Had to cut down my corn plants thanks to worms, spiders, sca

[dawnbenson2011]

scales ( I just want to cry. Guy at the nursery told me to give up and yank my whole garden and start next spring. Ive got tomatos, zuke, cuke, watermelon, canteloup and pole beans... HAD corn but cut them down to base stems

[rainbowgardener]

Well maybe you can still save the rest of your garden. Give us some more details about what is going on, maybe with a few pictures and maybe we can help.

What stage are your tomatoes in (I.e. seedlings, just flowering, fruiting) and are you in south Florida? I ask because tomatoes don't really like the summer heat in places like south Florida. They are usually planted in January to grow through spring and early summer. Then give up on them and start again in Aug for a fall-winter crop.

So you might want to give up on the tomatoes too. But the rest of what you mentioned is summer crops. So tell us more about what is going on with them...

[dawnbenson2011]

I had little black worms in my corn plants. So I cut them down to about an inch off the ground (the roots are firmly planted and there is no rot). I cut off all of the dead or holey leaves from my zukes. The tomatoes are fruiting already. I have a bunch of green small tomatoes (its a cherry tom. plant) but they are taking forever to ripen. I plan on going snail hunting tonight cuz I found a couple snail shells in there yesterday. I'm sooo new to this and really just started for fun not for eating (but if we could that would be a big bonus!) Ill post pics as soon as I login on my phone

[GardenRN]

I wouldn't rip a darn thing out until it is FUBAR. If you remove every plant that MIGHT get eaten by bugs you better just throw in the towel now.

Make some soap spray or garlic/pepper spray and get out there and fight man! (or woman) You are at the top of the food chain! Don't let a few little bugs send you runnin for the hills! DOMINATE! OBLITERATE! ANNIHILATE! And then eat the spoils of war when your fruit sets and think of the pests you defeated laying in your yard like a battlefield of corpses!

"Give up" and come back next year is not in the American vocabulary! You get out there and pick those suckers off one by one with your hands if you have to! They are defenseless to the power you wield at your fingertips!

THIS ........IS ......SPARTA!!!! .....oh....maybe I got a little carried away at the end.

But seriously...go get em!

[PunkRotten]

Agreed. I had a huge Earwig problem to the point they were chewing on everything. I could not direct seed anything cause they'd nail it as soon as it sprouted. They even attacked mature plants. It got to a point they were really causing major problems and I started some things a little more late than normal cause of them. But I do think now I have won the war cause I do not see hardly any damage on plants anymore.

First you gotta ID the bugs that are causing you problems then learn how to control/eliminate them. Start by taking some pics and posting them here. You can do things like plant some plants/flowers that attract their predators, easy-to-make sprays, hand picking, and more. I really don't think you should rip out your whole garden you should get some opinions from experienced gardeners here first. Post some pics.

[Tonio]

scales ( I just want to cry. Guy at the nursery told me to give up and yank my whole garden and start next spring. Ive got tomatos, zuke, cuke, watermelon, canteloup and pole beans... HAD corn but cut them down to base stems

Sure he did, so you can go back and buy more seedlings

I wouldn't rip a darn thing out until it is FUBAR. If you remove every plant that MIGHT get eaten by bugs you better just throw in the towel now.

Make some soap spray or garlic/pepper spray and get out there and fight man! (or woman) You are at the top of the food chain! Don't let a few little bugs send you runnin for the hills! DOMINATE! OBLITERATE! ANNIHILATE! And then eat the spoils of war when your fruit sets and think of the pests you defeated laying in your yard like a battlefield of corpses!

"Give up" and come back next year is not in the American vocabulary! You get out there and pick those suckers off one by one with your hands if you have to! They are defenseless to the power you wield at your fingertips!

THIS ........IS ......SPARTA!!!! .....oh....maybe I got a little carried away at the end.

But seriously...go get em!

brilliant Jeff,LOL great attitude though alittle dramatic?

[GardenRN]

dramatic shmashmatic.... you know what they say, "do it all the way or go home" right?

[Tonio]

dramatic shmashmatic.... you know what they say, "do it all the way or go home" right?

LOL, I'm with you there !! All the time, some money and nurturing should not be wasted.

I'm just glad I did'nt have a beverage while I read your reply, would have been instant nose gushing

T

[rainbowgardener]

So PunkRotten, you didn't tell us what you did about your earwigs!!


Never mind, I found your post about it here

https://www.helpfulgardener.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=45993

[PunkRotten]

Also the toad in my garden helped too.