Will you look at that??
It's supposed to look like this:
That's a bed in another part of the yard.
Aren't they pretty?
They need to be thinned, but I have a really hard time plucking out perfectly healthy plants, since I have a really hard time getting anything to survive seedlinghood anyway!
'Cause seriously:
It's tragic. The garden pests wiped out my biggest radish and spinach bed!
I've yet to catch them in the act, so I don't know if it's slugs or ants. If it's slugs (which are famous for attacking this particular bed), I would hand-pick them out if they'd ever show their slimy faces! I've heard about beer traps, but who wants to let the slugs party at our expense? All you can eat and drink?
What if I'm giving 'em a bad rap and it's really ants? I know better than to try to beat those guys; they're united and indefatigable.
I'm not quite ready to whip out the heavy pesticides, but organic (i.e. do nothing) just ain't workin'.
The Bleeding Hearts next to my radishes are kind pretty apropos.
How do you keep the pests at bay?
16 comments:
Diotomaceous earth is supposed to tear their little bodies to bits... And I think if it was ants, you'de see 'em trailing. Bunnies, maybe?
Neem!
We cover the most vulnerable seedlings with sheer curtains (picked up at thrift stores) weighed down with rocks around the edges. That's what we've found to be the most effective. When the plants are large enough the pests don't do as much damage. THE organic guru, Eliot Coleman, has a theory that stressed plants in poor soil succumb more easily to pests and disease. So you might add some compost and an organic fertilizer (Dr. Earth is a good product). I can't tell, but from your fourth photo your soil doesn't look great. Also, make sure the seedlings don't swing between dry and watered too much - that stresses the plant (it uses its energy to combat the hydration stress instead of recovering from pest stress). Get some compost and mulch around those babies.
It sounds like something from a prehistoric age, but I'm willing!! I've heard of it before (and maybe even seen it in the stores?)... sign me up.
Neem?
Sheer curtain: genius! I may even have one to spare already (plus for a while it'll make my garden prettier, hehe). Thanks, Katherine!
If it is slugs you should be able to see a shiny trail (like snot) around the plants more readily than the critters themselves, as they are nocturnal. I use finely crushed eggshells (I save them all year) around things they like here, because they won't crawl across them. It also could be quail or other birds looking for something interesting. In that case the sheer curtain will work. One year I had really tiny bright green caterpillars on my radishes. They were really hard to see as they blended in with the stems. They ate all the leaves!
Neem oil. It usually comes in a concentrate which you mix with water in a sprayer. We use it on our fruit trees, raspberries and rose bushes (before bloom). It helps with all kinds of pests. I've never used it in the vegetable garden though.
Neem oil, sure its expensive but a little goes a long way and it's organic. I thought we were suffering one of the plagues one year when grasshoppers descended on my garden. Ate everything down to dry stem. If I had known about the Neem it wouldn't have happened.
I am enjoying your blog. I just came across it this morning :)
You know, come to think of it I haven't seen the tell-tale slime. That's leading me to believe it may have been quail! Brilliant, Karen!
Wow, never heard of it but will have to look into it. Thanks!
Hi, Katie! Thanks for commenting!
Can you just get it in a garden store or do you have to order it online? Now I'm on the hunt :).
It's awesome for us to have in small quantites, it lasts dang near forever, and the bugs hate it!
OK. since no one mentioned this I may be totally off...but it looks like rabbits to me. From the photo it seems that the plants are chewed only from above...yes? deer, rabbits, voles all love vegetation. caterpillars and slugs and earwigs come later in the season (at least here in MN I never see them till the plants are more mature. But rabbits? Yeah, they LOVE tender seedlings.
I think you're totally right about slugs going after more mature plants! I hadn't noticed it before, but I'm sure you're right.
Considering the jackpot ant-pile I found at the base of the radish bed, I'm thinkin' it was them.
t's awesome for us to have in small quantites, it lasts dang near forever, and the bugs hate it!Pest Control
Post a Comment