Bugs
Some types of bugs are actually good for your garden and will eat other bugs so you should look closely to see who’s doing the damage to your plants. See if you can pick off a live bug from a damaged leaf or stem and figure out what it is before you attack it. Most garden pests can be controlled using either a floating row cover or plant collars. Cutworms Cutworms are the caterpillar stage of Miller moths. They are about 1 inch long (2.5 cm), brown-grey in colour and curl up when you touch them. They are nocturnal and are rarely seen in the daytime above the ground.
If your tomato, cucumber or bean seedlings are dying, pull one up by the roots. If they look like they were cut off at ground level then cutworms have been eating them. The culprit can usually be found a few inches away from the seedling. To prevent cutworms from getting to the roots of your plants, make plant collars for each seedling and press them at least 1 inch (2.5 cm) into the soil. Till the garden in the fall and again in spring to kill cutworm eggs and some cutworms.If you have chickens let them roam in your garden. They love to eat cutworms. Earwigs Everyone has seen an earwig. They are everywhere from Aachen to Zyryanka! They are one of the oldest insects on our planet. They haven’t evolved a lot except to become smaller. They will run toward you which makes you think they are aggressive but in reality they are running for the closest dark place to hide, like under your shoe! Earwigs are about 1 inch long (2.5 cm) with a hard, reddish brown shell and pinchers at the tail end. They don’t bite but the pinchers on their tails can give a nasty pinch if they get trapped under you.
If your plants are getting chewed to pieces and the roots are shredded then there may be earwigs in your garden. Flip over a rock or some mulch and if you see a bunch of them scurrying away then you definitely have an earwig problem. Use a floating row cover to keep your plants safe underneath. Lay it early in the season before earwigs start to get out and roam.
You can make an earwig trap using empty margarine tubs or drink cans. Half-fill the margarine tub or soft drink can with the used, soapy dishwater. Turn it on its side and bury the trap halfway in a shady spot in your garden or around the yard. If you are allowed, use flat beer instead and your traps will also catch slugs. After a couple of days empty and refill the trap with used dishwater or beer. Alternately, you can mix ¼ teaspoon (2 ml) dishwashing soap to 3 cups (1 L) of water in a spray bottle. Squirt the earwigs with the mixture when you find them hiding in damp places and under rocks. If you have a severe problem with earwigs try this non-chemical method: Put damp, rolled up newspaper in the garden each night. This will attract hundreds of earwigs in a heavily infested area. In the morning, dump the newspaper into a large bucket of hot, soapy water to kill the earwigs. Dispose of the wet newspaper in your compost pile. Earworms Earworms are also called Tomato Fruit Worms or Cotton Bollworms. They love corn, tomatoes, potatoes, beans, peas, peppers and squash. In their larva stage they look like rusty red capsules. They pupate into 1½-inch long (3 cm) caterpillars usually green or white but sometimes light yellow, brown or reddish all with dark stripes down each side.
They mature into greenish-grey and brown moths with black dots, which will then lay off-white, ribbed eggs. Earworm pupae survive over the winter in the soil. To suffocate earworms apply mineral oil to the corn silks once they have withered and begun to turn brown. Squirt about ½ of an eyedropper full of the oil on each small ear and ¾ on the large ones. You can add a little powdered red pepper to the mineral oil but wear rubber gloves because red pepper can sting if you get it on your skin. Make 2 follow-up applications spaced a week apart to the affected plants. Wash your corn well when you harvest it and boil it well before you eat it. Potato Bugs
Potato bugs eat potato leaves. This will eventually kill the plant because it can’t produce chlorophyll, which is a plant food source. Adult beetles are about 1/3 of an inch long (50mm) with orangey-red coloured heads and a black bodies and yellow stripes. They attach their orange eggs to the underside of leaves. When the larva hatches they are orangey-red with two rows of black dots down each side. You can pick off the eggs; larva or the adult beetles from the plant and squash them. Remember to search the underside of the leaves when looking for the eggs. If you have well-fed chickens enclosed in a potato patch they will find and eat the pests. Mulch well and use a floating row cover. This will only work against the Colorado Potato Bug because they can survive through the winter in the soil. If you plant potatoes in a different location each year it will reduce the number of bugs ’hibernating’ in the soil. You can apply pesticides called Bacillus Thuringiensus, Pyrethrum, or Pyrethrum and Rotenone mixed to kill potato bugs. Read the directions very carefully and ask for an adult’s help to mix it properly. Diatomaceous earth is a special mixture you can buy at a gardening store that can destroy the larvae. Again, read the instructions carefully before applying it to your potato plants. If your garden is under severe attack, apply Bacillus Thunngiens San Diego (“M-One”, “Bonide’s Colorado Potato Beetle”, etc.) as soon as larva begins feeding. Be sure to penetrate leaf and flower buds with the spray and don’t wait to use it. It can be very effective on the larvae but it doesn’t work on adult bugs. In Peru there is a wasp called Edovum Puttleri that will destroy the Colorado potato beetles. They are commercially available but you should read about them first and consult an expert before you try this method of control. Slugs & Snails
Slugs look like snails that have misplaced their shells. Snails look like slugs in mobile homes. They both grow between ½ to 3 inches long (.5 to 6 cm) with soft, slimy bodies of grey, black or brown. Slugs and snails will chew everything, shoots, buds, leaves, flowers and ripe fruit to pieces. They will crawl up vertical surfaces to get into hanging pots. Nothing is safe from them if it touches the ground. Their ‘eyes’ are at the tips of their antennae with which they also smell. They’re really cute but they’ll munch on your plants if you let them. You can make a slug barrier around your garden’s outer edge. Buy a length of thin 1 inch wide (2.5 cm) copper metal from a craft or hardware store. Ask an adult to help you nail or staple it to the top edge of as many 5 inches wide (15 cm) wooden boards as it takes to surround your garden. Push the boards 2 inches deep (4 cm) into the soil all the way around the garden’s perimeter leaving no gaps or spaces between the boards. Make sure that no leaves, weeds or plants touch or lay over the barrier or the slugs with use it like a ramp to get back into your garden. Powdered ginger is an effective, natural snail and slug repellent It isn’t toxic to people, pets or the environment and you can buy it cheaply at a bulk food store. Sprinkle it on the ground around the plants you want to protect. You will have to reapply it after each rainfall or when the ground is dry after you water your plants. Toads & Slugs Toads’ ♥love♥ to eat slugs so encourage them to reside in your garden. Fill a 2 inches deep (5 cm) shallow container or deep plate with water and put it in a shady spot on the ground in your garden Toads will spend hours soaking in water because this is how they absorb water. It is especially important to remember to refill the water during hot, dry summer days. European Corn Borer European Corn Borer One of the European corn borer’s favourite foods is corn but it can attack the leaves, fruit and stems of over 260 other plants so you should look for it and eliminate it as soon as you find it. It will eat into the corn, which will look chewed and shrivelled when you peel an ear. The caterpillar is about l" long, (2.5 cm) greyish pink with a dark head and spots.
They pupate into a yellow-brown moth with 1/2" (.6 cm) wings with dark bands.
The adult moths will then lay white eggs on the undersides of leaves.
The eggs hatch into plump, reddish brown larva that survives over the winter in the dead stalks of corn.
As soon as your corn has been picked, cut down or pull up the stalks. Shred or chop up the leaves and stalks and compost them. This will eliminate any eggs and larva that would hatch next year in your garden. Herbs.
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