What did you do in the garden today?

[pennyJo1960]

Morning Gardeners we are deep heat wave here the likes western state has never seen my springy active pup is laying on side not moving.. Dogs are smart that way ..
Chickens will get frozen treats the next three days more

 

[Fishychix]

Sorry about the pix. I couldnt steady the phone very well. I thought aphids too at first but since they are brown as well, I wasnt too sure. I had that same thought about variety but ... I will get the soap out

Not really sure what you are dealing with in those pictures because my old eyes are not so good anymore. I see little white spots which I think might be aphids. If so, I have successfully used dish soap with water in a spray bottle to treat infected plants. Evidently, the aphids hate the soapy water but the stuff does not harm the plants. Might work on other bugs as well. If not, then you could move on to other options. But I agree that the least harsh effective method is the one I would prefer.

I once attended a gardening meeting and the Master Gardener had the philosophy that if the bugs overran her garden, she would just let it go and start planning for next year. Some years bugs are worse than other years, and she was not going to spend time fighting nature. She felt the best defense was to plant a variety of plants because bugs in one year might attack certain plants, but other plants might be thriving that year.

 

[Fishychix]

So I'm already thinking about next year's garden and what I want to do differently.

YES!

 

[pennyJo1960]

Aphids can be ridden of with Dawn dish soap 10 to 1 with water kills them

 

[Mutchi]

I found ot my goats are eating the flowers! I found hoof prints in the dirt and a little bite mark in a flower!

this makes me mad !
Now for the next part.
I started pulling weeds again cus I didn't get it done fully yesterday!
But the question of all times! What type of plant is this?

 

[Mutchi]

Ih, we also had such a beautiful bloom ! I have no idea what type of flower it is, but it's so pretty ! If you don't mind, could you tell the type of it?

 

[Mutchi]

Ih, we also had such a beautiful bloom ! I have no idea what type of flower it is, but it's so pretty ! If you don't mind, could you tell the type of it?

 

[Sooner Magnolia]

Mine seem to be responding to the soap spray I made with fels naptha. Grated 1/4 cup (1/4 bar) and added to 1 quart of warm water to make concentrate. To use the concentrate, add 1 tsp to a 32 oz spray bottle. I also added a little ACV in case plants had any fungus.

This is the recipe for the soap concentrate I made last year. Apparently, real soap fatty acids dissolve their soft bodies better, but don't hurt beneficial insects. I mixed like 1/2 tsp of neem oil instead of ACV this time. Still have lots of soap concentrate. Probably 50 years worth in my jar

 

[Sooner Magnolia]

So I'm already thinking about next year's garden and what I want to do differently.

First of all, what has worked well....
* - the PVC underground drainage pipes for watering

* - the recycled feed bags used as landscape fabric and covered by mulch to keep weeds down SIGNIFICANTLY

* - insect netting over the hoop house to keep squash bugs and most other nasties out. Didn't work against whiteflies and aphids but I can work with that!

So, what I'd like to do differently.... My inground garden isn't very big. Maybe 20 ft x 20 ft? I'm thinking about making a greenhouse frame from PVC around the whole thing. Keep the hoop house inside the greenhouse frame but cover the ENTIRE greenhouse frame with insect netting. Then leave the hoop house UNCOVERED inside and use it as a hoop trellis for cukes and stuff.

I'd still put the PVC in the ground again but I could also use some PVC along the bottom of the greenhouse frame.

Thoughts?

I'm only wondering how your beneficial pollinators would get in.

 

[Sooner Magnolia]

It is a lily. Bloom looks like my tiger lily, but I think the leaves indicate daylily