What to keep the bugs away

peachguy · Fri Jun 02, 2006 5:13 pm

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.

garden_mom · Fri Jun 02, 2006 11:01 pm

Are you sure it's bugs and not birds? If so, have you seen the bugs and what do they look like?

peachguy · Sat Jun 03, 2006 12:36 am

well I know it is bugs beacuse the whole straberry isn't gone only little parts and the leafs have holes in them it is only june and a lot of bug still aren't out yet so I am not sure what they are.

garden_mom · Sat Jun 03, 2006 7:26 pm

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?

peachguy · Mon Jun 05, 2006 5:18 pm

Also one other thing it has been very rainy for the last couple of weeks so could that have anything to do with it?

opabinia51 · Mon Jun 05, 2006 6:32 pm

Wet will get the worms up and not to mention slugs but, not insects. It will be interesting to see what you find tonight.

Not that it matters but, worms are Annelids (and in particular Oligocheates) and slugs are gastropods (related to snails).

peachguy · Mon Jun 05, 2006 7:30 pm

also with the wetness could it have grown fungei on the fruit and that is what is eating the fruit like it going rotten or something?

opabinia51 · Mon Jun 05, 2006 7:48 pm

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.