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Garden dilemas
Several questions below. I'd love comments on all these problems
(just delete what you don't respond to). I have half my veggies planted so far. Already many of my eggplant leaves have become lace, and the potatos and beans somewhat... from the flea beetles. I have already seen two squash bugs (look like little yellow lady bugs). The strange disease or pest, mystery killer, that hits everything has not yet appeared this year. So what to do? In previous years when the mystery killer (MK) hit my beans, I used Raid, which helped. I never used it after any flowers or fruit appeared on anything. Then I was told that heavy metals, etc., in Raid are actually sucked up into the plants and into the fruit, from the soil. Then I used Sevin Powder which helped with the flea beetles, but a neighbor is a beekeeper and posted to our neighborhood listserv to ask that no one use Sevin Powder. Also, I see the birds hoping about in the garden, and many frogs and toads. Won't they eat the bugs dying from the Sevin or Raid, or whatever, and die themselves? I have long ago given up trying to grow anything where one actually eats the leaves (except basil). They are always lace. (Chard, lettuce, spinach, etc) About twice a day I have been squishing the flea beetles. I managed to catch and squish (eeeewwwww) two squash beetles, but they are wary and get away a lot. Also, they eat much faster than I can squish and there are lots of big holes in the bean leaves from the squash beetles already... and these are only the first two leaves on each plant. Also I see some tiny green fly on everything, that is so wary, it always flies (not hops) away before I get close. Are those hurting the plants? MK (the mystery killer) is the big problem. It has actually killed in some cases, over two or three years of trying, my butterfly bushes, a mulberry tree, beans, tomatoes (or that could be wilt), some years basil, many kinds of flowers, my pomelo tree, spice bush, roses, maimed my jade plant, etc. I took some samples to an Ag.Ext.Disease workshop and showed the presenter and he said, "Wow". He then said he didn't know anything about citrus (but my pomelo was only one of the many hurt plants and the rest were all common) and moved on. With Japanese beetles, I just flick them into a can of water with dishsoap in it. No problem there and numbers have vastly decreased over the years. Also, someone here asked about a pepper plant problem a while back. The leaves all became very distorted (like putting a hot iron on rayon) and no fruit was produced. I've had a few pepper plants with this. And now I am seeing it happen on a number of peppers that are still in their little seedling pots. (I guess I won't even try to put those in the garden). Generally peppers have been the only really encouraging things I can grow. Thanks for any help, and sorry for the verbosity. Kira |
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