Spraying plants with bug juice, or leaving a can of dead bugs on display, can't hurt, and probably helps. I had read that the JB sends a scout and then the scout releases a scent telling others it's a good spot. My experience last year goes along with that. I was in the garden, one arrived and I hadn't yet set up my can. I was working on putting my glove on, but before I could, two more came, started sexing on a leaf, and then a bunch more piled on. I ran and set up the can and started flicking them in and kept the can at hand, but also on display in case there was some kind of scent of death. The first year I had JB, I got the scout and stepped on him, then left his body on the ground. I definitely think there's something to this, although I've never been able to catch cucumber beetles quickly enough. They're tricky.

Your link to methods seems to be for commercial growers. I know when I did my row garden, I used to stake & cage the tomatoes spacing them 4ft each way. Each yr. toward the end of the season they would fall over due to the weight of all the fruit plus the high winds we get where I live. When beginning my 1st SFG I tried stakes but the soil was too soft to support them from the beginning. Last year using the SFG method I used Mel's suggestions from his book, modified to use what I had on hand. What I had were a bunch of 6ft. 1x1 tomato stakes I couldn't use in the soil. So I chose to screw them to the wood frame using 2 sheet rock screws with a 1x2 cross beams to support strings run down to each plant. I also used some 1x2's for uprights. Mel suggests twisting the plant around the string (wire or rope) each day or two. This is tedious but I was really surprised how well they held up even with the high winds we had last year. Esp. since my frames just sit on top of the ground, not anchored in any way. Towards the end of the season I got some 6ft. 2x2 from a friend which appeared to be 2x4's someone had cut down the middle and used in some sort of shipping crate. From that experience I learned that the 1x1 tomato stakes & the 1x2's tend to bow & warp. So this year I will try to make more 2x2's by either splitting 2x4's or screwing 1x2's together for uprights and use the 1x2's for cross beams. Mount the 1x2 cross piece so that the 2in part is perpendicular to the ground to lessen the warping, live & learn. On the 2x2's I drilled a hole for a carriage bolt (using a wing nut) using a sheet rock screw for the second screw. I was concerned that using 2 sheet rock screws they may snap off. However none did even on the tomato stakes so I may use 2 sheet rock screws this year since they are much less expensive. The below link shows both. In the first 2 pics I made a kind of goal post set-up adding another 4ft section to the top of a 6ft 2x2 in a manner where they could be folded up for storage. Upon completion I realized even if the tomatoes grew 10ft high, there is NO way I could reach them. So after they went over the cross piece I just let them grow back towards the ground. Problem solved. I grew 6 tomato plants in this frame along with 6 basil plants. The basil got crowded out but survived. The tomatoes did great, to my surprise. However, the tomatoes MUST be pruned. In my row garden days I NEVER pruned, that's why they needed 4ft minimum. But even with that I would grow a basil between each plant. The moral of the story is do NOT trellis any higher than you can reach. And using wood smaller than 2x2 is likely to warp. I found using wood, affordable, easy to build, and most of all, it worked. I found it easy to get around to harvest. Even with 4ft in the row garden it was difficult to get into the aisle to harvest. I had many more plants and still had room to plant more last year. If you have more money, you can use other materials. Hope this give you some ideas. Good Luck, whatever YOU choose. Gumby_CT Here is a link that might be useful: Gumby's Trellis Stakes.

Mea Culpa, username 5 (just sounds sooo impersonal) - apology accepted and please accept mine. As with most mis-understandings, I believe I made several assumptions, right or wrong, I made them and I NEVER like to make assumptions, because I tend to make faulty judgements when I do. If I have, I am sorry. The handle you have chosen for yourself is likely a big part as to why I made assumptions in this case, a bit on the vague (shady) side. Maybe there is a valid reason for this, I don't know. Just my opinion (assumption again). I assumed from your opening statement, you were leading the discussion some where else (mea culpa). I will admit the part about the t-posts (which I have never used) may benefit others reading this. I assumed they would be more like $25-30. For $4 I would likely give them a try, tho I still do not think you could buy much of anything 'round here for $4 (my problem, not yours), I will keep an eye open. Oh, I have NO idea what area of this wonderful country you are in. That leads to more assumptions. Certainly you could clear the air on that one. A picture or link of what you are talking about may help others who may be able to use or want to try them. Oh, you made the suggestion to try 'timers' on water barrels and I realized my timers required water pressure in order to work, I assumed you were just throwing ideas out. Not that there is anything wrong with brain storming but I tend to give more credence to things people have tried and know they work. Not Monday night quarterbacks. I would say, if you have NOT tried something but think it will work - that IS worth mentioning. But that's me. I believe everyone has a limit and I guess you were just in the wrong place at the right time when I reached mine. The reason my reply has taken so long, is I had to look inside myself to find the answers. Tho I do enjoy reading the forums, I hope to begin spending more time in my garden & less time on this computer, Which is typical of me during the summer months. I did feel that you deserved a response and didn't want this to linger any longer. The internet is a great resource for information, however as with most written communication something gets lost in the text. Hearing voice inflection, seeing eyes or facial expression, even hand gestures helps sooo much in understanding the message one wishes to convey. Not hearing or seeing these things leaves so much for interpretation. I guess that is why they use profiles. In summary, I would say that you were not the entire reason for my diatribe, just within reach ::smiling::. That being said, hey let's get back on topic here, eh? ::bartender, my turn, give us a round over here please:: Gumby Damit.

I understand this. Certain crops do well with direct sowing but I've had contrary to the norm experiences to date. Carrots and onions and beets---eh, not as great as I hoped despite over seeding. Radishes all sprouted though using same method. Same with zuch, watermelon and winter squash---the seedlings I have had to pull that I hate because they weren't cheap and frankly, I'd love lots of all three---and both marigolds and nasturtiums too. My comment context is on several fronts. I did all transplants last year from mail order and a nursery. It was not cost effective but only one seedling of 15-20 didn't make it. This year was all direct sowing in contrast minus the yarrow left from last year. So yes, seed is cheap overall but I have empty space where I over seeded and not enough space where I counted each individual seed---100% germination with those seeds to be exact so I moved what I could to empty pots with crap soil to see how they do. It was a simple observation that others might find useful/intriguing because there is no right or wrong way to garden and why not share? But thanks for the information.