Insects like the same plants we humans do. When I planted sesame, it came with its own pest, a worm that ate the insides of the seed pods. When I planted brown and yellow mustards for seed, they, too, came with their own insect pests.
We into the season of flea beetles on eggplant, aphids on tomatoes and potato beetles on potatoes. Some pests, like aphids on tomatoes, spread fungus and wilt. So this week we began spraying weekly with super fine oil spray, alternating with Safer Soap spray. Additionally, I had Adam making sticky cup traps for placing next to the eggplants and tomatoes. In just 2 days the yellow cups had attracted hundreds of flea beetles and aphids.
The system is simple. I cut some stakes about 15 inches long. Wearing rubber gloves, Adam covered the outsides of the yellow plastic cups with Taglefoot (available in most garden and hardware stores). Once covered on the outside, he attached the cup, lamp shade style, over the end of the stakes already driven in the ground next to each plant. With a thumbtack pushed through the bottom of the cup into the stake, the trap was complete. The traps will have to be replaced with new ones in two or three weeks. The traps cut down on the pest population very quickly and the spraying keeps them under control.
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3 comments:
What kind of oil do you spray ? Is it dormant oil? Where is Blue Eye?
I grow tomatoes,peppers,cabbage,squash,potatoes,corn ,basil ,strawberries, sage,oregano,chives and tons of flowers. I live in Rogers, Ar.
The oil spray is Super Fine Oil Spray which is available in lots of garden centers. It suffocates the insects that you are targeting.
Blue Eye is halfway between Eureka Springs, AR and Branson, MO.
Jim,
Great ideas! I have a winter squash plant that is already baring fruit but is getting attacked by cucumber beetles and another beetle, I think it's a darkling beetle. Do you think the oil spray would be effective for them? I live in Petaluma, CA.
Thanks!
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