bok choy eaten - spinosad? other solutions?
slowjane CA/ Sunset 21
9 years ago
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farmerdill
9 years agowoohooman San Diego CA zone 10a
9 years agolast modified: 9 years agoRelated Discussions
Horseradish leaves getting eaten!
Comments (25)Caffeine Used to Fight Slugs and Snails July 25, 2002 In October 2001, the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced that it had approved the use of caffeine to fight the infestation of Hawaiian coqui frogs. New research suggests that caffeine may be a weapon against other pests such as slugs and snails. As most gardeners know, slugs and snails cause significant damage to vegetable crops. However, many products used to eliminate slugs and snails contain chemicals that are dangerous to people and pets. Caffeine-containing products, therefore, may be a safe alternative to existing slug and snail poisons. Researchers at the US Pacific Basin Agricultural Research Center and National Wildlife Research Center in Hilo, Hawaii, conducted several experiments to demonstrate the effectiveness of caffeine to repel and kill slugs and snails. Experiment #1 - Will slugs avoid food with caffeine? Napa cabbage leaves were dipped in caffeine solutions or left untreated (the control condition). The researchers measured how much cabbage was eaten by the slugs. Results: Slugs did not eat as much cabbage when the leaves were dipped in caffeine (see Figure 1). This suggests that slugs can detect the caffeine and prefer cabbage without caffeine. Figure 1 Orchid Snails Photo by Scott Bauer, USDA Experiment #2 - How does caffeine affect the heart rate of snails? Orchid snails (Zonitoides arboreus) were treated with caffeine. The researchers examined changes in the heart rate of the snails. Results: After one hour, weak (0.01%) caffeine solutions increased the snail's heart rate, but stronger solutions (0.1%, 0.5% and 2%) reduced the snail's heart rate. After 24 hours, the heart contractions of snails treated with a 0.1% or higher concentration of caffeine were weak and irregular. After 96 hours, all of the snails treated with a 0.5% or 2% caffeine solution were dead. Experiment #3 - Will caffeine kill snails when applied to material used to grow plants? Chips from coconut husks are used to grow orchids. These chips were sprayed with 1% or 2% caffeine solutions or with water (the control condition). Results: The 1% caffeine solution killed 60% of the snails. The 2% caffeine solution killed 95% of the snails. Only 10% of the snails died when the control solution was used. (See Figure 2) Figure 2 The researchers are not sure how caffeine kills slugs and snails. They suggest that caffeine may change the shape of action potentials in snail neurons. In humans, caffeine is a central nervous system stimulant that interferes with adenosine, a neurotransmitter in the brain. Caffeine also acts at other places in the body to increase heart rate, constrict blood vessels, relax air passages, and affect muscles. Perhaps new, safer slug and snail repellents could be developed with caffeine. Who knows? Perhaps next time you buy a cup of coffee, you will also be able to pick up some slug and snail bait for your garden. References: Hollingsworth, R.G., Armstrong, J.W. and Campbell, E. Caffeine as a repellent for slugs and snails. Nature, 417:915-916, 2002. Wood, M. Caffeine foils snails. USDA Press Release GO TO: Neuroscience In The News Explore the Nervous System Table of Contents [email] Send E-mail Fill out survey Get Newsletter Search Pages Take Notes...See MoreSpinosad
Comments (85)Chickencoupe, rather abrasive post. Things we learn in our backyard - some are re-learned from years past - some are going forward. When I thought about the spinosad, I thought about the tomato hornworm I saw this week with brachnid wasp larva on it. Had I put spinosad on THOSE crops , would the parasitic wasps been killed? probably...this stuff is fed to dogs to kill fleas.....There are always unintended consequences and we seem to constantly screw things up with high tech / corporate chemical approaches. My personal goal is to find the balance. My grandparents raised their own food without pesticides or antibiotics and ate well. I remember every summer night snapping beans, shucking corn, and days of canning done by my grandmother. And I remember -the quality of that food-part of which has driven me back to organic and permaculture. By and large I am not seeing what rabid fanaticism prompted your reply. Those few posts raising questions are well thought out. Some real questions. FWIW, I have had NO borer issues this year and I saw them every day. I merely sprayed the stems of my squash with a soap mix (Dr Bronners and water) once a week and used NEEM both as a drench and a leaf wash....See MoreOvereating Raw Bok Choi Hospitalized Woman
