Keeping pests off your crop
growersc34
last year
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laceyvail 6A, WV
last yearRelated Discussions
Cover crops to reinvigorate soil and deter pests?
Comments (10)Jane: Though I find myself very rarely questioning the advice of Rhizo1 or Dave, I'd go about it differently here in SoCal. First, I'd bite the bullet and go buy a bag or two of Kellogg's N'rich and work that into the soil now along with a mix of organic meals cottonseed or feather for N, bone for P, and kelp for K and other micronutes. I buy mine in bulk but I think Home Depot has a bag that has them all made by Vigoro. In about a month or so, you could start planting things like the brassicas you mentioned, as seedlings. You could probably find some transplants at Armstrong's et al and Home Depot/Lowe's will have common starts like Kale and Broccoli and even spinach starts. If you have light set up for seedlings, you could start them right now, and start hardening them off in 3-4 weeks -- in the ground by mid to late January. Snow peas could be direct sown by the end of December. The veggies you mentioned -- I've grown all but beets. And here's what I've noticed as far as pests/diseases. Occasional cabbage aphids on brassicas, but pretty easy to control with water, soap, or neem oil. The cabbage loopers are pretty much gone by now, but they'll be back next summer. Again, pretty easy to control with BT K. Slugs, choose your method. That's about it for the brassicas. PM or mites -- they're just not susceptible. For lettuces-- I never see anything on them, except last year when I tried to grow some in the summer and whitefly nailed 'em Carrots and radishes -- once again, I never see anything on them. Snow Peas -- mites? Really? I nver see anything on them either, but as Spring progresses, PM is an issue. The best way to deal with that is to treat proactively -- i.e., start treating with a fungicide early on and stay diligent. You can't wait to see the symptoms or it's too late. Spinach, once again, nothing but slugs and maybe earwigs. In all cases, I put 2 toothpicks right up next to the stalk of all my seedlings just so any cutworms don't come by and snip them at the soil line. A note on the brassicas -- SoCal is now home to the Bagrada Bug. So, do some research for pics, monitor, and you should be fine. I saw some on my kale this past summer, squished them for 3 weeks or so and haven't seen them since. And I have all sorts of brassicas planted this fall. Dave: Solarization is a great idea, but I have found it's not very effective during any season but Summer. JMO. Kevin This post was edited by woohooman on Fri, Dec 5, 14 at 16:23...See MoreGrowing a decent crop of mint, but keeping it under control?
Comments (12)Thanks to both of you for the info/advice. I have no room for a kid's swimming pool, and barely enough room for a couple large pots for growing peppers and spacemaster cukes, so I'll see what I come up with. I didn't know mint could cross a 2 car driveway...I'll take precautions before planting! Maybe heavy harvesting and competition with bermuda will keep the mint in check. Also, I can grow both Peppermint and Chocolate mint together, because both are varieties of peppermint which is sterile and won't drop mixed-up seeds. But I might not grow the two too close together, or all the shoots will become intermingled and would make sorting a hassle......See MoreWhat are crops that your customers don't want?
Comments (16)Had to chuckle about your Slimy_Okra moniker. We're not in prime okra country but I have a good spot for it. Nine times out of ten I can sell every pod I can find. Among my customers are a number of ex-southerners and then others who just like okra. Don't know how much I could actually sell as rarely have it on table long. Anyone who shops later probably doesn't even know its been available. Once in a while one of regular purchasers doesn't show up a particular week. So I put out the box(es) saved for him later in the morning and someone nearly always snatches them up. The major thing I sold less of this year was cut flowers. It was consistently less all season, so am pretty sure that's an economy thing, There wasn't any increased competition in the market that might account for it. Also, at times I had some gorgeous dahlias and hated to see them go abegging....See MoreCommon Natural Enemies of PNW Crop and Garden Pests
Comments (4)Wow, Violetta, that is awesome! bookmarked it. I really need vivid pictures and descriptions like this to identify bugs and know whether they are good or bad. Got some really weird bugs in the worm bin and compost pile and I'm afraid to mulch with the wormcastings again until I can ID the creepies. Bought a bug book but it's very limited....See Moregrowersc34
last yeardaninthedirt (USDA 9a, HZ9, CentTX, Sunset z30, Cfa)
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