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Help Needed - Pests
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Off the top of my head, as you say it suggests something different from an animal attack. Making a blind analysis is not very scientific but suggests either an insect or bacterial attack and is getting obviously more widespread. You have a garden in the city? Countryside? Any particular continent?
Having just taken up gardening such a setback must be a disappointment - when my own humble plot or plant does not perform, I feel it!
Don't give up! But anyone will need more information even to make a guesstimate!
Good luck! I'm sure it can be solved!
Ann wrote: "I am new to gardening and was doing really well until my green leafy vegetables has holes in them. It is as though something is eating them up and I don't believe it is an animal. Is there someth..."Sounds like bugs of some kind. Have you looked on the under side of the leaf? That's where they live and eat from. It's rare to find them on top of the leaves. Holes are usually a bug of some kind feasting on the foliage.
My best advice to you right now is to make a solution of 1 part dish soap to 10 parts water and spray everything, making sure to get the under side of the leaves as well. This will take care of aphids, caterpillars and most other pests that eat the foliage. I just had to do this with my raspberries and roses out front last week when I discovered aphids on the roses AND teeny tiny wormy things eating my raspberry foliage.
Jo wrote: "Ann wrote: "I am new to gardening and was doing really well until my green leafy vegetables has holes in them. It is as though something is eating them up and I don't believe it is an animal. Is ..."Thank you for the suggestion. I will give it a try. It is really sad because they were doing so well at first.
Harvey wrote: "Off the top of my head, as you say it suggests something different from an animal attack. Making a blind analysis is not very scientific but suggests either an insect or bacterial attack and is g..."
Thanks for responding. I live in Arizona. I tried some commercial sprays but they just don't seem to work.
When it comes to veggies, try not to use chemical insecticides if you plan on eating what you grow. Try the dish soap & water spray I suggested above (which is safe for veggies, plants & flowers) and you can go to a local nursery as close to where you live and talk to them to see what they suggest and/or ask them for your local Cooperative Extensions contact info and call/email them about what's going on to see if they can help you further. There is a new mass market all natural line but I can't think of the name off hand - when I see the commercial again, I'll post the name.Your veggies can bounce back! But you need to rid them of the pests asap to stop them eating & stressing the plants. (And you may need to spray them 2 or 3 times before they are cpmpletely rid of the pests - not sure if I mentioned that already).
Anyone have any idea why my azaleas are only blooming on the very bottom branches? They have done this several years now. If I can't stop it, I am going to dig them up. Can't appreciate the blossoms when they are dragging in the mulch, hidden by the lilies of the valley...
Do you know what specific kind os azalea they are? Is there new growth on the tops, just no blooms? What do you feed the azalea's?
Growth on top, no blooms, could find the tags, but don't remember what type they are. I just mulch a lot, Iowa soil is so rich don't usually need to feed unless in containers!
I found this article, could give you the reason: http://www.ehow.com/m/info_7966093_az... (This may be the mobile version but even so it can be accessed on regular internet).
Thanks Jo. I never would have thought winter damage, with the snow protecting just the lower branches. They are in a sheltered location, against the house with flagstones in front. I thought they were hardy and in a good spot. Now I don't know what I want to do. I don't want to have burlapped mounds at the very front of my house, just seven feet from the sidewalk... And I am running out of room in the shade since I keep getting new varieties of hostas (often free). Hmmmm. And if I do move them, what can I put along the very front of the house? What to do, what to do...
I have one there, and it hasn't ever bloomed! Must be a variety that blooms on old wood, and old wood doesn't last the winter here. I was going to pot it up this year so I can keep it inside this winter. Maybe I will just go with flowers, or maybe boxwood. They are slow growers, can be kept small.
I love the idea of using natural products like soap and water to kill insects that damage your plants. But just in case you don't mix it right has anyone heard of Garden Safe Fruit and Vegetable Insect Killer? It is suppose to kill a number of insects on contact.
You can also use Neem Oil (which is organic) but you have to spray it on around dusk so the leaves don't get sunburned and you don't kill off any bees. Once it dries, it's no harm to them--but if you have little buggies on their munching away, the neem will get rid of them. I used it on my rose bushes which were covered in aphids. I still get ladybugs, and the aphid population has decreased significantly. It was recommended in my organic gardening book.
Spraying at dusk does not completely eliminate the harm to bees, since some bees from a hive will spend the night out in the fields and gardens. It does minimize it. But make sure it is getting fairly dark, not late afternoon, please! (Former beekeeper)
http://www.goodreads.com/photo/user/4...Three photos of a vine that showed up in my yard. Does anyone know what type it is? About five feet tall so far, with just stalk to the top, but segmented into foot sections with a little leaf at each junction. Leaves have all the veins going from the petiole of the vein in a fan type pattern, but long and slender (like a hosta lanciflora leaf). I have never seen one before and wonder whether I should be aggressively digging it up or nurturing it!
You're asking us? You usually have all the answers! Maybe Jo knows. It doesn't ring any bells with me.
Hm, I'm assuming it's a weed because I've never seen anything like it and it's not in my 'vines & climbers' book but I could be wrong of course!
<---- Does NOT have all the answers, just a lot. (grin)Thanks Jo!
I'm not sure if my invader qualifies as a pest but I have tiny, round, black somethings on a couple of my heads of cabbage. I'm going to try the dishsoap and water spray and see if that has any affect. They don't move so I don't think they're bugs, I'm just not sure what it is. Any ideas?
Could be a type of mold or a disease spot.
Whatever it was it got washed away in the torrential rains we have had. Hopefully that will be the end of it.
Ann wrote: "I am new to gardening and was doing really well until my green leafy vegetables has holes in them. It is as though something is eating them up and I don't believe it is an animal. Is there someth..."Try a "Weed Garden". We have purposely grown (or rather, not mowed) a few small areas around our veggie garden. All of the natural flora & fauna (weeds) are designated to grow there. We've found that the critters which were previously devouring our veggie plants began instead dining on the weeds. Also, the good critters can live in these weed gardens and keep the pesky ones to a bare minimum.
Any thoughts?
GardenSinger wrote: "Ann wrote: "I am new to gardening and was doing really well until my green leafy vegetables has holes in them. It is as though something is eating them up and I don't believe it is an animal. Is ..."This sounds like it would be worth a try. I like that it's a natural solution and also any square inch I don't have to mow is a bonus to me!
Great idea GardenSinger! Also container gardens, like using an old washtub on legs for leafy greens will keep the plants out of reach.
We've got a few wonderful yellow garden spiders that are really helping with the grasshoppers and such. Ladybugs and wasps help with aphids.
I'm still in a mini-war with the japanese beatles, even though our weed gardens have helped a little. These little monsters devour my roses in early summer if I don't consistently go out and take-em down.
The problem has now moved to my beans and are starting on the tomato plants.