Washingtonians Come Together! Washington Peeps

[Manningjw]

I also would like to share some pictures of my little Mini Aussie, Maila and my Cinco de Mayo chicks I hatched this year:

 

[JennysHens]

Has anyone noticed what trees these pillers like to eat on ?
We had Mulberries before, and the silk worms would infest & make beautiful tents....pure silk........but they infested no other trees.
Maybe the best thing to do is remove the trees they like, and plant something else in it's place once & for all.

Seems to be pretty much anything out here, at the moment. Last year, it was exclusively my apple trees and my neighbor's saw them in their cherry trees. This year seems to be a free for all! My apples got hit, but so did my plum and rose bushes out front. Saw them in my peony too! They're all over the neighbor's fruit trees, I've seen them in some of the maple trees down the road... they're just particularly bad this year. We didn't get a good cold winter, that seems to be what everyone is blaming it on. This is only my second spring out here so I'm not too sure exactly what they're after or what makes them better/worse.

I have a family of starlings that eat their weight in caterpillars and grubs. BT works great on them as well! And if you encourage parasitic wasps with your flower plantings... you will wipe them out for ACRES surrounding your house!

We have a family of starlings in the neighbor's roof (they have some sort of vent for their attic, momma's living in there and raising a batch!) but they don't seem to have much interest, which is a shame. Neither do the song birds, the robins, or blackbirds I get in the yard. I wonder if that's part of the problem with their spread - nothing eats them! We tried to just cut them away first this year, as soon as we saw the nests but that wasn't enough so we've brought out the BT and it's working wonders. Encouraging the wasps is something I haven't heard of - is there a specific species I should research into attracting? I'm terrified of the boogers (one got caught in my hair as a kid, stung me 9 times on my ear!) but if it'll clear out the pests I'm game. As long as it won't discourage the bees I've coaxed in, that is! I love my big woolie bumbles all over the garden haha

 

[Chickielady]

I also would like to share some pictures of my little Mini Aussie, Maila and my Cinco de Mayo chicks I hatched this year:

Oh she is gorgeous ! Where did you get her ?

 

[Chickielady]

I guess I am lucky, I have never seen any tent pillers here, ever.
Maybe it is due to the constant humidity to the point of rain in just fog...you know how it can get so foggy it is tiny droplets that even blow sideways ?
That kind of moisture can seriously screw up a tent system.
I have seen my fruit trees producing like gangbusters this year !
10x more than usual...pears have never had a pear and this year are LOADED...same with the apples...Peaches loaded last year are once again loaded this year...no wormies.
have any of you done pruning and winter oil spray ?
I have been using Neem Oil for my winter (dormant) spray rather than insecticidal chemicals, and I am having really good luck.
I have also used Neem oil spray when we had the red mite attack from hell 2 years ago, and it worked fantastic !

And I worry about the bees, so listen to this:

http://www.discoverneem.com/neem-bees-beneficial-insects.html

 

[sphinxface]

Has anyone noticed what trees these pillers like to eat on ?
We had Mulberries before, and the silk worms would infest & make beautiful tents....pure silk........but they infested no other trees.
Maybe the best thing to do is remove the trees they like, and plant something else in it's place once & for all.

I never actually saw their tents in our yard but we have an empty lot with trees next to us, I think that's where they came from.. Not much we can do. They don't seem to devour anything so at least there is that.. I just find them gross ;(

 

[CarolynF]

I guess I am lucky, I have never seen any tent pillers here, ever.
Maybe it is due to the constant humidity to the point of rain in just fog...you know how it can get so foggy it is tiny droplets that even blow sideways ?
That kind of moisture can seriously screw up a tent system.
I have seen my fruit trees producing like gangbusters this year !
10x more than usual...pears have never had a pear and this year are LOADED...same with the apples...Peaches loaded last year are once again loaded this year...no wormies.
have any of you done pruning and winter oil spray ?
I have been using Neem Oil for my winter (dormant) spray rather than insecticidal chemicals, and I am having really good luck.
I have also used Neem oil spray when we had the red mite attack from hell 2 years ago, and it worked fantastic !


And I worry about the bees, so listen to this:

http://www.discoverneem.com/neem-bees-beneficial-insects.html

I've started using neem oil this year in my garden. And I found information that supported what they said at the end of that article....
Quote:
A booklet put out by Cornell University was full of good info. too. It brought together info from a lot of studies done for Organic Farming and neem oil was one of the treatments discussed. It's aimed at commercial growers so they can more easily determine what's effective for various crops so they don't waste their time and money chasing their tail, so to speak. I can't absorb that much information all at once, but what I took away was that Neem Oil is especially effective on Brassicas (kale, cabbage, etc), aphids, and powdery mildew. I'm especially interested to see how it works on zuccini leaves when they start getting mildew! Here's the link to the booklet.

I'm really glad to here that it worked on the red mites! Did you use a stronger concentration or have to use it multiple times? Do you use it now for general pest control in the coops?

 

[Chickielady]

I've started using neem oil this year in my garden. And I found information that supported what they said at the end of that article....

A booklet put out by Cornell University was full of good info. too. It brought together info from a lot of studies done for Organic Farming and neem oil was one of the treatments discussed. It's aimed at commercial growers so they can more easily determine what's effective for various crops so they don't waste their time and money chasing their tail, so to speak. I can't absorb that much information all at once, but what I took away was that Neem Oil is especially effective on Brassicas (kale, cabbage, etc), aphids, and powdery mildew. I'm especially interested to see how it works on zuccini leaves when they start getting mildew! Here's the link to the booklet.

I'm really glad to here that it worked on the red mites! Did you use a stronger concentration or have to use it multiple times? Do you use it now for general pest control in the coops?

No I mixed it as recommended & sprayed all premisis, walls, ceilings, roosts, etc.
The cool part about Neem is it stays put, and will continue to smother long after you spray it on a surface, where as Sevin, once dry, has no effect on insects & is even nastier to bees.
I look at Neem as an organic insecticide...if that is something you can imagine...and I like the smell...
Awesome used on my frueit trees instead of Volk oil mixed with sevin...I just used Neem now.

 

[jkbfarm]

Gah!!! Waiting for the baby to fall asleep so I can candle my eggs...

 

[Manningjw]

Oh she is gorgeous ! Where did you get her ?

I got her from a breeder in Oakville, WA. I don't know if she still breeds them or not, she lost her husband just after the litter of puppies Maila came from. I wish I could connect with the other owners of the pups from her litter but it was her husband's cell phone number I had and I presume is no longer in service.

 

[MrsSalo]

My first baby chicks have arrived!! I ordered 15 brown egg layers,2 Welsummers, and they were shipping 1 rare breed for free from McMurray. I got a notice that they replaced the Welsummers with 3 Dark Cornish...I was bummed. Then when I got them home, one little baby didn't make it

. But, we still had 19. And it looks like I still got the Welsummers! They are the only ones I can make out.

I am so excited! They are doing great. So far only 1 pasty butt.