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Scale insects on indoor houseplants
I thought I had these beat on my bay laurel. I found tiny ones on it again last week. This little plant brought these fantastic creatures with it. Nothing like hitchhikers that want to party and spread the joy everywhere they go. I've been battling these insects on my lemon tree for 3 weeks...they've been bad on it. The…
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Maggots in Soft Fruit: the Drosophila Fly
I am excited to find this trap because this fly has been a problem in past years. This fly is not native to our area, but when it came in, It seemed to infest all soft fruits in a large area of my province.
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Help! How do I get rid of these squirrels?
How do I get rid of squirrels?
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Deer in the garden?
You might want to try this suggestion to keep deer out of your garden. https://growfoodwell.com/build-a-deer-fence/?awt_a=8O3X&awt_l=P2h6y&awt_m=41JiO_p8bFw953X
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Cedar Mulch
I have about a gallon of fine cedar mulch from some plants I ordered. I won't throw it away, but want a good use for it. I keep finding conflicting information about it, but most agree that it will kill all insects, decreasing pollination. It will make soil acidic if it is not aged right after processing, said another. I…
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Solution: Raccoons in fruit tree
I thought this was interesting. Our dogs take care of these before they get close, but if you can't keep a good dog and/or can't dispatch the raccoon for whatever reason, this might be a good solution for you.
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Costco cardboard boxes
Costco has an endless supply of cardboard boxes after checkout. They generally don't have any tape. They do tend to be colorful - are those colors going to leach into soil?
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Unfortunately, I have discovered leafminers in plant leaves.
Well, after five years, I finally am doing some minor outdoor food gardening in this new location. Surprise, I am seeing leafminer damage in leaves. I had thought I knew what to look out for in desert gardening, but a couple hundred miles makes a difference. I found out that you should remove and destroy affected leaves,…
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Moving blankets for no-till garden? Eliminate weeds
Is it wise to use moving blankets for no-till? Would they even work and break down properly? Maybe just as temporary way to smother weeds? Something like this https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B007PBK6A6/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1 70% Recycled cotton fiber along with 30% PET fibers
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Peach trees curling disease. What can I do?
what could I do to save my peach tree? It has the curling disease. The leaves are pink and curled. I try to remove as many as possible (not into compost, of course). Is there anything else to do? i have read, too late, that one could put vinegar on the buds. I will plant more garlic under the tree.
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Tomato Brown Rugose Fruit Virus (ToBRFV)
This virus has been found in at least two varieties of tomatoes, namely Brandywise and Sweet Prince varieties. (Brandywise is not a typo. It is not the same as Brandywine.) Once it gets in your garden, it can be hard to control. From https://www.vegetables.cornell.edu/2023/05/12/tomato-virus-alert : "This virus can survive…
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Garden-bed electric fence design for iguanas
So I have some wood frame garden beds that my local iguanas have found quite popular. Does anyone have any suggestions for electric fence design and/or brand to use? Here is what I was thinking: would be great if it was solar/battery powered because my power goes out a lot fence is 6" high with electric/live shocking wire…
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Use of Bt - is it safe or toxic?
Hi All, If you have any input on the safety of using Bt for pests eating plants, I would sure appreciate it. Would you recommend it or is it toxic? A farmer I know who is careful not to use insecticides, fungicides, herbicides or pesticides uses it. However, I don't trust something that 'might' kill bees. Thank you!
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Weed control with black plastic
On my! The weeds and grasses got totally out of control last year because of all the rainfall. This year is a nightmare trying to control in natural ways. I hear talk about using silage tarps for weed control. I understand the method but I have a couple of questions regarding these tarps. #1 Where does a person get hold of…
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Anyone know of raccoon repellent?
I'm finally going to be brave and try my two tower gardens outside (Greenstalk and Garden Tower.) I have planned a location for them that hopefully limits the destructiveness of my desert sun. I am gearing up to fight my numerous pests. The raccoons will be the hardest to discourage and potentially the most destructive of…
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Aphids How to Get Rid of Them
Since a lot of us are getting excited about starting seeds and making spring garden plans, I thought I'd share this video I just watched about how to control aphids. I'm always looking for ways to get rid of them. Another good one. He talks about a lot of the same things, but I like the trap crop idea. I'm going to try it.…
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Attracting toads to the garden
We have a healthy toad population in our yard, and often find them in the grass when mowing. We are careful not to harm them. However, I seldom see them in the garden, where I would really like for them to hang out. While the garden is fenced, I expect toads are small enough to pass through the chicken wire around it. I'd…
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Moles in the garden.
