Insect Prevention?

[mbaker410]

Ok, I am getting prepared this year to combat some of the issues I had last year and wanted to see if there were any preventative measures I could take against the following insects...

-Aphids
-Ants
-Caterpillars (I think from the White Butterfly)
-Tomato worms

Last year I had a small issue with worms on some of my tomatoes, the caterpillars ate the living daylights out of my broccoli, and the aphids simply attacked my seedlings when I put them out to harden. Ants just helped the aphids fight my cukes.

I am looking for tips on compliment gardening, flowers, bird houses, protective measures, etc.

Any help is great!

thanks.

[Earl K]

I am new to gardening but have read that marigolds help keep insects away.caterpillars and butterflies I don't know.good luck

[mbaker410]

That's funny because I was just reading a post about that and I think I may do that this year. I may plant them around the perimeter of the garden where possible.

I might even try to include a bird feeder of some sort but don't want attract birds that will try to eat my tomatoes!

[hendi_alex]

Bugs are rarely much of a problem for my garden. If the plants are growing vigorously, then they can give a great crop in spite of the bugs. Squash bugs are perhaps the most aggrivating. Between succession planting moved from one area of the yard to another, protecting the plants with screen cloth when young, and hand picking and destroying the eggs, the bugs are mostly manageable.

The viruses and bacterial diseases in the soil are a different matter, and they almost always get the tomato plants before the season is over. The problems are especially bad after a prolonged wet spell, both the virus/bacterial diseases tend to hit at the same time as powdery mildew. Those are my biggest problems, that can take an absolutely beautiful garden one week, and turn it into a death zone the next week. In many cases the bugs are instrumental in transferring a problem like mildew from one plant to the next. Last season, a dusting with powdered sulfur seemed to work well against powdery mildew on my cucumbers.

Now if I could just solve the riddle of tomato disease. Each year the leaves begin to yellow and perhaps spot on the lower leaves, and that yellowing eventually works its way all the way up the plant. Sometimes after a prolonged rainy period, the plants just get yellow all at once. Through last year, I've been planting groups of 4-6 tomatoes with the cages touching and in a double row. Perhaps the lack of air flow and plants touching one another has compounded the problem. This year the plants will be placed no closer than 3 feet to another plant. Also the leaves will be pruned at least 12 inches above the ground. Will see if that helps the disease problem.

[mbaker410]

Either I am lucky or live in an area where we don't have much of that. All my plants grew vigorously last year without problems. I just made sure to trim accordingly to keep the leaves off the ground etc.

Sorry to hear about your challenges.

Does anyone know why marigolds act as a repellent?

Thanks.

[Gary350]

I have 23 bird houses and no bugs.

Many years ago when I lived up north in a rental house I planted a row of cayenne peppers. The next summer I ground the dry peppers in the kitchen blender then put them in a large pan of boiling water, turn off heat, soak for 1 hour, strain out water. When the water cooled I put the water in my bug sprayer. I sprayed all my vetatabless with cayenne pepper water. It actually worked I had very few bugs. Different geographical locations have different bugs and some bugs are harder to deal with than others.

Many years ago I tried planting marigolds but it did not seem to help my bug problem.

[Kenzie]

I haven't really heard too much about marigolds repelling bugs...more rabbits and other rodents because of their strong, somewhat bitter smell.
This year I'm going to try planting Borage, Parsley, and mint around my tomatoes and see if that successfully keeps the pest away.

I too would like to know how to keep ants away. So far, I'm keeping them away from my sheds and garage by spraying white distilled vinegar around the perimeter, but you don't want to get this on plants as it will kill them. Maybe if you have raised beds this will be an option.

[rainbowgardener]

Marigolds are known for repelling soil nemetodes that can attack your plants. I don't know about repelling insects. Unless your garden is too big, a lot of times you can just squish the aphids, by wiping the plant down with paper towel or something. Having lots of birds around does help, keep bird feeders. I've never seen birds eat tomatoes, though squirrels, woodchucks, deer and other critters do. I fence my tomatoes with deer netting to keep all the large creatures away. When it gets to be insect season I spray my veggies with an organic concoction of oil, pepper, hot pepper, garlic, onion, mint, aromatic herbs, blended up in water. Strain and spray. It makes a good insect and critter repellant and totally harmless to people. Floating row cover helps too.

[elevenplants]

Bacillus Thurengensis, also known as BT

Neem oil

That white butterfly you speak of is the cabbage looper moth. It lays eggs on the undersides of the leaves and when they hatch, they begin eating the plant. Try the above. Also works for hornworms and most caterpillar larva.

Rebecca

[webmaster]

Do you have any plants that are favored by bees? The presence of bees has been proven to inhibit caterpillars from gorging on plants. There were scientific studies about that. I asked my urban gardener friend if he had caterpillar issues and he said no. I asked him because he cultivates bees, he has a section for them.

Hey Alex, what's the bee situation in your garden?

[hendi_alex]

My nearest neighbor keeps several hives, so those honey bees forage here regularly. Last year I planted a large naturalized garden of annuals and you would not believe the amount of bee and wasp activity all summer and into the fall. Perhaps I'll try to do a photo chronicle of them this year, but would not be surprise if we didn't have a dozen or more species of bees and wasps active here last year. Our large planting areas of annual and perennial flowers both inside and outside the vegetable garden areas IMO help to give a great balance between beneficials and pests. As someone else pointed out, the best one can hope for is a good balance between the two. If the pests are almost totally exterminated, then the beneficial predetors will have no reason to remain in the location.

Here is a shot of a small section of the main naturalized flower bed.

[img]https://farm4.static.flickr.com/3056/2649193739_57b6a1d0a2.jpg[/img]

And a few of the bees,wasps, and predators:

[img]https://farm4.static.flickr.com/3148/2666207042_4bb62071d9.jpg[/img]

[img]https://farm4.static.flickr.com/3205/2666206428_945015cc64.jpg[/img]

[img]https://farm4.static.flickr.com/3023/2727666767_fb97df3b9d.jpg[/img]

[img]https://farm4.static.flickr.com/3223/2723075179_9faf0cf77d.jpg[/img]

[img]https://farm4.static.flickr.com/3117/2723755438_53bce253be.jpg[/img]

[img]https://farm4.static.flickr.com/3043/2723756362_29c8034dae.jpg[/img]

[img]https://farm4.static.flickr.com/3040/2723060721_0463df4d2d.jpg[/img]

[img]https://farm4.static.flickr.com/3083/2753706463_c60044dd14.jpg[/img]

This is just a small sampling of what was there. Lots of spiders and other predators as well as bees and butterflies. Had lots of fun with the point and shoot last year.

[elevenplants]

AMAZING pictures! Thanks for sharing those. And the wisdom.

Rebecca

[webmaster]

Beautiful garden Alex and amazingly diverse.

As someone else pointed out, the best one can hope for is a good balance between the two. If the pests are almost totally exterminated, then the beneficial predetors will have ho reason to remain in the location.

That's an excellent point.

[mbaker410]

Ok so I am a little confused on the BT and how to apply it. But I get the neem oil and bees.

So what plants work well in my region to attract bees? I know honey suckles grow native here and they love those but I would like to plant something around the garden.

thanks.

[hendi_alex]

For perennials the bees love any of the many salvia species and they are easy to grow. Also bee balm, mexican sun flower (fiesta del sol), rudbeckia, zinnias, cosmos. All of these are easy to grow with bee balm and rudbeckia being perennials. Also early in the season nothing attracts bees any better than blue berry bushes and an old fashion flowering shrub called breath of spring.