This is my second year of battling thrips -- and all i have is a little multiwindowbox flower garden on my tiny fire escape, as well as lots of pots on my windowsill. Anyway, last year they got totally out of control, esp indoors where there were no predators, but outdoors too. I have always tried to be organic -- for my health and the earth's. But I hate thrips so much, I am THIS CLOSE to just beating them back with some big guns like major chemicals this year. What stops me is I read horrible things about the health risks (to people) that I just can't bear to pull the trigger. So I am going to try beneficial insects. In the past when I've looked into getting beneficials, they seems really expensive, esp since shipping always has to be overnight. And getting bunches of diff kinds adds up fast. But I found a source that offers them in little multipacks, so you can get a bunch of diff kinds for a reasonable price, and then just suck up the shipping. So I just ordered the Small Garden Pack from http://hydro-gardens.com/biological_assortments.htm I don't know how my tiny (literally 7 sq ft garden is going to react to having 1000 ladybugs in it (along with a praying mantis, 5000 thrips predators and a million nematodes -- let alone how the people walking on the sidewalk below will react if any of these little guys accidentally fall on their heads...) but I figure there are plenty of pests in NYC. So if the ladybugs don't have enough to eat at my house, they can just fly across the street and visit someone else's fire escape windowboxes. Here is a link that might be useful: Beneficial Insects Multipacks

Got to the Hot Pepper site and sell them. People are paying high prices for them plus shipping. Super hot seeds go for 50cents and up each. Pay for your garden supplies for next year... Here is a link that might be useful: Powders and pods

Thank you, Sorie! Just think, this time tomorrow I'll be on my way to being able to eat a thick slice of Cherokee Purple without fear! Crazy, right? It's a little after nine this evening in my little slice of Heaven. IT'S RAINING! Just in time to water all the garlic, seedless blackberry, Echinacea, bee balm, Orange Daylillies, iris, comfrey, paperwhites, ornamental peppers and lambs ear along with freshly sown seeds of Caserta Zuch, yellow straigtneck, dark star zuch, radishes of French Breakfast and Cherry Bell along with a vast assortment of lettuce and spinach in my "greens" table! Still have to plant a few maters, peppers and cardinal vine but they're watered and tucked under the back patio cover until I can get to them next weekend (I'm being quite the Optimist, huh?), As long as you guys keep leaving all these wonderful leftovers, we'll be hard-pressed to find a reason to quit hosting! (I'm also the lucky one that got the leftover Turkey Pastrami from okoutdoorsman!) Oh wait.....that's part of the enabling. Sheesh....I thought I'd been here long enough to be immune..... Paula

Thats a nice bunch of chilis there. Looks like planting time is apon you. Impressive.