hello all
I need some help here please
Can anyone give me some tips on how to keep bugs away from my vegetable garden organically? Also...how to keep finches away from tomatoes. Just in case someone doesn't know what finches are..they're birds. Last year I didn't have a bug problem with my tomatoes..but the finches ate them before I could get to them.
I've heard you can use silver pie tins and that will scare them away. IS this good enough or there is a better way out??
Thanks
Regards
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GardenGeek
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applestar
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Most often, birds go after tomatoes for the moisture. If you maintain a birdbath or a fountain (even better) elsewhere in the garden, they probably won't bother your tomatoes. (I rarely, if ever, have birds bothering my tomatoes). Keep the birds in your garden -- they ALL feed bugs to their babies, and though finches are seed eaters as adults, there are plenty of birds that continue to enjoy dining on bugs as adults.
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Tigerlilylynn
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What bugs are ailing you?
Make sure to spare the good guys! Dill will attract green lacewings whose larva eat up some soil nasties. Slugs don't like Rosemary. Borage repels hornworms (I think, double check that). Chives and catnip are good around cucumbers and squash for keeping away cucumber and squash bugs (except the borer).
Make sure to spare the good guys! Dill will attract green lacewings whose larva eat up some soil nasties. Slugs don't like Rosemary. Borage repels hornworms (I think, double check that). Chives and catnip are good around cucumbers and squash for keeping away cucumber and squash bugs (except the borer).
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!potatoes!
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The Helpful Gardener
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I feed niger and have TONS of finches as a result; maybe I lost a tomato last year, POSSIBLY two but I don't think so... I had dozens, maybe hundreds of tomatoes by the end of the year...
I have feeders and plenty of water around, so not a big issue for me.
TLL is right; you need to be specific. Keeping ALL bugs away from your tomatos means they don't get pollinated; no tomatoes. I had NO inssect issues with my maters and suspect it is because I don't juice them up with chemical fertilizers. Good healthy plants in good healthy soil just don't have as many issues, so there's one way to tackle that problem...
HG
I have feeders and plenty of water around, so not a big issue for me.
TLL is right; you need to be specific. Keeping ALL bugs away from your tomatos means they don't get pollinated; no tomatoes. I had NO inssect issues with my maters and suspect it is because I don't juice them up with chemical fertilizers. Good healthy plants in good healthy soil just don't have as many issues, so there's one way to tackle that problem...
HG