I've been reminded not to get too worked up over a poor harvest due to pests, weather, and other garden problems. mcaren, Did you manage to get any harvest this year? Did anything do well? Remember that this is all a learning experience. When one season's garden is dismal then either do things differently next year or if you can pinpoint weather as the underlying problem then perhaps next year will sort it's self out. Different crops might do better during different seasons for you. Adjust planting dates to try and avoid pests that migrate into your area late (There are many pests that migrate North during the summer and so might cause you more trouble in a fall garden than in a spring garden.) BT does work on leaf eating caterpillars and worms, you just have to apply regularly. The vine borers are a bit more challenging. Remember that bagged soil is often pretty sterile. Therefore, even though it is hand picked soil, it will take some time for the beneficial microbes to make their way in there. I don't know how big your garden is. Mine is pretty spread out since I tended to follow long lines of the irrigation system so I could hook up drip irrigation for my gardens. This might have made a longer edge to deal with weeds but it spread things out under different conditions so I could see what plants like more shade or more sun during different seasons in my climate. -I'm thinking that the things that wanted more shade during the earily fall might be able to grow in full sun in late fall so long as we don't get a freeze before they are done.- Anyway, don't get too discouraged. Remember, even if the plants do poorly you still get something to feed to your compost. Keep trying different things. If you are thinking it will be too busy a season for you to baby special plants, perhaps you should just grow a cover crop that season to improve your soil and help keep the weeds down. There are many cover crops that can be pretty as well (like maragolds.) Others can help attract beneficial insects. (FYI, a cover crop can be just about anything, you should make your choice based on what you want it to do, what is available, if you want it to winter kill, If you want any harvest from it, and how you need to deal with it to prepare for the next planting cycle. Some things shouldn't be mowed down until after they flower but before they seed in order to get rid of them.) Anyway, you will have to decide how much effort you want to put into gardening, remember it should still be fun and rewarding. Only do as much as you really want. Try new things, move stuff around, play with it.

So Kimmsr, you think if you say the same thing over and over everyone will start to belive it. Are you preparing to run for political office?Mycorrhizal describes a characteric of certain fungi. Just because you cannot find it in the taxonomy of living things does not make it less relevant. The importance of mycorrhizal fungi was not even mentioned during my undergraduate studies in Plant and Soil Science. This has the potential to take agriculture to a new level in productivity. It also has the potential to impact the home owner. In San Antonio, we have to be cognizant about water restrictions. Increasing the reach of the roots by 10, 100, even 1000 times is an exciting prospect. When you look on the label, the mycorrhizal fungi innoculants contain a wide variety of spores. Does the list include the species I need? I do not know. But I am keeping an open mind and continuing my research. I have a fairly new yard (4.5 years), and it was covered by fill dirt before the sod was laid. I do not believe I gained many fungal spores from this dirt (and rocks, so many rocks). I agree with Kimmsr to a point. This is not a cure all to take place of any tried and true organic methods. But I do not agree that it is a waste of time and money. And I do not agree that just increasing the organic matter is all I need to do. Soybean growers do not hesitate to innoculate the seed with nitrogen fixing bacteria. These bacteria are capable of living in the soil on their own. I have not read about the life cycle of the beneficial fungi with the mycorrhizal characteristic. Can it live on its own or does it require the host plant to live and reproduce? Questions that need answers.

"The soil food web depends on earthworms to break up the biggest particles, then fungi break up what the worms leave, then bacteria etc. work on what the fungi leave. Greatly simplified of course, but you get the idea." I like this above. I wish you could "like" on this site. "Zog use too many numbers, make head hurt." Funny! "This is the way I do it like I state to each thier own but reading some of these threads I think that some people are getting way to technical when in reality its dirt feed it and harvest your vegetables." Funny! "We used to have a killdeer in our garden every year and he would till around her." "Me too! but they can be tough buggers to see" "I think we're taxing the tox. I just referred to him elsewhere myself." You guys are funny! I am busting a gut on this thread!

I recently bought a 32 ounce bottle of Bonide. I also got a 1 gallon sprayer. I mixed 5oz with a gallon of water. The sprayer released the mix in a fast fine spray so it clung better on the leaves and made it easier to reach under leaves and deep into the branches...so far so good for my scale problem and fungus! One within a week of the first application everything started growth flushing and no issues. I had tried the Copper and Neem Oil and it wasn't working.The Bonide was pricey $20 for the 32 oz. size but I think it was worth it. here is a link someone posted of a picture of the bottle: http://s907.photobucket.com/albums/ac271/vapordoc/?action=viewät=987e6897.jpg