Dear Carol and Mary Ann, et al.,
Can you believe we’ve reached week 17 in our vegetable journey?
This week is all about bugs. With the extremely warm weather, the insects both good and bad are doing their bit in the garden. I don’t yet have squash bugs (I hate to type that for fear that I will jinx the poor zucchini), but I do have squash vine bores which are almost as bad. Now, I didn’t take a photo of the damage because I was up to my waders in muck from the rain soaked soil and weeds. I was afraid I would get dirt in my lens. I already broke one Nikon lens this week, and if this other one goes down, I am lost. Squash vine borers are a real drag because the stupid moth lays an egg inside the leaf stems or the vine itself, and unless you want to inject Bt into the stem (which I don’t), you just have to remove the infected leaves. Or, you can slit the stem and remove the larvae. Then, you hope for the best. You can dust Bt around the plants, but I’ve not found that to be all that effective.
I also have hornworms. Giant, ugly, green worms that can defoliate an entire tomato plant in a week or two. I found one today, and with pleasure, I cut it in half.
A tomato stem stripped by a hornworm
I also have dratted cucumber beetles. So far, none of them have found the cukes. I don’t know why.
I tied up all of the tomato vines today and worked on Rosa ‘New Dawn’ because she was again trying to take over the garden. I use both tomato cages & tripods. I also have a new structure this year which is like a large cage made of those green bamboo-type stakes. I like how tall it is. I don’t have to tie the tomatoes to it. Because it is green, it doesn’t show up like the other metal cages. It is very sturdy, and once the season is over, it folds up for storage. So far, it is my favorite.
Dysphania ambrosioides, Epazote, growing next to the beans
I’ll leave you with a photo of a plant which I wish had never placed its roots in my soil. Dysphania ambrosioides, Epazote a/k/a Mexican tea, Wormseed and Jesuit’s tea, is an herb native to South America and Mexico. I used to buy herbal plants from a guy in the country, and one year, he said I needed Epazote for my garden. Well, I bought it along with garlic chives, a plant that I’ve also tried to eradicate, but it has escaped my garden. Anyway, I was told Epazote was used to season bean dishes in Mexico, and that is true. However, at the time, some of our Hispanic employees were helping us to build our split rail fence and one of the men was so concerned about my new plant that he went to HH. He told HH that Epazote was a weed, and it would take over my garden. HH later gave me this information, but being such an expert (ha!) I thought, oh no, it won’t spread here. It will die in the winter.
Moral of the story. If you’re about to plant something which is native to another region, and someone from that region tells you not to plant it, heed his/her warning.
See ya next week,
I was just reading a similar post about not heeding warnings on another blog. I hate to say it, but gardeners are like toddlers and hot stoves when it comes to plant advice. You can say “don’t touch!” all you want, but it seems we always think we will be the exception to the rule and end up learning the hard way. (Or why else do I continue to plant full sun plants in my mostly shady garden, confident that somehow the label doesn’t apply to me?)
Dee, it’s a shame the tomato hornworms don’t like Epazote! Good luck eradicating both those pests!
.-= Cindy, MCOK´s last blog ..Through the Garden Gate: Monday, June 29th =-.
Whoops, I meant to say herbicide:)
.-= Rose´s last blog ..Annual Garden Walk: "Rooms With a View" =-.
That’s certainly a good moral to remember. It’s been very hot here, too, but the worst bugs we have right now are the Japanese beetles that arrived last week. They’re decimating my hollyhocks. I haven’t seen any pests in the garden yet, but I’m on the lookout. I hate those huge tomato worms!
Your flowers are certainly looking lovely; if the natural pesticide you mention in your last post works, I hope you’ll post info on it some time.
.-= Rose´s last blog ..Annual Garden Walk: "Rooms With a View" =-.
Dee, The bugs have been bad here, too…The wet spring and too warm June have invited them to make themselves at home….and they are trying to defoliate many plants! The Tomato Horn worm is a big ugly creature…glad you caught it!
Yes, if only I had listened to the gardener who gave me a thug to plant in the garden! gail
.-= Gail´s last blog ..Could You Leave Your Garden? =-.
Dee, would diatomaceous earth work on your pesky pests?
.-= MA´s last blog ..Week 17, Dear Friends and Gardeners =-.
MA, it’s worth a try.~~Dee
Good moral to that story. We never seem to learn, though, and always think we can control the plants.
On the bugs, you are ahead of me so far. Knock on wood, no squash vine borers or tomato hornworms yet, but it is just a matter of time before they get here. Same with the Japanese beetles. They are due any day now; in fact, I think they are late!
Week 17, unbelievable in a way. It still seems like the garden is just getting going.
.-= Carol, May Dreams Gardens´s last blog ..Letters to Gardening Friends, June 28, 2009 =-.