Cucumber tree OH champ
bengz6westmd
2 months ago
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bengz6westmd
2 months agoRelated Discussions
Aphids, ants, and flea beetles, oh my
Comments (11)Actually some ants do bring the aphids to the plants, others are opportunistic farmers. It's misleading to talk about ants, or aphids, as if they are all the same. There are thousands of different, unique types of ants in the world and they don't even all eat the same things. There are populations of aphids that are winged and fly to new plants, others are carried by ants. The OP probably has both types occurring. There are some cases where I ignore aphids happening, like trees and sunflowers, since large plants often don't seem to care. Also some populations of aphid are not large enough for me to bother with. Anyway, for the OP's particular case, I would say if the ants ignored the bait, then it isn't the right type of food for them. Baits can be protien based or sugar based. Sugar based baits are probably appropriate for the ants in question, but even that may not be enough to get them to sample it. Since they are feeding on honeydew, it is likely that these ants will go for a bait that is in a liquid or at least gel, form. I think you can find baits and traps online that will work. I made a homemade bait of sugar water and borax that worked pretty well last year, but you have to be careful with the borax. It's pretty much harmless to us and most wildlife, but the plants really don't like excess boron. Don't know if any of that will prove useful to you in the long run, since a lot of what you are seeing sounds environmentally based. But sometimes a little intervention can give a plant enough energy to survive until the weather or soil get to be more copeacetic....See MoreDevoniensis - Oh the agony, Oh the ecstasy
Comments (63)Eight years! Ain't nobody got time for that! I'm not sure I will be alive in eight years. Well, that explains a lot. Mine had an exquisitely perfumed, huge bloom when I got it. But it hasn't done anything (well, unless you count negative growth) since I put it in the ground about six weeks ago except to truly resent all the heavy rain and lack of sunlight since then. Madame Lombard, Madame Rebe, and Blush Noisette are within 3 m of her and they are all happy as clams. I would not have gotten it had I known. I foolishly believed that any tea would be bulletproof here in NC Florida. Live and learn....See Morecucumbers in containers?
Comments (21)Carol, I don't know about cucumbers, but I've done melons in pots, and just let them grow free. I usually put them on the deck though, so there's not a problem mowing around them. Lynda, that gourd picture is amazing! I grew my first gourd last year ... cucuzzi, which is edible, and I think I'm hooked! I am trying to get some old Thai Bottle Gourd (also edible) seeds to germinate this year. Do you cure your gourds and do any crafts with yours? I was able to cure 3 cucuzzi, but haven't done anything with them yet ... still need to clean them. I grew mine up an A-frame, but I love what you did!...See MoreOh, no! Cutworms?
Comments (34)Cutworms can attack everything in sight if they choose to do so. Sometimes the climbing cutworms become discouraged after they climb a few inches and give up before they reach the top of the bamboo skewers. However, some of them will climb above the skewers. Some people use paper plates or aluminum pie pans wrapped in a cylinder around the tomato plant's stem or wrap the stems in foil. I've never had to resort to that, but I've never been hit that hard (well, once, but it was only bean seedlings and it is quick and easy to start over with beans) by cutworms. Climbing cutworms can climb anything and some are known to climb up into fruit trees to cut off fruit, leaves, or flowers. I've never seen that happen in my fruit trees. They operate after dark, so you can go out with a flashlight and see if you can catch them in the act. After they eat, they often burrow into the soil (and not terribly deeply) so if you find a newly damaged plant, you may find the culprit in the soil there near the plant. All of you who are suggesting cardboard or paper collars are correct in thinking they work for subterranean cutworms, but unless you make those collars go above ground up for 4 or 6 or 8 inches or more, they are not effective against the climbing cutworms. I gardened for over 20 years before I ever had problems with a climbing cutworm and they are very hard to combat because they can outclimb anything you use to try to thwart them. I wonder if they are worse now than they were a couple of decades ago, because I always helped my dad, neighbors and relatives with their veggie gardens when I was a kid in the 1960s and 1970s, but I never saw damage from a climbing cutworm and never even saw a climbing cutworm until after we moved to Oklahoma in 1999. One organic remedy is to plant garlic around plants to protect them from cutworms but I haven't tried it myself. I wonder if one of the garlic barrier sprays might repel them? Cutworms are often a problem in spring, but also can continue to be a problem throughout the gardening season because they produce multiple generations in the southern parts of the country. Bt is usually not terribly effective in the short-termm because it takes a day or so for it to affect them enough that they stop eating, but it will save future plants, if not the one they're currently chewing on. Having lots of flowers that attract tiny beneficial wasps (or buying and releasing beneficial wasps) help with all kinds of caterpillar problems because the wasps parasitize caterpillars. The problem is they'll attack caterpillars of desirable butterflies too. I've linked a page from Planet Natural below because it lists several things you can use to control cutworms including sprinkling DE on the ground around your plants or releasing wasps. Most of the products listed by Planet Natural (which, of course, they happen to sell) may be found locally if you have a nursery or farm store that carries a full line of organic products. I've never seen Eco-Bran anywhere except at Planet Natural though. Dawn Here is a link that might be useful: Ideas for Cutworm Control From Planet Natural...See Morebengz6westmd
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