I Want to Try Something Else

[Dirtmechanic]

I wonder if picking tomato leaves, running them through a blender and making a spray would work.

Yes it is done, but most recipes I have seen say just soak the leaves and use the water. I am afraid I am not that organic.

 

[Redd Tornado]

Last year I grew yellow squash in between my tomatoes.

I think I will try growing squash and tomatoes together, what a great idea. And they taste good together too!

I really need a notebook

I have a notebook. I think the key is remembering to actually write in it. Mine mostly has dirt smudges and bullet points like "3 eggs", "damn squirrels" and "it was 74 today" (with no date, of course....

 

[Redd Tornado]

My garden has been getting to be way more trouble than it is worth the last few years so I have been trying to figure out what is wrong. I think one thing that is a major problem is the insects that I can't seem to get rid of.

Last August I got to the point where I felt all I was doing was feeding bad bugs. It was disheartening watching all the beautiful vegetables be devoured by bugs just before they ripened. Having whole plants wilt and die over night. I cried. An Ugly Cry. My DH suggested I use miracle grow, which we know doesn't do anything about bugs, but he was trying to be helpful and I appreciate that. He helps me with all my crazy ideas and digs all the holes I think I need.

Last fall, I discovered Capt. Jack's Dead Bug dust. It's supposed to be organic, but its still a pesticide. The stink bugs were winning. Even the chickens wouldn't eat them. I used it to kill the stink bugs. Prior to that I was hand picking the stink bugs by sneaking up on them and knocking them into soapy water. If they see you coming they fall to the ground where you can't find them, the adults fly off, the b**tards. I used it this winter to kill off cabbage moth caterpillars that were attacking some of my cabbage. I used an old parmesan cheese container to sprinkle the dust, but i didn't like how that worked. Too clumpy. I think next time I will mix the dead bug dust with diatomaceous earth in the duster/spreader. I found the dead bug dust to be effective, but I also noticed a reduction in bird activity. Which I think it was due to a lack of bugs to eat and not actually poisoning the birds.

Based on information from reading gardening articles, books about composting and general observation, I use the difficult practice of ruthlessly pulling weak plants. This now includes plants which appear to be specifically targeted by the bugs. The practice is difficult because 'those are my babies!' and as a gardener we believe that what goes down must come up. I hope this will help to reduce the bug population. I don't believe that trap plants work, it seems to me that those plants just feed the bugs, maybe in another area, but still, they allow the bug to survive and spread. And I don't have enough room.

I also sprayed Pyrethrin and Thuracide using my garden hose attachment. I soaked the garden late in the evening, just after sunset. This stuff kills bees if they come in direct contact. I did not notice a reduction in bees using this timing.

The only 'benefit' I got from deep mulch was a baby BOOM of slugs.

As Canesisters noted, deep mulch brings slugs and in my world amazingly huge snails. So I also plant tightly and heavily with a lot of inter planting. A friend gave me the book "Carrots love tomatoes" which was interesting but WAY too much work. I can barely remember to match my socks, let alone what plant is happy growing with the other. I grow Marigolds in with my veg, but I am sure you do that too.

I also try to solarize my beds. Starting in around June when it is too hot to grow I cover my beds with black plastic trash bags, I make sure the bed is fully covered and let the sun bake the beds until it is cool enough to start planting again.

@so lucky, I know you are in a colder area, someone suggested burning the beds, which would have the same effect.

 

[Ridgerunner]

I don't believe that trap plants work, it seems to me that those plants just feed the bugs, maybe in another area, but still, they allow the bug to survive and spread.

The way I use trap plants is to use them to attract the pests, then use a pesticide to kill them away from what I want to eat. The only time I remember doing that was to use eggplant to attract flea beetles.

Otherwise I agree with you, you are just feeding them to help them reproduce.

 

[so lucky]

I just looked up the Captain Jack's Dead Bug Dust, to see the active chemical in it. It's spinosad, an organic killer.

Just wondering, you folks who have mentioned you don't do any gardening during July and August, do you mean you just don't plant anything during the hottest months? Do you have tomatoes, beans and peppers that are producing, that you try to protect during that time?

 

[Dirtmechanic]

I think I will try growing squash and tomatoes together, what a great idea. And they taste good together too!

I have a notebook. I think the key is remembering to actually write in it. Mine mostly has dirt smudges and bullet points like "3 eggs", "damn squirrels" and "it was 74 today" (with no date, of course....

I would not want any doodles showing up at my trial.

 

[Redd Tornado]

Just wondering, you folks who have mentioned you don't do any gardening during July and August, do you mean you just don't plant anything during the hottest months?

I am in zone 8A. In June, July and August temps are between 94 and 110. So the plants don't grow and do not set fruit. So I pull them all out. Even the green beans.

 

[baymule]

My long green beans from Thailand and purple hull peas won’t stop until a killing frost. So I semi care for select patches, most everything else withers in the heat. Even tomatoes quit bearing.

 

[baymule]

This is the kind of weeds I’m talking about. This is the end of August, they are over my head. I am 5’7”. The white spot is a 245 pound ram.

 

[Dirtmechanic]

I am in zone 8A. In June, July and August temps are between 94 and 110. So the plants don't grow and do not set fruit. So I pull them all out. Even the green beans.

Us too. I garden just South of Birmingham.