Dealing with pests everyday is so tiring and frustrating!!

7 years ago

last modified: 7 years ago

I think you can all relate. I need to vent. Everyday I walk outside to discover a plant eaten by deer, rabbits, voles, groundhogs, voles, raccoons, voles, chipmunks and voles. GRRRR. Cabbage moths, red lily beetles, Japanese beetles, stink bugs, aphids, bears.

I know how to deal with all of them, but having to do all this pest work everyday is really getting me down. As I age, I don't want to be facing this. I have limited energy.

I dream of beds raised up off the ground. Gardening on my deck is so much more rewarding...I can do it standing up. But it's in the shade.

Thank you for the space to vent. I'm just getting so tired of the damage to the plants, the garden and to my spirit. How do you deal with this frustration?

Featured Answer

defrost49

7 years ago

I had a lot of vole damage last year so I'm not sure what's going to happen this year with beets and carrots. I spend a lot of time knocking Colorado potato beetles and larvae into a container of soapy water but a gardening neighbor said if he waits to plant potatoes until after June 1, he never gets any beetles. I'm trying that this year. Chipmunks are a problem with anything grown next to the house. I can spare some cherry tomatoes but I never got a single ground cherry and last year tomatillos were a bust. This year I think I will plant some peppers in that area.

I agree with using some covers. I put Agribon over winter squash seedlings and had less trouble with bugs. Last year I didn't use the cover and lost some varieties to cucumber beetles. What was odd was the beetles didn't bother some varieties but feasted on others like spaghetti squash. The kabocha squash did fine.

Bears stay away from the yard. The deer have been staying away too since the first summer when they feasted on hosta. I sprayed with an animal repellant but haven't used any for the past couple of years. Early this spring there seemed to be one deer who wanted to check out the garden. Usually they stay in the farmers hayfield and eat his clover.

I saw a very productive vegetable table at the Common Ground Fair in Maine. I was surprised at how much they had growing since it wasn't very deep. Some people call them salad tables. Tomatoes and summer squash would have to be grown in deeper containers. Good luck. I know what you mean about getting older.

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Comments (11)

digdirt2
7 years ago
I understand the limited energy too well. ;-) But good fencing and some row covers can be your best friends when things get overwhelming. Plus spring seems to be the worst time for pests, at least for me, so it will pass.

Dave
Chippah
7 years ago
speaking of pest. besides bugs are their any rodents or animals that mess with potato crops?
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Lisa 8b
7 years ago
I can relate. My previous garden was a raised bed and I had to deal with rabbits all the time. Birds then became an issue. I was fighting mocking birds to get one red tomato.

I bought a new home in 2015 and moved and decided to start container gardening. It's expensive and comes with it's own set of challenges ( soil temperature regulation, water issues etc ) but I'm tired of starting new each time we have to move and I hope this time we will just move my containers.

The one benefit to my containers is I don't need to bend down much , no weeding has been needed and bunnies can't jump up that high. I haven't had to fight mocking birds yet either but I don't credit that being because of the containers.

I still have to fight pests and I hate it. Aphids , spider mites , caterpillars , and leaffooted bugs are the biggest pain in the butts for me.

I do know that one day I plan to buy a house in the country and deer will become an issue. I grew up in the country and I remember my parents having to erect a fairly tall fence to try and keep white tail out of the garden. I can't remember how well that worked lol. That's not going to be a fun challenge for me when the time comes.
hairmetal4ever
7 years ago
I ended up using 7' deer netting, with a 4" "lip" stapled to the ground to make burrowing more difficult. So far it works. An ambitious (or scared) deer COULD jump it, but probably won't, and a very determined groundhog could burrow, but again, probably won't.
Barrie, (Central PA, zone 6a)
7 years ago
MO, usually animals will leave potatoes in favor or another crop but I've seen mouse damage and hungry deer will paw up potatoes. Feral pigs can be a real problem if they are in the area.
digdirt2
7 years ago
In addition to the ones Barrie mentioned I have had armadillos, skunks, groundhogs, and raccoons ravage a potato patch. They aren't after the potatoes so much (except the groundhogs) but they love digging the plants up for the bugs in the soft tilled soil.

Dave
ilurk
7 years ago
I use electric fencing to deter medium sized pests like raccoons and groundhogs and rabbits. If I see groundhogs, I live trap and release 5 miles away. Electrified wire at 4 feet deter deer. Occasionally birds die from the low hanging wires. I suspect they land on it, the wire sags, and they die when they touch the ground. A rat zapper from Amazon baited with peanut butter takes care of chipmunks and squirrels. This year I discovered voles, I'll lay mouse traps over their holes and cover with a bucket. Haven't had major insect problems yet.

In my limited experience, animal friendly exclusion and deterrents don't work well or for long. Rodents find the tiniest gaps in your fencing. Population control is the way to go.
Happy Hill Farm
7 years ago
I ended up putting up an electric fence around my gardens. It stopped the deer and ground hogs. This year I added more low wires and added a grounded wire between two of the lower hot wires to help with the rabbits. It also keep coyotes and foxes out and away from my chickens. I still had to cover my brassica with some chicken wire as at least one Rabbit got in the night after I transplanted them out. I also use a motion activated sprinkler. If you can't do fencing, the motion sprinklers seem to work well.
jeanwedding. zone 6
7 years ago
last modified: 7 years ago
shoot I got it all fenced.. but does no good. too many white moths etc. even tulled it in hoops .. did no good...

The tulled and hooped, cucumbers last years, small raised bed of 4 died pretty fast too many leftover squash bugs, beetles,moles, voles, slugs

who in the heck can crop rotate even with acreage? when you have fencing,Many many T- posts, and wire covered cattle panels? and landscape fabric path with straw covered???

I even had tomato horn worms on the sweet 100s in the BIG fenced in big garden and in a BIG planter next to the outside door>>.

I did tulle covered hoops lots of places but they are in the ground and or find the smallest openings...

It just makes you want to cry....

Hubby, said last week, as he was reaching for kale and collards at big Box grocery.

A lady said she grows her own.. greens and doses strongly with Sevin right away. she said" Im 75 and Im just fine"

Heck I have them(greens) seeds planted in my big potato boxes Now its about time for sweet potato to go in them instead

planted seeds several times(got window screens over most of them...

and been putting compost, kelp. alfala meal and Organic fertilizers at various times and they are just now still small. yeah I need to thin them of course...

just a saying yall thanks
ilurk
7 years ago
Ever try those praying mantis cocoons? I haven't had a big bug problem yet so I haven't tried. We have lots of spiders. I do spray with Spinosad. I believe it's approved for organic gardening. For rodents, I trap and kill. Hardware cloth buried 2 feet deep might hold them off but then they dig tunnels in my grass.

Dealing with pests everyday is so tiring and frustrating!!

defrost49

Comments (11)

digdirt2

Chippah

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