Good morning how odd to be seeing first instar (just hatched) of grasshoppers. I had actually noticed them way before the ¼ inch rain that the garden received. All of them have been in my beds. Insects need moisture in order to hatch. The dry year of 2011 was a bug free year since the region only received less than five inches for the year.
This has puzzled me. How are these hoppers able to hatch? All I am able to figure is they must be getting the moisture from my drip system. It is the only regular water that would be available. There are not very many of them and most that I see are easily dispatched. I am curious if anyone else has noticed this too.
Another observation is there are a few striped and spotted cucumber beetles inside some of my squash flowers. Most flowers are checked for being female flowers so that I can hand pollinate until the garden becomes a buzz with bees. Scott Wasserman of the Bee Wranch brought me two hives and I am beginning to see a greater bee presence. Cucumber beetles are a formidable foe. I have been using Mycotrol (an organic soil borne bacteria pesticide) on them and it appears that they are not increasing in numbers.
I was hoping not to see many bugs this year what with the cold that we did receive this past winter.
There have not been any over wintered adult grasshoppers. All the hoppers I have observed are this year’s hatch. Eggs are the safest way for any bug to overwinter. There is no clue as to whether the beetles overwintered or hatched. Cucumber beetle’s eggs are laid in the soil, hatch, the grubs then feed on plant roots, pupate and then emerge as adults. We have three varieties of cucumber beetles. Two are variations of spots and the third is stripped. Only the stripped is an exclusive cucurbit feeder (squash/melon family).
It is rapidly approaching that time of year when millers start flying around lights of an evening. This species of moth’s caterpillar is the common cutworm that wreaks havoc on seedlings and young plants. I find that millers get tangled in my fabric trying to access my beds. A lot expire but a lot become easy targets.
A very favorable observation is there have not been any squash bugs to date.
I am still hoping that this year will not be an over the top bug year, what with the cold we had. It is prudent to be on the lookout in any case.
As for the garden I have sown the last planting of tomatoes. I hope to out plant them sometime in June. Some of the okra is close to 6 inches tall and showing the first blossoms. My last pea bed is doing well and is loaded with blossoms too. It is my hope that I can harvest this bed before it gets tooooo hot. It is May after all. It is with great hope that the bean harvest starts in earnest this week. The first cherry tomatoes ripened. These were some residual fruit that didn’t get slammed with the last freeze. At least all the toms are covered in blooms at this time and tomatoes are on the way. The zucchini’s and yellow squash are starting to come on quite nicely and I should be able to list them soon. This week will be the first harvest out of my new planting of kale and chard. Not sure how big of one it will be.
Wednesday was my "all things but peas and beans" harvest. There are a number of winter veggies that finished and a even more succession plantings that are "just about" ready for harvest. Today is when I harvest beans, peas and squash. Depending on the number of orders there could be duplicates to fill orders and at the worst I will only bill for that portion of the order I do fill. I am hoping this will all be mute next week.
Any way exciting times with great bounties around the corner.
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