to make dinner, ate, washed dishes, fed Sparkle, Cricket and Coco...it's now 6:16pm. Sheesh. Purp, even if PM don't do the job I expect, they're adorable to look at. And I'll be a proud mama..... Hi Karen. Since Jan/Feb, I've gone through half a dozen gallon, vinegar containers..Heck, I even wash floors w/vinegar..lol. I clean kitchen counters, fridge, stove, bathrooms, computer screen and TV's w/vinegar. The entire house smells like salad. Dh hates it..lol. DS said it reminds him of a Chinese food dish he orders. Yesterday, while watching a show on tv, there was a commercial about a book that's out..how to kill pests organically...that's not the name of the book... They displayed a 1-800 number on the bottom of the tv screen to order the book. If an order was placed within 10-mins of the commercial, a second book was included..how to rid larger pests like squirrels, rabbits, etc. During one scene, they showed a woman drawing a circle on the floor, using chalk, around a dog bowl. Ants won't walk past a line..Strange, huh? But, most of the info can be found online for free. BTW, I started out using 50/50% vinegar and water, now I use it full strength. Vinegar kills ants on contact. Rhizo. I won't keep a mantis inside...Some sites talk about keeping mantis as pets, lol, but unless they're fed properly, I can't imagine the poor little guys living long, let alone laying eggs. About the species. There are three varieties sold on Ebay. Chinese, European and Carolina. There might be others... The company I ordered from is located in MN, but they order eggs..'by professionals,' lol. Rhizo, Terro works great..every so often a stray ant walks across the floor. Since you use Terro baits, have you ever noticed deformed strays? They're disgusting! Some look like they have two heads..oh gross. Seeing this ants is one reason I don't like using chemicals. Heck, seeing them sure doesn't make it easier. And they spray fresh food with similiar crap. I've got the weather channel on..To those who live in AR and OK, please be safe....See MoreI need a plant ID please.....
Comments (17)Kristy, I have rooted this twice and it was totally by accident. I've had branches that I didn't stake lay into pots of other plants and they rooted right into them. Then I just cut off the mother plant when I felt like the new plants had enough roots. So try that if nothing else is working.... I would lay a rock or brick or something over a section about 6" from the tip into a separate pot. Mine does need dividing but I'm waiting until spring to do it....See MoreLuAnn in PA, iPad/Pod non-game apps, long
Comments (2)Thanks Caroline I brought my iPod over to the laptop so I can add some non-games that I use. Utilities Apzilla 2 has all sorts of different utilities, most of them are worthwhile. Some you might never use. Even though Apzilla has it I also have MyLite (a flashlight) and a Free Level program. (a level for hanging pictures straight)and Free Space, a program that tells you how much room is left on your iPod and battery info. Capacity is another program that does this. Free Wi-Fi tells you when you travel where there is free wi-fi you can log into. 5-0 Radio Pro is a fun Police and Fire scanner so you can listen for any calls that come out in your city or even places in your country. My hearing isn't the best and sometimes the talking isn't too clear for me but it is fun listening to the information. It can run in the background. Shopwise is a program that tells you certain deals. I have World Atlas and Google Earth. Book Crawler is a program that lets you keep track of all of your books. iPlant is a gardening book that is quite good. For notes I use Awesome Notes. MyStuff2 is a neat inventory program I haven't used yet. I use IOwn and Iconic Notes, but I don't think either of those are available now. Someday I will transfer everything over. Ian's Laces as Caroline mentioned is fun but there also is a program called Tie a Scarf for women' scarves. Holiday List is also a great Christmas gift planner. AppSniper and AppShopper are two programs I use occasionally. They tell you the new programs that are out. A lot of programs are free for a short time before they start to charge and these programs as well as others will let you know this. I have a lot of medical programs and photography programs as well but this thread is getting long....See MoreSue Hughes Zone 6b in Pittsburgh
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