scottamuss, Thanks. I'll go ahead and post it here... By the way, I feel soil quality is more important than water. Far too many gardeners over water. Take the time to learn that there is not a "cure all" for every pest at every stage of it's life cycle. Some won't work if it's going to rain. Some don't work well if it's too hot, etc. Pest management is complex, if you wish to use chemical products, do so responsibly which goes further than reading the label. If you want to learn, a good place to start is here: Integrated Pest Management This lecture is presented in two parts. Each part is 90-minutes in length. Recorded in Sacramento County in California's Sacramento Valley, this lecture is by Mary Louise Flint, Ph.D., Director, IPM Education and Publications, UC Statewide IPM Project and Extension Entomologist & Cooperative Extension Specialist. Education: B.S. Plant Science, University of California, Davis Ph.D. Entomology, University of California, Berkeley Appointment: 100% Cooperative Extension Research Interests: Integrated pest management of landscape, agricultural and garden pests; biological control of arthropod pests; alternatives to pesticides; adoption of alternative practices by practitioners; innovative delivery of pest management information. Topics discussed in the Integrated Pest Management Lecture: * IPM references and resources * Preventing pest problems * Natural common enemies * Making less toxic pesticide choices * Controlling aphids, scales, caterpillars, coddling moths, tree borers, snails and slugs, and lawn insects. You can watch the programs now online: Just make sure you have Real Player installed or download it free. Integrated Pest Management Part1 90 minutes Integrated Pest Management Part 2 90 minutes You'll want to bookmark the following link to Professor Flint's Lab Research on: Controlling Pests in Gardens and Landscapes: Vegetables and Melons I promise you'll learn one or two things to put in your gardening bag of pest management arsenals. ;) On Watering Some people want to customize the water for every plant. It's ambitious to try to give each plant the exact amount of water it needs but not practical or necessary. Even if someone gave you a chart, it would still depend on the quality and friability of your soil as well as the stage of the plant. So long as you have good drainage, the plants will take what water they need. General rule of thumb is that gardens require one inch of water per week by supplementing rainfall. You will have to adjust throughout the season and be attentive to the amount of rainfall you receive each week. There are two schools of thought on watering. Frequent shallow waterings or less frequent long, deep waterings. The general rule of thumb is that mature plants need 1-2 inches of rain per week in summer. You should provide whatever portion of this moisture is lacking. One inch of rain equals 65 gallons per 100 square feet of garden space. But this is just a guide. Time of the season, stage of the plants, soil composition, and many other factors affect the amount of water required. Be consistent during fruit production. Mulched plants require less water than plants that are not mulched. Raised beds require more than non-raised beds. If a good amount of compost is incorporated into the soil, less water is needed. Compost holds 6 times it's weight in water. Watering too frequently and too heavily is just as hard on plants as too little water. Roots require oxygen just as much as they require water and nutrients. Dry winds dehydrate plants. Cooler temps require less water. Those using drip irrigation whether from a soaker hose or milk jug are likely getting the best use of their water which is going right where it needs to go and the ground has time to absorb it. There are hundreds of methods of watering. Whatever you do, just be consistent. But I do agree, twice a day sounds like too much. Roots require oxygen equally as much as they require nutrients and water. I personally believe in a couple of deep waterings per week with the use of 2 inches of mulch to reduce evaporation and maintain a more stable soil temperature. Plants recover from dehydration much better then they ever recover from the roots being suffocated by drowning so under watering is better than over watering until you get the hang of it. Oxygen is equally as important as water and nutrients and rain water is always better than municipal tap water.

Watermelons! I never would have thought they could bother those. I am surprised they aren't eating your wife's tomatoes. Maybe the hot peppers being next to the tomatoes is deterring them. I did try making a garlic and hot pepper solution that I sprayed on the onions and soil. I think it worked for a day or two, but after that the voles were back at the onions. They are eating my onions, potatoes, and asparagus. I expect they will get into the sweet potatoes too. I never expected anything to want to eat the onions, that one surprised me!

Ah, 2-4D not WD40....I kinda wondered-it would just be TOO handy if ya could spritz weeds with WD40 :) We farm, and the guys use 2-4D in the fields. I found out the evils of chinese lanterns in a perennial bed just as they were beginning to bloom. I pulled mine out, then watched for new growth. The younger and more tender the growth is, the faster and better it will take up the Round-up. It will take less chemical, which is always a good thing, and you don't run the risk of the plant developing a resistance to Round-up...something that's getting to be a big problem in the farming world. You want to time the round-up application for the period of fastest growth. Say, for example, you pull them all, then get a nice rain, or water the bed. Those shoots are going to pop out and grow like gangbusters...that's when you nail 'em. A few drops of round-up in the growing point will get you just as far as spraying the matured, toughened up leaves. A weed that's gotten pretty well full grown and then say, goes through a period of drought, toughens up and is much harder to kill. And, that opens up the door for Round-up resistance :) Also, the smaller the plant is, the easier it is to hit only the desired weed without drift onto the plants you DO want. I bought a sprayer at Wally-world this year that has a funnel looking thing on the end of it. Kinda like a gas chamber for the little buggers. Whatever route you decide to go to eliminate them, good luck...with some patience you'll be rid of them. Brenda

OK I know this is not the "organic" forum, but when you said round up did you mean Round-Up? No need for that! How raised beds and the lasagna method? Make a few at a time...3-5 feet wide by however long you want. Scrounge some cardboard boxes (the bigger the better) from grocery or home improvement stores. Soak the cardboard well, and cover with grass clippings, mulch, straw, leaves etc and start planting. The grass underneath will just die and add more organic matter to the soil. If you don't want to spend (or don't have) money for raised beds, just build the piles right on the ground. Lay the cardboard and just pile the stuff on. You can gradually end up covering up all (or most) of your lawn. You could leave grass paths the width of your mower, or you could eventually cover the whole lawn. Just make sure you put down a good layer of cardboard or newspaper to keep the grass from growing up, and keep adding all the organic material you can come up with. Watch the curbs for grass clippings and leaves. Kathy in Illinois