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Post by daylilydude on Jan 17, 2014 12:09:26 GMT -5
What pest plagues your garden most, and what do you do for them?
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Post by paulf on Jan 17, 2014 16:56:55 GMT -5
My biggest pest is squash bugs and I sevin the crap out of them when they are small. I also pay close attention to under side of all the vine crops for the eggs and remove them. Got to spend some time out in the garden every day.
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Post by Laura_in_FL on Jan 17, 2014 19:16:43 GMT -5
Leaf-footed bugs. Gah, I hate those things! In addition to feeding on tomatoes, eggplants, and other garden vegetables, they also sting up apples, peaches, citrus, and other tree fruit. Grrr...! The anole lizards (and ladybugs and other beneficials) usually keep most of the other pests more or less under control, but I don't think the anole lizards like the taste of the leaf-footed bugs. My goal is to keep the leaf-footed bugs from breeding in my yard. When I can do that, the population stays small enough that the damage is tolerable. Usually. So, I patrol for nymphs and kill them with extreme prejudice using a homemade combination of strong coffee, vegetable oil, and dish soap. (I spray the bugs, not the plants, so I don't disrupt the food supply for the lizards and beneficials.) Of course I also kill adult leaf-footed bugs on sight, too.
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Post by pepperhead212 on Jan 17, 2014 21:46:16 GMT -5
I would say SVBs, except that I gave up on those long ago, and grow nothing that they can attack any longer. This year, however, I am trying something new: planting a parthenocarpic variety in an Earthbox, totally enclosed in very light agribon, to see if that works. I'll keep you posted.
My problem, mainly in these very wet summers, is aphids on my peppers under the agribon - something I use to prevent a previous major pest I had: pepper maggots. Every season I used to get these in certain varieties of peppers - mainly, but not exclusively, milder varieties - and EVERY pepper of the varieties that were prone to them would have them. I found out that they are also found on a local native plant found in wetlands, and I live close to a creek, so that was my problem. Covering them entirely, up to about Aug. 10, prevents them entirely (after that, the adults are gone), but the covered row is a breeding ground for the aphids. This year I'll just have to uncover more often, to look for the aphids and the ants. I'll also put some boric acid around to stop the ants before they start farming the aphids.
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