Mossy Rock
Chillin' In The Garden
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You might research spinosad which is clasified as an organic insecticide.
To all you organic gardeners....how to kill the darn bugs???
- Thread starter Beekissed
- Start date
me&thegals
Garden Ornament
Excellent advice already given, beekissed (by the way, it's fun to see you in ALL these forums!). Maybe I can just "second" some of the opinions.
First, if the ground is "virgin organic"--forgive the term--then it might take a while to build up its health. My healthiest garden is the one longest organic. It takes extra vigilance for the others.
Floating row covers are great if used right after planting. They really seem to work. Be sure to remove if necessary for pollination.
Constantly watching the plants is crucial. I'm amazed at how fast potato beetles and squash bugs can move in! I hand pick and squish (although I have to use feet for those enormous hornworm caterpillars!) and pay my kids and their friends to trap bugs
Anything that has been buggy should have the foliage removed and burned at the end of the season. Lots of bugs leave behind eggs for next year and this way you are helping not build up their numbers.
Also, rotating crops if you have the space really helps. I had a horrible potato beetle infestation last year, moved my potatoes as far away as possible this year and had only a couple.
Trap if necessary or spray with organic sprays. I sometimes just try to come to terms with imperfection (slugs in my cabbages!!) and some crop loss. Good luck!
First, if the ground is "virgin organic"--forgive the term--then it might take a while to build up its health. My healthiest garden is the one longest organic. It takes extra vigilance for the others.
Floating row covers are great if used right after planting. They really seem to work. Be sure to remove if necessary for pollination.
Constantly watching the plants is crucial. I'm amazed at how fast potato beetles and squash bugs can move in! I hand pick and squish (although I have to use feet for those enormous hornworm caterpillars!) and pay my kids and their friends to trap bugs
Anything that has been buggy should have the foliage removed and burned at the end of the season. Lots of bugs leave behind eggs for next year and this way you are helping not build up their numbers.
Also, rotating crops if you have the space really helps. I had a horrible potato beetle infestation last year, moved my potatoes as far away as possible this year and had only a couple.
Trap if necessary or spray with organic sprays. I sometimes just try to come to terms with imperfection (slugs in my cabbages!!) and some crop loss. Good luck!
- Thread starter
- #13
Beekissed
Garden Master
Hi, me&!! Yep, I finally gave the potatoes up to the bugs and their larvae. Too many to keep up with the squishing. After I got over the uglification, I just ignore them. I let the chickens out of jail to see if they would take them out....real funny! I think some of the bugs even hopped a ride on their backs and had a chicken rodeo as the chickens stampeded past the potato patch and straight to my new corn. I swear I heard tiny "yeehaws" as the chickens galloped past!
The chickens are back in jail and the corn in that bed looks way worse than the potatoes did, so live and learn. The bugs are still there and the potatoes are still lush, so I just turn my head when I go by, pretending I don't see their little cowboy hats.
You can see the potatoes on the third row down in this pic and the bare row further down in the garden that was my corn and is now a bug rodeo roundup.
[/img]
And now the offenders are safely locked up and are serving time.....jailbirds!
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The chickens are back in jail and the corn in that bed looks way worse than the potatoes did, so live and learn. The bugs are still there and the potatoes are still lush, so I just turn my head when I go by, pretending I don't see their little cowboy hats.
You can see the potatoes on the third row down in this pic and the bare row further down in the garden that was my corn and is now a bug rodeo roundup.
And now the offenders are safely locked up and are serving time.....jailbirds!
OaklandCityFarmer
Deeply Rooted
This is a bigger discussion than this but many times organically classified insecticides may not necessarily still be the best.Mossy Rock said:
Spinosad can harm Trichogramma and Braconid wasps which are beneficials. Just as DE can harm pollinators and other beneficials.
Use discretion.
Beekissed- try planting some radishes, Snow Belle works well, to try to attract them away from the potatoes. Also, commercially available nematodes can help destroy the eggs and larvae in the soil.
- Thread starter
- #15
Beekissed
Garden Master
Speaking of organically controlling bugs....my cucumber vines(right next to my beautiful squash) have been killed by squash borers. I immediately removed all affected vines and let the chickens have them. Is there any way I can do preventative measures to save my squash and pumpkins? I REALLY must save them, as they are all so big and beautiful and producing so well.
OaklandCityFarmer
Deeply Rooted
Nasturtiums, borage and radishes are supposed to help ward off squash vine borers. This may work. It has for me on many occasions.
Bt, injected at the first signs of squash vine borers, is a very effective method of control but it has to be injected to do any good. As you see them you can also remove them by hand. Just slit open the stem and remove the larvae. This fall till the ground around them to expose overwintering cocoons.
Bt, injected at the first signs of squash vine borers, is a very effective method of control but it has to be injected to do any good. As you see them you can also remove them by hand. Just slit open the stem and remove the larvae. This fall till the ground around them to expose overwintering cocoons.
Tutter
Deeply Rooted
That would be a good time to let the hens out of jail to till and eat what they can find, too!
- Thread starter
- #18
Beekissed
Garden Master
I did that once, Tutter....poof! No corn in the last bed! I can't even reach these vines, as I planted too closely. If they have already started to wither or wilt, is it too late to find the larvae? I have nasturtiums planted every 2 ft. in this garden, especially around the vines. I also have sunflowers and various other sacrificial lambs beside these vines. Does anyone have a pic of a squash beetle? Are they small, yellow, with little black dots on their backs? If so, they are swarming my calendula and sunflowers right now!
Hey, y'all! I got baby chicks and, man, are they the cutest! All healthy and sweet, from MPC. Am missing 2 though and I have to call them and get credit for them.
Hey, y'all! I got baby chicks and, man, are they the cutest! All healthy and sweet, from MPC. Am missing 2 though and I have to call them and get credit for them.
Tutter
Deeply Rooted
I meant if you followed what Oakland said, which was to: "This fall till the ground around them to expose overwintering cocoons."
Ooooo, do tell! *Pulling up a chair.* How many, what breed?
Ooooo, do tell! *Pulling up a chair.* How many, what breed?
- Thread starter
- #20
Beekissed
Garden Master
Gotcha! 
I was supposed to get:
5 Dominique
5 New Hampshire Red
5 Black Star
5 Plymouth White Rock
3 Buff Orpington
3 Partridge Rock hens
1 PR rooster
I actually ended up with ONE Partridge Rock and the rest seem correct. MPC had called and said that they would have to send my the PRs with one short as they didn't hatch enough, but they only sent one. I'm going to call and find out what happened. I hope it was the rooster they could actually send, as I was hoping for a PR rooster. If he isn't a rooster, then I only have my old, small RIR for breeding. This I am not happy with at all.
The chicks all seem very healthy and noisy! I'm hoping they all make it, as I really need them for egg production. I wish I had ordered more Orpingtons but I'll try to get some mixes if one of them goes broody down the road.
I was supposed to get:
5 Dominique
5 New Hampshire Red
5 Black Star
5 Plymouth White Rock
3 Buff Orpington
3 Partridge Rock hens
1 PR rooster
I actually ended up with ONE Partridge Rock and the rest seem correct. MPC had called and said that they would have to send my the PRs with one short as they didn't hatch enough, but they only sent one. I'm going to call and find out what happened. I hope it was the rooster they could actually send, as I was hoping for a PR rooster. If he isn't a rooster, then I only have my old, small RIR for breeding. This I am not happy with at all.
The chicks all seem very healthy and noisy! I'm hoping they all make it, as I really need them for egg production. I wish I had ordered more Orpingtons but I'll try to get some mixes if one of them goes broody down the road.
