Eradicating Pests Without Pesticides... I'm stumped

[GreenGardenGirl]

Hi everyone ,

I've been staying stubborn about not using synthetic pesticides since I last posted ! I went to a local feed and seed store ( and they were totally out of seeds , lol ) and the owner gave me advice about an organic pesticide that would work for " most pests" and not kill off beneficial ones. Neem.
I had been cautioned against Neem due to the Florida sun , so I was skeptical. But I tried it , and have applied it a few times , but maybe I'm not doing it the right way.
That guy said to spray in the morning , but I did it in the evening because that's when I have spotted some pests , all appear to be worms.
I've got some nice plants , but a good number of them are being eaten and don't look like they're doing so well.
Also , my plants , ranging from Alyssum foliage to Basil , some of my Zipper Cream peas , have yellowing foliage and don't seem to be growing so well.
They take off fast and sprout in record time , and get a great start but then seem to stop. I've got a Nasturtium that sprouted a couple weeks ago and is not only staying a few inches tall , but it's pale and yellowing and puny looking. Second attempt trying to grow these things , and worse results. :/
I have used some good organic fertilizer with seabird guano and other natural ingredients that I've hand-watered and foilar fed with , but I'm not sure how often I can do that. The foilar feeding seemed to burn the leaves of some plants a bit.

Sorry for the running on , and I know I have to do the trial and error , but would be interested in any thoughts or ideas you may have !

[GreenGardenGirl]

Oh , and I meant to add - I started some of these , namely that puny Nasturtium , in organic Miracle Gro soil , if that helps ...

[applestar]

Tell us a bit more about the way you are growing them. May be post some photos...

[rainbowgardener]

Helps to separate out the questions a bit and make them as clear as you can. So you had some kind of worms (caterpillars?) and you got the Neem oil, and then you said "but maybe I'm not doing it the right way." Does that mean it didn't work? You still have the "worms"?

And then you have plants that aren't growing, some of which seem to be yellowing, which is a separate issue from the worms, right? You said a number of your plants are being eaten and not doing well, so it's a little hard to tell what have insect problems and what has something else.

AS is right about photos help (instructions for posting are linked in my signature line).

Also what has your weather been like (hot? rainy?) and what is your soil like. Given it sounds like you have been feeding a lot, some of the puny and yellowing could be too much water, especially if the soil they are in doesn't drain real well and they are getting a bit waterlogged, not enough oxygen to the roots. It would help to diagnose if you would be willing to dig up one plant (like one of the puny nasturtiums) and tell us what the root system is looking like. If the roots are looking good, you can always replant it.

[GreenGardenGirl]

Thanks to you both for replying , and I'm sorry for jumbling everything up ; guess it was my attempt to shorten the post.

I was not able to get any pics from this morning because my batteries are dead , but here's one from a couple weeks ago :
[url=https://img59.imageshack.us/I/garden008.jpg/][img]https://img59.imageshack.us/img59/7392/garden008.jpg[/img][/url]

Uploaded with [url=https://imageshack.us]ImageShack.us[/url]

This is ( was ) an abandoned koi pond when we moved in this house. We had it cleaned out and removed the plastic liner to find that white sand was underneath. We let it air out and roughed it up and laid cobblestones , and then tried to utilize the " trough"-like space around the perimeter.
The reason we left the white sand is because we figured we could mix that sand with potting soil and plant things that like sandy soil , like Chamomile ( in space below the Alyssum ) and the Zipper Cream peas beside them.
The ZC peas were beautiful until just after this picture was taken.

Rainbow :
Yes , I still have worms. I've found one around my Marigold sprouts after seeing damaged leaves , and have seen one on my Anaheim chili sprouts.
Yes , the yellowing seems to be a separate issue from the worms ... and seems to be directly related to the stunting. ?

Our weather has been hot , humid and dry. We *were* getting a TON of rain , during which time the plants looked quite happy. I know it's reasonable that they prefer rain water to the second-rate city water , but I don't have a rain barrel just yet.

I did go out this morning and dig up the puniest Nasturtium , and the roots looked okay , I guess - not much to them , but seemed in tact and I saw no pests. Just for an experiment , I transplanted it in the dark soil along my fence.

I'll try to post more pics when I can !

[GreenGardenGirl]

By the way - the soil along my fences seems great. It's not been fooled with in years , I bet , and is very dark , with lots of earthworms.

I'll post comparison pics later as promised , but the peas I planted in that soil , opposed to that mixed white sand / potting soil are doing a world better , but still don't seem to have the rapid growth they started out with. Nice green color , though.

[farmerlon]

Personally, I have the worst luck trying to grow things in containers similar to what I see in your photos. Raised Beds I can handle, but most containers are just too "high maintenance" for my style.

[rainbowgardener]

Re the worms, if Neem oil didn't work on it, other things you can try are diatomaceous earth, Bt (bacillus thuringiensis, sold as Thuricide and other names), or a garlic-pepper spray. (Type garlic -pepper spray into the Search the Forum Keyword box and find a bunch of recipes. If somewhere you are growing tomatoes, blend up a few tomato leaves with the mix to increase the toxicity, but then spray it after dusk when the honeybees have gone home.) Let us know what you try and how it works for you.

So the puny plants are in the containers right, not in the white sand? What kind of soil is in the containers? How much sun do they get? In the picture it looks like they are next to a big fence.

[GreenGardenGirl]

Farmerlon , I agree that there seems to be more to figure out with containers. I *hope* to be able to pull it off , but we'll see.

Rainbowgardener , thanks for those tips. I will post results with what I go with.

Yes , the puny Nasturtiums are in a container , as are my dill , chilis , basil.
The soil I chose was Organic Miracle Gro.

The Zipper Cream Peas in that white sand / Miracle Gro Organic mix ( in the lower bed ) are not doing as well in comparison to the ones I planted in the ground along that privacy fence.

I am going to try to get out back this evening and take some more recent pictures to show you the layout and the comparison.

[GreenGardenGirl]

I am so thrilled. I was able to get 2 - 55 gallon food grade barrels today for rainwater collection !! For only $10 a piece , even ! Made my day.