Oh, a bug fort. All you need now is a tiny bug cannon. I think you have got this war won.

Hi Trini

You declared war to the bugs!lol I hope that it works out good for you, let us know the results. Do you have 2 spaces? one for cucs and the other for zucs? or are they in one space. If they are all in the same bed they might be too crowded. What varieties did you planted?
I usually plant my cucumbers on a trellis and the zucchini in a bed. It is getting warm already, and with that comes the bugs. I will be fighting them too.:-(

Silvia

Amber, don't tempt me. lol I've actually chased some of these moths around the garden with a can of Raid. :)

Silvia, the area is about 5' X 10'. I figure I will eventually thin out some of the zukes and let more robust ones stay. I haven't quite figured out what I will do with the cukes yet. So far, I have cross country (hybrid)cukes, italiano largo and patty pan squash.

Trini,
I was thinking about building the same thing for my outside garden, now I wont feel like a nutcase. I get tons of lubbers & grasshoppers that come from the cattle pasture grass I border on and they chew everything up when I plant in the open.
I'm glad you posted pictures of yours.

Lou

Trini, 5x10 is a good size bed, you will do fine. All the varieties that you have are good, pattipan squash is compact, the italiano largo is a romanesco type, give it more room it can get big, one of my favorites because the nutty taste, and the cucumber is a bush. Being the plants enclosed probably helps with disease too like we get after rains. Good luck and keep us posted on their progress.

Silvia

Lou, I think this will work well for you too(from a fellow nutcase). I originally thought about doing framed boxes to cover each vegatable but I figure why not just do a framed bed. I had been toying around with the idea for a while but when Tom (tomncath) talked about growing veggies in his screened patio a while back, I figured this would work for me. Silvia, thanks for the info. These are new veggies to me so it's good to have some info on them.

I am also prepared for the fruit bugs war. I made these bags (screen and shade fabric) for things like peaches, papayas, sugar apples and guavas. I will use them on the young mangoes but as the mangoes ripen, I will switch to a metal mesh bag to protect them form the squrls and birds. I showed those bags on another thread last year. I had 100% success in protecting my mangoes so we'll see how these work with the other fruits.

Really neat idea, sure hope it does a good job..... how high is the cage? can you walk into it, or crawl ? how do you access the veggies ? are you spraying at all ? keep us informed how it works out, thanx for sharing...... sally

Is there anything you can spray for pickleworms? I couldn't find anything in my research. Last year I started pumpkins and melons in July. I didn't see any pickleworms until October. I think maybe they were between reproductive cycles here at that time? Anyway, I think the best thing seems to be either perfect timing or the barrier method trini1 is trying.

My baby cucumbers want to move into Trini's fort - poor things only have a pup tent.

This is one experiment; I haven't actually made the screen tent part yet; but it is intended to go over the hoop and hang down.

Then, I have the in-ground experiment; the expando-matic teepee that can be covered with visqueen, agribon or insect screen. I suppose shade cloth also but I don't need anymore shade tyvm.

And we already have bugs of some sort; went out yesterday morning to find the tips of each sugar bean vine/plant cleanly chomped off. Grrrrrr......

~dianne

Amber, I've learned the hard way that BT works only marginally.... Spinosad is an organic pesticide that will work for sure but the trade-off is it's terminal affect on bees :-(

Tom

gardengimp- Your plants look they have their own little American Idol stage in the first picture. Are they Diva cukes? :) The second contraption is very clever. I am a sucker for anything that stores well.

Tom-I actually have Spinosad. Last year I used it sporadically and that didn't seem to be enough to kill the buggers. I didn't use it regularly because everytime I did I got these horrible guilt pangs and I would have to chase away the bees until after it dried. Maybe regular spraying would work, but I couldn't bring myself to do it.

Sally, it's about 3' high and I made it with the top on hinges so it opens up like a (hope)chest. I can also move the netting on one side and walk in, hand pollenate and cover it up again. I won't spray since had no luck spraying last year, so it's do or die. lol
Amber, I tried BT last year with no luck although so have said it works for them.
Gardengimp, I love your ideas.

Are they Diva cukes? - I wish - no - they are Burbee Pepino Picklers - if the test works well then I'll make the case with the pocketbook protector for some parthogenetic seed.

Oh, and I just love building with PVC; breaks down and stores in a small trash can; easy to extend or contract :)

And you are right about the stage - he-he - bounce that sunlight around those babies! And, I read someplace that reflective material is suppose to help keep critters and bugs away. My neighbor told me I needed to make a pie plate mobile to put out over the strawberry patch.

~dianne