24,795 Garden Web Discussions | Vegetable Gardening

We have a lot of rabbit pressure, but we have had minimal garden losses despite having no fencing whatsoever -- I spray the perimeter of our raised garden as well as plants whose leaves I don't plan to eat for a week or more with a peppermint oil-based, non-toxic spray. It smells good to me, but apparently the rodents aren't thrilled.
There are some other sprays which use "putrescent egg solids" or garlic which seem to be effective. Some of these are tolerable-smelling, others are horrific smelling to humans...but only for about 2 days, then our poorly developed noses fail to detect the residual scent. Other mammals seem to remain grossed out for weeks.
Part of our success is also probably due to the fact that the cats and dog occasionally kill a rabbit. The cats have no interest in squirrels and the dog is too much of a spazz to catch them, but the squirrels don't show a lot of interest in our garden most of the time.
We also have voles which the cats kill ALL THE TIME, but as the cats are getting elderly (and we're DONE with cats after these two), I'm going to sink a foot's worth of wire mesh vertically along the perimeter of the garden box I'm remodeling just as a prophylactic for our eventual cat-free future. The dog thinks dead voles are gross and the live ones are apparently too slow-moving to be of any interest chasing.

Squirrels and birds are difficult to deter...
I have a toy (plastic) snake I bought some years ago to deter birds in the garden. While I am not sure it does deter birds I have seen it deter (on many occasions) a squirrel that comes up on our deck.
IF you know where the squirrels enter the garden a toy snake may work - but then it may not. Tho it is worth a try to have a garden ornament ;)
I have successfully used rose & blackberry trimmings to deter birds and squirrels from damaging seedlings.

I have my peppers in raised beds too with great drainage, but we had 3 weeks of straight rain/clouds and I noticed mine turned a little yellow green too. But after a week of full sun they are now back to normal. It could be this. Have you noticed the color getting back to normal now that we've had a week of no rain?

Planterjeff, I have noticed the bell peppers are beginning to kinda come around. It may have just been all the rain and cloudy weather. Can't say for sure, but I haven't done anything else to them. Keeping my fingers crossed. The New Mexico chili peppers I planted still aren't doing so good, but that could be due to the hot humid weather. It gets hot in New Mexico (where these peppers originate, but not as humid as South Louisana, so that could be the answer to those peppers. Thanks for the input.



The image sure looks like sun scald to me!
Suzi, I'll make a suggestion that can help you prove your neighbor wrong. 'Surround', a kaolin clay spray can be an enormous help in keeping borers, beetles, and sun/heat at bay.
It's used commercially, but is now available in sensible sizes for backyard growers. I've used it for years on my cucurbits, beans, and tomatoes without fail. It is approved for organic growers (and Certified Organic growers).


fadiver ... That's a UK expression, not an autocorrect issue - slang term for 'a very long time'.
Donkey's Years


Some potato pieces sprout about 8 shoots...too many skinny ones in a crowd for best results unless you like small potatoes. I suggest leaving 4 stalks per piece. I try to plant them a little deeper to start with and don't need to hill so high. They like cooler soil than here in central Indiana and high hilling dries out faster.

You are welcome. Good to know you won't be relying on these transplants to get your cucs! Good luck and stick around. There are some really knowledgeable gardeners on Gardenweb that have helped me a lot the last several years as my gardening went from a minor hobby to a MAJOR obsession.

"Chemicals that are applied by label directions are safe"
So very VERY not true. DDT, Diazinon, all sorts of insecticides were taken off the market AFTER years of use. There is much we do not know about chemicals, some are safe when used correctly, some are not, some we won't realize the damage done for years to us and to our families.
I'm not by any means putting down the good that some chemicals can do. But to believe that they are all safe when used according to label directions is naive.

Living next to a cornfield is way different than having neighbors that use Roundup. On a farm, the herbicide is applied from above and will definitely drift onto your property. Especially because you want to grow organically, this location is not ideal. My husband and I are in the same boat. Looking for a place where we can keep bees and grow organically. Sad that we live in such a toxic world.


almost lost my plants last night, it was 39*F felt like freezing with the wind chill but they were covered with a plastic and wood greenhouse. Bright them in tonight, true temp without breeze is freezing. :S Tomatoes in my pots had one foot in the grave. They're doing much better now that they've warmed up inside.

Here you go, hundreds of pics of various bamboo trellis set-ups.

We do ours in more of a V shape rather than the typical ^ shape (I'll try to post a pic tomorrow). That way you don't have to crawl in the teepee with all the spiders (of course, if you have kids I'm sure they would love that!). They just hang down the outer sides of the bed for the picking. It also leaves room on the outer edges of the bed to plant something noninvasive. I usually do some extra basil. Nancy




Why didn't I think of that?! Yes, collards.
Thanks so much!
LOL! Sometimes the obvious is too easy!