I've been dragged (against my will) into the organic way of growing

Lilypon · August 18, 2008

in Canada most pesticides have already been banned for sale to the home gardener and where I now garden it's been made totally pesticide free (we hardly had anything left to chose from in the stores anyways). Now there is a huge outbreak of cabbage worms, potato beetles and flea beetles

at the community garden (so far we've been lucky and have caught the infestation right away at our patch but the numbers are against us

).

So please what do the experts use here?

Tania · August 18, 2008

I pick the pests and execute them. (...no, it is not the most enjoyable part of my gardening experience...). Or wash them down with water hose (aphids).

This year was not bad for me - I hardly even had aphids! The cold weather is probably to blame.

Or maybe the birds, lizards or snakes that live in my garden.

.

...but these 'banana' slugs do drive me crazy this year. Yuck...

.

The truth is I never used any pesticides, even before I moved to 100% organic gardening.

Lilypon · August 18, 2008

Tania I've hand picked the itsy bitsy slugs we've got here but I'd have nightmares over the monsters you have there.

We hand pick (and squish) the tater bugs and cabbage worms at our patch (and it's pretty clear of bugs) but around us many aren't (a number of my fellow gardeners there are too old to lift up every leaf). I was wondering if there was something organic that can be used at this late point (on the other patches).

The flea beetles are too small and too fast for hand picking (and they come back as soon as the spraying stops).

kelleyville · August 18, 2008

I think the best you can do for flea beetles is trap them maybe with sticky things? or cover with remay-here is a link!
http://attra.ncat.org/attra-pub/fleabeetle.html

I have read a lot in the past about garlic and or red pepper sprays for cabbage worms, here is one l ink but it is specific to Alabama but hey it could not hurt!
http://www.ag.auburn.edu/aaes/commun...l97/sprays.htm

There is also companion planting, and beneficial insects?

Hope that gives you something to go on!
Kelley

rxkeith · August 19, 2008

for potato beetles, plant parsley, dill and carrots. let them go to seed the second year. you will get a green carpet in the garden to thin out the folllowing spring, but the beetles will disappear. this happened in a garden of mine. darryl (fusion) said this advice was given to him by an elderly lady who knew a thing or two about gardening.

another method that an elderly advanced master gardener told me is to keep the snow away from around the garden during the winter. he said that the beetles hibernate in the grass. if you remove the snow off the ground, the beetles lose their insulation, and won't survive the winter. i haven't tried this method yet, so can't verify its effectiveness.

keith

dice · August 20, 2008

BT for the cabbage worms. It will get beetle larvae, too, but
not mature beetles.

Lilypon · August 21, 2008

Sorry life got in the way.

Thank you Kelley for the links and suggestions. I'll be spraying (I'll add soap to it as well) and putting the remay cloth right away at my patch (will see if I can find sticky tape....I remember seeing it years ago so hopefully it's still in stores.

Keith I'll be trying your suggestions too (and will pass them on as well.

Dice I'll look for BT here. I'm not sure if it's available but if it is I'll be purchasing some!

Thanks everyone!

Pam

kelleyville · August 21, 2008

Pam,
You can make your own sticky traps if you cant find the ones at the store. This one uses old panes of glass and motor oil:
http://www.morris.umn.edu/pyg/tips/h...tip_1213.shtml

Seems someone was using bright colored plastic cups with vasoline on them might a been someone here!

Here is a link that uses posterboard and baggies!
http://www.onlinetips.org/homemade-insect-traps

Good luck! Keep us posted on what works best!

Kelley

dokutaaguriin · August 21, 2008

Hi Kelley,
I must thank-you for posting the link to the onlinetips as I have been searching for a solution to a larger size of yellow sticky traps (a single package is quite pricey!)

Jeff

Raymondo · August 22, 2008

During the warmer months when the Cabbage White Butterfly is busy looking for creches for her young I cover my brassicas (cabbage, cauli etc) with bird netting. The mesh is small enough to keep the butterfly off the plants. It must sit away from foliage.

Lilypon · September 16, 2008

I apologize for not replying to your suggestions (I took a peek at work and forgot to come back). I got out my frost cloth and covered my cabbage with it (prior to that I sprayed my cabbages with dish soap) and then put some sticky tape traps in as well. The suggestions here saved my cabbages and my fellow gardeners were watching to see if it worked (and it did).

