we’ve been having more issues with bugs. Not surprising since bugs go where the food is, and gardens have lots of food and great environments.
So, decided to buy beneficial nematodes this year. I’ve bought them one other time and applied them 1x. This time I’ve ordered a subscription for 1x per month, ending in Sept (or cancel anytime). Hopefully we can knock back the population and then only get them 1x next year.
The hardest part is keeping everything moist.
I don’t see grasshoppers on this list, so I’ll need to try to see what I can do to manage those. There is a bacterium for controlling grasshoppers: NOLO bait, but apparently only 3 companies ever produced it, now the only one still considered to be in production hasn’t made any for a couple of years due to contamination issues.
Overall, just trying to knock back the populations to be minor, vs easily noticeable and problematic.
One pest problem I cannot control is the one my neighbor creates. He tosses out a pumpkin to rot in a corner of his garden. This grows random pumpkins..unchecked, not sprayed, and teeming with squash bugs, so much that you can see movement from a distance. This is also a host spot for SVB. So, no doubt there are lots of SVB pupae in his ground. I did start my trap crops this year, and I plan to put them into large containers that I can move. So, hopefully this will help to keep SVB away from my main squash.