January 28, 2916
You might say I cut my teeth on cut worms. This is the number
one bug that started my steep learning curve of West Texas Bugs. There just
were not many bugs in central Oregon and this really showed me (unknowingly)
what kind of a very rude awakening I was in for.
It was my broccoli crop that I so diligently planted a whole
row of very nice plants that I had started. Like in Oregon, I planted them and
then mulched around them. I dusted off my hands and thought of my soon to be
bountiful harvests. In short order my beautiful broccoli plants were apparently
growing in reverse. I was for a loss so I pulled back the mulch and there laid
my problem. There were easily a half dozen cutworms around each of my plants
and the plants were getting eaten into oblivion.
This was well before I had discovered agribon or figured that
broccoli along with the rest of the brassica family do better as a fall planted
and over wintered crop.
What I did then was to pull back the mulch and sprayed Bt. I
then had to do some follow up spraying along with hand picking. The crop was
never very bountiful. Since I had planted in the spring, the season got way too
warm for broccoli and was soon covered with aphids. This is what did the
broccoli in.
The first thing I did was to devise a planting schedule so
that my garden plants are growing in the season that best fits their needs. I
feel our springs are too short for traditional spring crops to be planted and
expect them to mature. Fall planting works better for me.
Soon I did discover agribon and I would completely cover the
bed as an exclusion barrier. This is ALWAYS done immediately after planting and
mulching the bed.
The fabric does make a very nice habitat for aphids. Aphids
are very fond of brassicas. What I do is spray with cold pressed neem oil.
Timing is critical, if you can control the aphids just before the weather turns
cold (this has been very variable of late), the aphids can be controlled until
the harvest is complete. This timing coincides with the little ants going
dormant. They will farm aphids for the honeydew and actually will locate them
on the plants. A nice clue to spray is if all the ant mounds are quiet.
Recently I discovered that the cut worm is the larvae of
millers. The little moths that so annoyingly buzz the bedroom light when you
are in bed reading. So having the exclusion on during the night keeps them away
but allows for bed work in the day. This is a very good reason to identify and
learn the pest’s life history. It can help make your gardening experience
easier and more enjoyable.
Questions? I can be contacted at markdirtfarmer@gmail.com. Or more
garden notes at redwagonfarm.blogspot.com
No comments:
Post a Comment