Vegetable garden in jeopardy...

5 years ago

The night before last I noticed what appeared to be thousands of these tiny little creatures crawling all over the soil in my raised bed garden. I was late to get things going this year so I had to settle for bagged soil and a few already started plants.

Soil was a variety but mainly bags of miricle grow for raised gardens mix. Plants I bought were 3 different heirloom tomatoes, 3 or 4 different peppers and a summer squash.

I then had cukes, tomatoes, peppers, squash and melons I started from seeds.

These pictures come from cukes I planted individually in pots just because they were the easiest to see this morning. Sorry for the quality as I am snapping pictures out of a video I captured.

i Didn’t know if these were spider mites or aphids At first. I picked up some 3 in 1 as a last minute run to home depot was all I could make last night after work. Ortho 3 in 1 and it said it could take care of both those I mentioned. So when I applied to plants I got the undersides of leaves and basically sprayed the heck out of everything including the soil, never seen any moving around on the plants themselves but a terrifying amount in the soil the night I noticed them, an infestation if you will. Along with ants (not sure of the species and no pictures of he first night) My soil has pretty good drainage but has been a bit damp due to the rain this past week.

Plants do look to be damaged, my gypsy pepper has lost all but the top layer of leaves. Other peppers have holes in leaves and yellow/brown in color. Tomatoes seem to have been stunted in growth with yellowing leaves. Squash has damaged leaves yellowed/browned with some holes. Mainly all lower leaves other than the gypsy pepper.

shortly after the spraying and as of first this morning I have not seen nearly as many. Not much movement in my larger 10’x2’ bed but still a handful in this pot and a few in the other pots. (More soil in the bed for them to dive into?) I did dig around a bit in the bed but seen nothing. I assume this isn’t the end of that though.

My questions are, am I right about these being aphids? I think the spider mite is out after getting a better look. If not what are they and what can I do if anything to save out poor vegetables. I know where I went wrong with bags of soil and picking up plants, I just want to correct if possible.

Will the 3 in 1 help or do more damage here?

i will work on getting some better pictures but I have Not see them in sunlight or at least couldn’t, at night with flashlight has been my sightings.

Thanking all in advance for any help as I’ve never dealt with anything like this is my larger gardens before, at least didn’t notice it.

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Comments (4)

rhizo_1 (North AL) zone 7
5 years ago
Looks like springtail nymphs, to me. There are more springtails than any other arthropod on earth, combined.
Big Kuntry
Original Author
5 years ago
Thank you rhizo for your response but pictures I’ve seen and activity in my bed don’t match springtails from what I’m thinking. I know my pictures are it too great but this by no means cancels your thoughts out. It looks to post a video here it has to be from YouTube.? But if I can find another way or find time to upload my clips on YouTube I will, as the video really shows them well.

I sprayed 24/hrs later because I still seen a fair amount roaming around. Since the 2nd spraying, in my larger bed I still haven’t seen any, a smaller bed I have spotted a few but not nearly as bad as the first 2 nights. But I think that one will get 1 more spay in a few days if they are still around.

Large bed had more issues arise two nights after my initial spraying. Leading me to believe a drainage issue is at hand. Haven’t researched it enough but maybe white mold?

I had 3 small patches of tiny white balls on the top of my soil, that “desolved” at touch. I thought they could have been little eggs of some sort at first glance. So instinct was to remove the top layer of soil attempting to get all “mold” out. Tonight I had 2 smaller patches, one in the same location as one that a removed and another kind of in the middle of their first 3 I removed. Think I left some remains the first night for it to come back?

Noticed no type of mold or any other bad signs on the plants themselves. The yellowing and browning of leaves has almost stopped just a few that don’t look to be new. So hopefully that’s good.

I plan on drilling a fair amount of holes to assist in drainage and do a bit more research as well, I think I remember reading something about a baking soda and water mixture to spray on mold.

But it if anyone wants to chime in on this and confirm or correct my thoughts that would be great. If the “mold balls” come again I will capture some pictures as Both nights I went straight to removing.

Thank you again as I know I can be a bit long winded in my explanations, but maybe it can help another down the line.
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vgkg Z-7 Va
5 years ago
Best guess from the picture is maybe adult termites? They are whitish with white antennae, (pics below). Sometimes termites are hitching a ride in bags of mulch if you recently mulched? Sorry being a month late.

https://www.google.com/search?q=white+termites&tbm=isch&source=iu&ictx=1&fir=S0x3ddwy11Y2XM%253A%252CnCY8Rv1BCBRUNM%252C_&usg=__ieNcIKWH_s-ZkXHNElO-pjYvVqg%3D&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwjXj6fl4sLcAhUoqlkKHR_GCZgQ_h0wFHoECAsQDQ&biw=1455&bih=694#imgrc=78plcDCHzdh25M:
Big Kuntry
Original Author
5 years ago
So, that could be a possibility. Picture doesn’t really look like them but I definitely didn’t think of termites. They really looked to have “thicker bodies than termites I’ve seen but if they were packed in a bag of goodies for who knows how long they very well could have plumped up! . I do appreciate your response, even at a month out, I’ll take it over nothing. All jokes aside, definitely appreciate. I was pretty nervous because my daughter was so excited and happy with the garden, it would have devastated her after all the work that was done.

To add on the termites... I didn’t use any mulch per se but this organic mix I used does have a lot of wood/mulch matter. And we did and still do have a lot of fungi popping up in the night and of corse during off at sunlight. From my readings the rich organic matter will produce fungi but a few mentioned that in raised beds like this with bagged organic mix the fungi most likely come from the wood/mulch in the mix. So just a heads up for anyone that Comes across this in a first year raised bed. I know someone had mentioned they had a lot of mushrooms popping up their first year but had none their second in their bed.

Update, on our little raised bed. They mystery bugs have been long gone, 2 heavy doses of the 3n1 definitely took care of our problem with them. There were a few sightings of one maybe two at different times but that was maybe a week after the dose. Since then nothing. As far as my “mold” issue, I did some research and can’t recall off top what I came up with but it was said to no be harmful? I just spent a few nights pulling out the top layer, about an inch or so and I’d say after 3 or 4 times I did not see anymore.

Garden is doing well, I plucked a bell pepper, jalapeño, and hot banana pepper last week. Our first tomatoe came in earlier this week along with a cucumber. And as it goes they are in full swing now. My watermelons and cantaloupe vines are looking pretty good, I’ve just seen the first fruit coming in, in the last few days. Eager to see how they do as I’ve never really had much luck with them. A buddy of mine has been giving me tips and pointers but we will see.

Thanks to all who chimed in and wishing a healthy grow to everyone

Vegetable garden in jeopardy...

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rhizo_1 (North AL) zone 7

Big Kuntry
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Vegetable garden in jeopardy...

Comments (4)

rhizo_1 (North AL) zone 7

Big KuntryOriginal Author

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Big KuntryOriginal Author

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Big Kuntry
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