My wife and I bought a home 18 months ago which allowed us to finally tackle some gardening which we had been itching to do but had not been able to due to apartment living. We are new to the forum but have been reading it for some time and would love your input.

Our home backs up to the woods where there is standing water. This lead to a huge variety of insect pests which even with diligent spraying, decimated our veggies. Also, due to the standing water, we are eaten alive during the summer by mosquitoes while we are tending our garden.

To battle those issues this year, we are building a pvc frame to make an enclosure over our raised bed with a 10 X 10 area for pots as well. We will be hand pollinating our veggies where it is necessary and are excited to try out the fruits of our labor from our compost bin.

My question is should I use a pool screen material or a shade cloth material to close in the area? As far as shade cloth goes, what are the benefits of it and what kind do i get? Will my veggies still get the necessary sunlight to flourish and will it help to keep the scorching summer temps down?

Thank you so much for any advice that you can give me. The frame is going up this afternoon and then we will simply need to apply the cover and cut the door! We cannot wait!!!

Cody

Bt is not a toxin. It is a type of bacteria that selectively infects insect larvae (caterpillars are the larvae of moths and butterflies). As far as I know, Bt has no effect on other plants or animals other than insect larvae.

You can put it in ponds and it won't hurt the fish or kill the algae or anything like that.

The full name is Bacillus thuringiensis. You can read about it at wikipedia if interested.

--McKenzie