Thanks folks......I'm sure they will be doing the same next year (theirs were pretty well ravaged by the cabbage worm before the flea beetles even arrived so they had given up but I'm pretty sure they will all be giving your suggestions a try next year).

Lilypon · September 16, 2008

Ray I'll be looking for that bird netting too (I'm sure it lets more light in then my frost cloth does....it sounds great for early discouragement of the cabbage butterflies). The frost cloth is needed later on for those darn flea beetles however.

Keith I'll be passing on your suggestion re what to plant where the taters are supposed to go as well.

Thank you all again,

Pam

Raymondo · October 6, 2008

A small issue with bird netting is the colour. I've used both black and white. The black is good for us because you can see through it easily. Unfortunately, the birds don't see it too well and sometimes fly into it and get tangled. The white is better for the birds because they can see it clearly. It's annoying for humans though because you have to lift it to check the progress below! Reluctantly, I use white for the fruit trees and black for my broccoli!

elkwc36 · November 22, 2008

I'm going to try a garlic spray that several cotton farmers and others are using. It is supposed to help with many insects. Some truck gardeners and others around here plant or leave sunflowers around the edge of their fields and even some scattered throughout. Claim many pests prefer them and tend to leave the other plants along. Guess they would rather have a prime steak as lunchmeat. I haven't tried either of these yet. I have sprayed with a dish soap mix several times and hit has helped on some also.

Charley Gardener · February 16, 2009

The flea beetles hop when you get close. What I do is just wave a shop vac hose around just above the plants and vaccum them up when they hop.

August 18, 2008	#1
Lilypon Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Aug 2006 Location: Saskatchewan, Canada Posts: 303	I've been dragged (against my will) into the organic way of growing in Canada most pesticides have already been banned for sale to the home gardener and where I now garden it's been made totally pesticide free (we hardly had anything left to chose from in the stores anyways). Now there is a huge outbreak of cabbage worms, potato beetles and flea beetles at the community garden (so far we've been lucky and have caught the infestation right away at our patch but the numbers are against us ). So please what do the experts use here? __________________ "At the heart of gardening there is a belief in the miraculous" Mirabel Osler Last edited by Lilypon; August 18, 2008 at 03:25 PM.

August 18, 2008	#2
Tania Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Jan 2006 Location: Anmore, BC, Canada Posts: 3,970	I pick the pests and execute them. (...no, it is not the most enjoyable part of my gardening experience...). Or wash them down with water hose (aphids). This year was not bad for me - I hardly even had aphids! The cold weather is probably to blame. Or maybe the birds, lizards or snakes that live in my garden. . ...but these 'banana' slugs do drive me crazy this year. Yuck... . The truth is I never used any pesticides, even before I moved to 100% organic gardening. __________________ Tatiana's TOMATObase

August 18, 2008	#3
Lilypon Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Aug 2006 Location: Saskatchewan, Canada Posts: 303	Tania I've hand picked the itsy bitsy slugs we've got here but I'd have nightmares over the monsters you have there. We hand pick (and squish) the tater bugs and cabbage worms at our patch (and it's pretty clear of bugs) but around us many aren't (a number of my fellow gardeners there are too old to lift up every leaf). I was wondering if there was something organic that can be used at this late point (on the other patches). The flea beetles are too small and too fast for hand picking (and they come back as soon as the spraying stops). __________________ "At the heart of gardening there is a belief in the miraculous" Mirabel Osler Last edited by Lilypon; August 18, 2008 at 06:28 PM.