Comments (7)The most important thing to realize about our bodies is that everything acts on the level of homeostasis, and that there are many series of feedback adjustments made on a molecular level that maintain our system. The very definition of pathology is the event in which one of these overpowers the other. Given this it should be obvious that a diet of anything in excess or deficit will result in problems. Too much vitamin A is toxic, too much protein overloads the kidneys, we need fat for membrane integrity and vitamin absorption but too much causes obesity and systemic diseases, excessive vit. C with subsequent normal levels of intake can induce Scurvy like symptoms. Our culture really is not good at acknowledging the fact that we are herbivorous of complex dietary necessity, with diversity and moderate quantity being key. I blame Atkins, Powers, Eat for Your Blood Type and all the other hype that starts movements of nutritional neurosis without sound biomedical backing....See Morebok choy flowers?**newbie alert**
Comments (22)This is such a confusing old thread that I can understand how it just generates more questions and how there is probably a reluctance by some to step in with any answers. Let me just say what I do: I grow bok choy each year and try to have it for as much of the growing season as possible. That means I sow seed and resow seed. I move plants around first out of the greenhouse and also where the bok choy seedlings are a little too crowded in a seed bed. Bok choy seems to bolt fairly easily. I think it bolts when it is stressed by too much cold just as it does when conditions are hot and dry. There is probably only a fairly narrow window when its growth is optimum but this doesn't mean it is unusable all the rest of the season! As far as treating it as a cut-and-come-again when harvesting leaves: I've never done that and I've grown bok choy for a good 20 years. The flower buds are a different story, however. Sure, if it would take a half dozen of your plants to make a fork-full and the plants are already bolting - you haven't got much going in the bok choy patch. But, if your baby bok choy is as big around as your wrist and it starts to send a flower stalk up - get that and bring it into the kitchen! Even if the little yellow flowers have started to open -- to me, that flower stalk is the sweetest part of the plant and is often, plenty tender! It would be a shame, to my way of thinking, to throw that plant in the compost. The lower leaves, however, are probably too tough to enjoy. But, if you've got 1 good-sized flower stalk, chances are, you will get a couple more off that plant in a few days. Of course, they will be smaller. Yes, tender little bok choy leaves are great. And, if they have begun to bolt - their season is coming to an end. All the more reason to have seed going in the ground just about every week. You may have to take a month or 2 off from sowing bok choy seed but get back to it as the temperatures begin to drop in late summer. Bok choy makes a fine fall crop here and probably where you garden, also. Steve...See Morelaceyvail 6A, WV
9 years agolast modified: 9 years agoelisa_z5
9 years agoslowjane CA/ Sunset 21
9 years agolaceyvail 6A, WV
9 years agolaceyvail 6A, WV
9 years ago
Humsi
9 years ago
theforgottenone1013 (SE MI zone 5b/6a)
9 years agolast modified: 9 years agolaceyvail 6A, WV
9 years agorhizo_1 (North AL) zone 7
9 years agoelisa_z5
9 years agowoohooman San Diego CA zone 10a
9 years agoslowjane CA/ Sunset 21
9 years agolaceyvail 6A, WV
9 years ago
Wild Haired Mavens
9 years agolast modified: 9 years agoJust in case your open to organic suggestions I attract birds and hummingbirds to my garden. If a caterpillar eats so much that its walking on bare ground, it ain't got long.
That's not caterpillar damage I have cabbage worms and we both eat just fine.
This is cabbage worms
I know I like white butterflies so I plant ten for every one I expect to eat. Mature caterpillar will much on the peas.
so here is my suggestion
1. broadcast the seed so you have enough food for wildlife.
2. Grow some sunflower, sweet corn or sorghum.
3. Trellis some runner beans for the hummingbirds
3b. Grow a huge winter squash to shade the cabbage, later open one up and leave the seed for the swallows. Best mosquitoes eliminater ever
4. Put a little composting stuff near your vegetables to attract tiny flies that pregnant hummingbirds eat
5. Put a shallow puddle of water out
6. Plant some dill and other host herbs, let them flower.
7. Use compost tea to fight disease mine is made with tansy, soapy water for aphids until the hummingbirds clean them out , and yogurt paint for mildew.
8. Late at night arm yourself with a garden flash light and some bug squashing boots, then go get EM Slugs fyi kids love this.
lastly keep planting more tightly we never know how many hungry mouths are in the garden.
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