What did you do in the garden today?

[fuzzi]

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I said a little prayer for my Clivia. This is the second time they have been ravaged by this caterpillar... the chickens dont appear too keen to eat them either.
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Army worms, I think. I got those last year, first time ever. I picked them off my tomatoes and peppers, then hand fed them to my chickens, who discovered that the worms were pretty tasty. I picked the worms off my plants every day, sometimes every time I went outside. Eventually they disappeared.

 

[Nym]

Army worms, I think. I got those last year, first time ever. I picked them off my tomatoes and peppers, then hand fed them to my chickens, who discovered that the worms were pretty tasty. I picked the worms off my plants every day, sometimes every time I went outside. Eventually they disappeared.

Thanks, I'll give ita go!

 

[cj2024]

Thank you. I have some tropical soil mix and wasn't sure if that would work or not.

Pineapple plants kind of reminds me of cactus plants. They are easy to grow, I think they will grow in tropical soil mix.

 

[fuzzi]

Thanks, I'll give ita go!

Here's a picture of what I had, they look similar:
https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/what-did-you-do-in-the-garden-today.670277/post-26967557

 

[Eagle343]

Got the tomatoes seeds, pepper, onions, egg plants all started in the basement. got to push to have them on their way.

 

[Nym]

What do I have all over my pepper and tomato plants? They're skeletonizing the leaves and are burrowing into my green tomatoes!

Tiny caterpillars, less than 1/2 inch, gray striped with red heads. They're new to me:
View attachment 3554471
I picked off dozens, fed them to my flock.

I just tried to give them some and no deal! The Araucana had a few and I often see her busy in the mulch under the Clivia, where they apparently hide during the day, so maybe she had been eating a good lot of them. the bantams just looked at me and walked off. Snoots.

 

[Minanora]

I bred albino Bristlenose plecos until I got tired of driving 2+ hours just to sell them. I now have 3 tanks just for my pleasure, with Kuhli loaches, brown Kuhli loaches, Red Cherry shrimp, and a school of Ember tetras, love'em!

I've not fed any of my fish to my chickens, but when I recently found a dead minnow in my pond it was offered to and enthusiastically accepted by one of the hens.

I have three tanks for my pleasure as well. All planted. One 75g, one 45g breeder, and a 5g orange neocaradina only tank. My 75 gallon has three stripe cories (sucessfully accidently breeding), a school of harlequin rasboras, mutt guppies (color culls that I'm still breeding out for stronger spines and smaller "delta" tails), a single Betta fish named "Mr Swimmy", neocaradina orange "culls", and some otos. The 45g has my breeding colony of black saddle guppies, yellow neocaradina shrimp, a school of lemon tetras, a clown pleco we rarely see, panda cories that breed steadily, and a breeding group of otos. Their spawns don't usually make it into adulthood, but a few have! The only thing I breed on purpose is the guppies, I got tired of seeing these poor overbred fish that have week backs, and huge tails they can't support. So, I picked a strain, and I'm slowly turning it into my perfect guppy.

I never thought I'd be okay with feeding my culls to the chickens but I don't want them reproducing, I don't want people to breed them, and well, I got covid and couldn't keep up with all the work across the 10 tanks I topped out at trying to let fish "retire" It's just impossible with guppies. Haha.

Today some more seeds sprouted. I didn't take any photos, sick as a dog and could hardly muster the strength to water anything, then I was finally able to eat something and after a few hours I coughed so hard that I gave it all to the porcelain god. So now I rest! I'll take photos in the morning, I'm sure more pumpkins and squash will sprout in the night.

 

[Minanora]

What do I have all over my pepper and tomato plants? They're skeletonizing the leaves and are burrowing into my green tomatoes!

Tiny caterpillars, less than 1/2 inch, gray striped with red heads. They're new to me:
View attachment 3554471
I picked off dozens, fed them to my flock.

What you have there appears to be a tomato fruitworm; Helicoverpa (Heliothis) zea. They come in MANY colors and sizes. For management of those you could get some parasitic wasps to release, Trichogramma, or Hyposoter. Though it could be a Beet Webworm; Loxostege sticticalis. But I think it's more likely the prior.

 

[Minanora]

Army worms, despicable little things.

They could be; if that is what they are, BT works okay; hand picking works, Hyposoter works, Trichogramma doesn't work for those, but you can also use bacillus thuringiensis or spinosad.

 

[Minanora]

FYI my recommendations are based on organic pest management practices from the university of California UC statewide integrated pest management program.