August 20, 2008	#6
dice Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Jan 2007 Location: PNW Posts: 4,743	BT for the cabbage worms. It will get beetle larvae, too, but not mature beetles. __________________ -- alias

August 21, 2008	#7
Lilypon Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Aug 2006 Location: Saskatchewan, Canada Posts: 303	Sorry life got in the way. Thank you Kelley for the links and suggestions. I'll be spraying (I'll add soap to it as well) and putting the remay cloth right away at my patch (will see if I can find sticky tape....I remember seeing it years ago so hopefully it's still in stores. Keith I'll be trying your suggestions too (and will pass them on as well. Dice I'll look for BT here. I'm not sure if it's available but if it is I'll be purchasing some! Thanks everyone! Pam __________________ "At the heart of gardening there is a belief in the miraculous" Mirabel Osler

August 18, 2008	#4
kelleyville Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Jun 2007 Location: Covington, GA 30016 7b? Posts: 321	I think the best you can do for flea beetles is trap them maybe with sticky things? or cover with remay-here is a link! http://attra.ncat.org/attra-pub/fleabeetle.html I have read a lot in the past about garlic and or red pepper sprays for cabbage worms, here is one l ink but it is specific to Alabama but hey it could not hurt! http://www.ag.auburn.edu/aaes/commun...l97/sprays.htm There is also companion planting, and beneficial insects? Hope that gives you something to go on! Kelley

August 19, 2008	#5
rxkeith Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Feb 2006 Location: Back in da U.P. Posts: 1,848	for potato beetles, plant parsley, dill and carrots. let them go to seed the second year. you will get a green carpet in the garden to thin out the folllowing spring, but the beetles will disappear. this happened in a garden of mine. darryl (fusion) said this advice was given to him by an elderly lady who knew a thing or two about gardening. another method that an elderly advanced master gardener told me is to keep the snow away from around the garden during the winter. he said that the beetles hibernate in the grass. if you remove the snow off the ground, the beetles lose their insulation, and won't survive the winter. i haven't tried this method yet, so can't verify its effectiveness. keith

August 21, 2008	#9
dokutaaguriin Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Feb 2006 Location: Alberta, Canada Z3a Posts: 905	Hi Kelley, I must thank-you for posting the link to the onlinetips as I have been searching for a solution to a larger size of yellow sticky traps (a single package is quite pricey!) Jeff

August 22, 2008	#10
Raymondo Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Jan 2006 Location: Saumarez Ponds, NSW, Australia Posts: 946	During the warmer months when the Cabbage White Butterfly is busy looking for creches for her young I cover my brassicas (cabbage, cauli etc) with bird netting. The mesh is small enough to keep the butterfly off the plants. It must sit away from foliage. __________________ Ray

September 16, 2008	#11
Lilypon Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Aug 2006 Location: Saskatchewan, Canada Posts: 303	I apologize for not replying to your suggestions (I took a peek at work and forgot to come back). I got out my frost cloth and covered my cabbage with it (prior to that I sprayed my cabbages with dish soap) and then put some sticky tape traps in as well. The suggestions here saved my cabbages and my fellow gardeners were watching to see if it worked (and it did). Thanks folks......I'm sure they will be doing the same next year (theirs were pretty well ravaged by the cabbage worm before the flea beetles even arrived so they had given up but I'm pretty sure they will all be giving your suggestions a try next year). __________________ "At the heart of gardening there is a belief in the miraculous" Mirabel Osler

October 6, 2008	#13
Raymondo Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Jan 2006 Location: Saumarez Ponds, NSW, Australia Posts: 946	A small issue with bird netting is the colour. I've used both black and white. The black is good for us because you can see through it easily. Unfortunately, the birds don't see it too well and sometimes fly into it and get tangled. The white is better for the birds because they can see it clearly. It's annoying for humans though because you have to lift it to check the progress below! Reluctantly, I use white for the fruit trees and black for my broccoli! __________________ Ray

November 22, 2008	#14
elkwc36 Tomatovillian™ Join Date: May 2006 Location: SW Kansas Posts: 339	I'm going to try a garlic spray that several cotton farmers and others are using. It is supposed to help with many insects. Some truck gardeners and others around here plant or leave sunflowers around the edge of their fields and even some scattered throughout. Claim many pests prefer them and tend to leave the other plants along. Guess they would rather have a prime steak as lunchmeat. I haven't tried either of these yet. I have sprayed with a dish soap mix several times and hit has helped on some also.

February 16, 2009	#15
Charley Gardener Tomatovillian™ Join Date: May 2006 Location: Texas Panhandle Posts: 19	The flea beetles hop when you get close. What I do is just wave a shop vac hose around just above the plants and vaccum them up when they hop.