What to keep the bugs away
What can I use to keep the pests away from my berries I have strawberries, raspberries and blueberries. Cuz they are eating my strawberries like crazy and I would like to actually eat some.
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- Senior Member
- Posts: 105
- Joined: Mon Mar 13, 2006 7:12 pm
- Location: Detroit, MI
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- Senior Member
- Posts: 105
- Joined: Mon Mar 13, 2006 7:12 pm
- Location: Detroit, MI
Go outside tonight with a flashlight and try and catch what's doing it. Slugs and caterpillars can get handpicked into a bucket of water (salt water for slugs, soapy water for beetles and caterpillars etc). Other bugs, I know that opa and others highly recommend Neem oil. Any other thoughts out there?
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- Super Green Thumb
- Posts: 4659
- Joined: Thu Oct 21, 2004 5:58 pm
- Location: Victoria, BC
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- Super Green Thumb
- Posts: 4659
- Joined: Thu Oct 21, 2004 5:58 pm
- Location: Victoria, BC
Oh yeah, big time. Fungi love cool damp times.
A way to subvert fungi from getting to fruit is to trim any foliage from the bottom parts of plants and to use non invasive watering techniques so that soil does not splash onto the plant. Though, (forgetting the actual statistic) there are a tonne of fungal spores in the air and dampness on plants allows for these spores to settle.
For the best defence against fungal infection, it is important to have a healthy plant and that means healthy soil. We have a lot of threads (and soon some articles on the main website) on making good, healthy soil.
As far as fertilizers are concerned, I like liquid fish and liquid seaweed fertilizers as well as kelp meal. Rock phosphate is good because it adds phosphorus and it promotes the formation of soil aggregates. Good healthy soils have a lot of soil aggregates.
A way to subvert fungi from getting to fruit is to trim any foliage from the bottom parts of plants and to use non invasive watering techniques so that soil does not splash onto the plant. Though, (forgetting the actual statistic) there are a tonne of fungal spores in the air and dampness on plants allows for these spores to settle.
For the best defence against fungal infection, it is important to have a healthy plant and that means healthy soil. We have a lot of threads (and soon some articles on the main website) on making good, healthy soil.
As far as fertilizers are concerned, I like liquid fish and liquid seaweed fertilizers as well as kelp meal. Rock phosphate is good because it adds phosphorus and it promotes the formation of soil aggregates. Good healthy soils have a lot of soil aggregates.