A friend asked me, what he could do against moles. Anything nature friendly. No poison. I checked my notes and found two solutions: put elder twigs in all the molehills; put garlic cloves into molehills. Has anyone tired any of these? Any other ideas?
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Possible control for root maggots
Had a client who before retirement ran a company growing plants for several local nurseries give an interesting tip today. We were discussing growing onions and cabbages. And she told us that she had not had any issues with root maggots in many, many years. And that if we wanted to grow these items we should try adding…
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Pill Bugs AKA Rolly Polly Bugs Invaded My Garden
OMG!! I've had so many issues with bugs this year! These things have invaded my garden beds and eaten most of my kale, chard, collards, & broccoli seedlings! Apparently seedlings are their favorite food when there isn't enough moisture. We haven't had rain like we did this summer but I've been watering. Sigh... That must…
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A funny thing happened in the garden!
On Saturday morning I went out to the car and saw what looked like a dead mouse laying at the end of the garden! I thought about picking him up (I am forever grateful I didn't!) I ran my errand and came back home and looked for the mouse. Much to my surprise the mouse was on his feet! Can you imagine if I tried to pick it…
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Bacterial Wilt and winter squash
So we have four plantings of winter squash, in five different places. I pulled up a plant on Tuesday, because it had many wilted leaves, some yellow, and I found several striped cucumber beetles on it. Since then some of my other squashes, in a different planting, had a few yellow leaves near the base. I could find no…
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How to deter pill bugs?
I just planted some really healthy bean seedlings out and overnight most of them were destroyed, something eating their stems nearly clean through. Now after 48 hours they have all been destroyed, and this morning I caught the perpetrators in the act. Pill bugs. These were very tiny baby ones. As we don't have many earth…
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Controlling Nematodes That Cause Carrot Root Knot
What is the best organic way to control the nematodes that causes carrot root knot? I’m in Zone 6B / 7A, in MD.
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Crazy Way to Catch Garden Bugs
You guys will probably think this is kinda crazy but I have leafhoppers that are too fast going around the back or front of stems or leaves for me to flick in soapy water. So, I've been using one of these yellow sticky bug catchers on one side of the stem or leaf and a stick or something on the other & I've been catching a…
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Has anyone tried Juicy Fruit to get rid of gophers?
The gophers invaded my raised beds this year and they've eaten nearly everything. I keep hearing about putting Juicy Fruit gum in their holes, but I'm wondering if anyone has actually tried this? I may need to dig everything out and put down hardware cloth, but that's going to be a ton of work at this point. I tried castor…
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plot with poison ivy - what are my options for a garden?
Our property has poison ivy. We moved in last Nov, and before the leaves fell, I saw some small starts in the ground - not dense, but definately saw it throughout the property everywhere there isn't grass. We are wanting to start a garden in a spot that probably has it. I've read it's best to wait at least a season, up to…
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Snail and slug season
After an unusually hot and dry May, the weather has cooled off and a lot of rain has fallen in the past week. And suddenly, the snails and slugs have returned. Every year, my garden gets large numbers of tiny snails smaller than the fingernail on a pinky finger. Slugs are less common, but larger. This morning I walked…
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Who left these droppings?
Hi, while out watering yesterday I found this, about 60 cm off the ground on a half-eaten eggplant leaf. I've seen mouse droppings before, but these are longer and more blunt at the ends. Anyone know what could have left these? I live in northern Italy.
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Regenerative Agriculture Questions
Help! We have fields that are suffering and we need them for hay, but all the advice from people in our area is to cocktail a mixture of Grazon, Remedy, and fertilizers. I was excited that someone was willing to advise us and hay our fields, but the second I heard the word “Grazon” I knew this wasn’t going to work. I’ve…
