23,594 Garden Web Discussions | Vegetable Gardening
Speaking of pest deterrent - small green catipillers are eating our collards and cabbage leaves. Need deterrent suggestions fast! A neighbor suggested a mild soap and water solution sprayed on leaves. Another suggested Neem oil. I'm afraid of the leaves burning/wilting or even killing the plants with either suggestion. Please help
I agree with the others. I doubt that cucumbers would work for deterring pests. Sounds like another one of those things where people read an article about something (in this case about cucumbers having some benefit; possibly against ants), then they re-tell it and it gets misconstrued.
Glo407- They are cabbage worms or loopers. Pick them off and squish them if you don't want to spray. Be on the lookout for the eggs as well and when you see those, remove/squish them. The only deterrent is covering your plants with row covers or tulle. BT (Bacillus thuringiensis), which is a type of bacteria, kills them as well.
Rodney
yes, I just got the Surround in the mail yesterday. as soon as the storms move out of the area I plan on spraying all of the vegetables with that. I purchased Take Down spray earlier in the season, which is pyrethrin mixed with canola, but there seems to be some photo-toxicity with that so I am hesitant to use it. I am looking at mixing Serenade and Actinovate with the Surround....still researching that.
I would just pinch off the two middle ones(Cut by scissors, not to disturb the other two ) and keep the other two. If you want more in another spot, just sow more seeds. They should come up in a week or so. It is possible to separate them and replant them, but if you have not done it before, you will take a risk in doing so. Cucurbits are THE LEAST transplant plants friendly seedlings that I know of. The MOST friendly and forgiving ones : ONIONS family.
I agree with seysonn about pinching out the middle two plants, but I wouldn't keep two pumpkins in a bed that size. The seedlings are young enough that the smallest is probably transplantable.
The main thing is if you can take out one for transplant without damage to the remaining seedling's roots.
This post was edited by ltilton on Thu, May 15, 14 at 10:28
Our soil was once rocky mountain clay and now it is clay loam, I think in part because I gave away the tiller a few years ago. We use a lot of wood chips and sawdust as pathway mulch, and they host very happy soil-enriching fungi that do better with hand cultivation. You can use a broadfork to aerate soil without tilling it, very handy to have around.
When I need to plant in wet soil, I mix organic fertilizer into compost, place it in the bottom of a planting hole, and set the seedling over it. They like it!
Agree. Birds but mice, rats, cutworms if any in the soil, and I wouldn't rule out squirrels or chipmunks either if you see them around. They can climb anything.
A pic would help as the type of damage is usually a good clue to who did it.
Dave
Wayne said it best: Just keeping the plant in the original pot for two log, when it starts getting root bound, midgitized. I have one such plant, way past hardening off, that I have no room for it. Little by little, a lot of plants that you buy from nurseries will be over hardened, root bound.
I'm in zone 6 PA and just planted my melon seeds in the garden, I rake the soil in rolls about 6 inches high and about 16 inches wide (Raised Rows), Then cover with black plastic especially since the weather has been so messed up so far this year, I always have better luck planting my seeds in the garden instead of transplanting.
What kind of black mulch? If it's the wood chips, you can still hand water. Maybe lay a soaker hose or drip irrigation before laying down your mulch.
I don't use drip cause I have tons of minerals in my water and they tend to clog. I prefer to hand water (therapy) or use the soaker hose and the oven timer or my watch (or cell phone) timer. Nancy
@ djkj - Oh man, I would love to grow this, not sure how it would do in zone 5 (Mass) though!
@ shuffles - here's some suggestions
http://www.bbc.co.uk/food/curry_leaves
http://www.tarladalal.com/glossary-curry-leaves-388i
Pull one up and see if it has pink roots. That would make it a red rooted pigweed, which is a wild amaranth. Weed with redeeming qualities.
Pigweed.