What is scale, and how can a person get rid of scale the ecofriendly way?

If you see small, hard or soft, round or oval bumps on stems, leaves, or fruit, you are probably looking at an adult female hiding under a hard shell and sucking the sap out of your plant.

It can be a soft scale or a hard (armored) scale, but regardless, unless you take steps to get rid of  scale, your plant will wilt and die.
(Click on the pictures to better see the brown hard shell and the honeydew.)

The female scale lays its eggs under her, and when the eggs hatch, the crawling nymphs which have legs crawl away to establish themselves in another spot.

Pretty soon not only will the plant’s leaves become yellowed and distorted but also you will notice clear, sticky honeydew (a byproduct of their feeding) on the leaves and even dripping off onto the ground (or floor).

Five Ecofriendly Ways to Get Rid of Scale:

Get Rid of Scale on Outdoor Plants:

1.  Attract native parasites and predators such as lady beetles and parasitic wasps to get rid of scale for you.

2. Scrub scales gently from twigs with a soft brush and soapy water and rinse well

3.  In order to avoid overwintering nymphs from becoming adults, spray with dormant oil in late spring before the trees begin opening their buds.  All fruit trees should get this treatment in late spring to get rid of scale AND other overwintering insect eggs.

(If you want to know more about how to spray with dormant spray, check how to spray fruit trees step by step .  If you want to get ideas on what to use as your spring spray, check fruit tree spray: natural, organic, or natural.)

4.  Prune  and DESTROY branches and twigs that have become significantly infected.  (Do not put in compost).

5.  In the summer,  apply summer horticultural oil or the natural homemade spray identified in Number 2.

Get Rid of Scale on Indoor Plants:

1. If you have a small infectation, you can get rid of scale by scraping the scales off your plants with your fingernail.

2. Alternatively, you can get rid of a small infestation of scale by wiping  down the leaves with a damp cloth.

3.  Some people take a cotton swab or even a never-used small facial sponge, dip it in alcohol, and then dot each scale to get rid of the scale.  Be sure to include the underside of the pot where some immature insect may be hiding.

4.  Another way to get rid of scale is to mix 1 tsp of all purpose biodegradable chemical-free concentrated cleaner with 1 pint of water and spray the plant thoroughly.  Be sure to spray both sides of the leaf.

5.  Finally you can use this  homemade oil spray solution to spray your plant thoroughly:

Now the fact that my plant was attacked by scale insects shows me that my plant is in dire need of nutrients and possibly sun since I was unable to put it out on the balcony all summer. Our balconies are being upgraded, and work has been going on since April 21.

However, it looks like the railings will probably be installed this week so by the end of this week the balconies should be fixed and available. Then before fall and winter sets in, I will put the plant out when it’s sunny so that it can gather energy from the sun and replenish itself.
Hopefully that will put an end to major scale attacks.

Meanwhile, to save the plant, I tried this spray and it worked extremely well at killing the insects. As you can see on this picture, the scales covering the insects seem to have melted somewhat and are not dark brown anymore.  The insects under the scale are dead.  It is now an easy matter to simply wipe off the dead insects from the leaves if you want your plant to fully reflect that you were able to get rid of scale.

Marcie

Please note: You can use my articles on your blog as long as you use it as is without changing any of the text and you include my bio with my website link.

Are there any natural pesticides which are environment friendly?

Yes, there are a select few botanical mixtures which can be considered as the “elite” natural pesticides, for they work well with few drawbacks. These special botanical mixtures do not harm the environment nor do they cause our good bugs any harm.

Whether we like it or not, many natural pesticides are not necessarily kind to the “good bugs”. Such natural pesticides as pyrethrum, rotenone, and sabadilla do not discrimate and do kill pretty well all insects, good or bad, which crawl over the stuff. So wherever possible, one should use one of the following environment-friendly Natural Pesticides.

Five “Elite” Environment-Friendly Natural Pesticides

1. Garlic Spray is an environment-friendly natural pesticide which repels many pests such as aphids, spider mites, and white flies. Not only is it environmentally safe but it is also biodegradable and does not affect flavor. Don’t worry about the garlicky smell when you first spray it. Once it dries, you won’t be able to smell it; however, the pests will and they will stay away from your plants.

2. Hot Pepper Wax is a blend of food-grade paraffin wax, herbs, and capsaicin, the active ingredient in hot peppers. Hot pepper wax is derived from cayenne peppers.

This environment-friendly natural pesticide serves two purposes: 1) Keeps many garden pests such as aphids and whiteflies and other pests which don’t like spicy things away from your plants and 2) protects plants from dry or windy weather.

Since the plants do not absorb this natural pesticide, the flavor of your vegetables are not affected. Before preparing, wash the vegetables under warm running water to clean away any remaining wax.

Caution: When you do your spraying, be careful not to get any of the spray on your skin or in your eyes (wear plastic gloves) because the capsaicin can cause an irritation.

3. Insecticidal Soap is a well known botanical mixture which is most effective on soft-bodied insects such as aphids. To work best, it must remain in contact with the pest for as long as possible, so you may want to use this spray early in the morning or late afternoon/evening when it takes longer to dry.

This environment-friendly natural pesticide a) does not harm most beneficial insects, b) has a low impact on mammals, birds, aquatic organisms, and other wildlife, and c) is damaging to predatory mites and some insects such as hoverflies in their larval stage.

Its main ingredient, potassium salts of fatty acids derived from plants, is what makes this natural pesticide mixture environment-friendly and biodegradable. It works well because the soap spray damages the insects’ cell membranes and causes the vital cellular fluids to leak and the insect to die.

Note: If mixed in water containing high amounts of minerals such as iron or calcium, it may be less effective.

4. Neem, derived from the seeds of the neem tree, has an active ingredient called azadirachtin which blocks the progression of the insect’s life cycle. Although it might take a few days for the effects of the neem to be seen, you will notice that as soon as Neem is applied to the plant, the insects seem to lose their appetite.

As a spray, neem is also extremely environment friendly. It has no effect on beneficials such as butterflies, spider, bees, earthworms, and ladybugs. Moreover, it has little impact on birds, aquatic organisms, fish and mammals, or other wildlife.

You may also use the neem oil insecticidal soap which combines the two products.

5. TOADS: You may laugh because I am including toads as an environment-friendly natural pesticide. However, toads are my favorite “pesticides”, and I will do anything to attract toads into my vegetable and flower gardens.

Toads like to work at night and seem to particularly like slugs and cutworms. However, their meal will include gypsy moth larvae, sowbugs, armyworms, and various beetles, up to 15,000 garden pests a year. Now do you still wonder why I welcome toads to my gardens?

In order to have toads remain in the garden, they will need a cool, dark spot where they can hide in the daytime, a spot from which they can make quick get-aways.

I would take a 5-inch or 10-inch plastic flower pot, cut a big hole on the side and tuck it under a shrub out of sight. Sometimes toads would just make themselves at home under full leaved shrubs without the flower pot.

What is very important is to provide them with fresh cool water every day or every second day. The idea is to keep checking the little container placed out of sight on the ground and refill often to keep the water clean. (A large somewhat deep plastic bottle cover or a small “dip” plastic container works well)

I was constanly amazed at how efficient toads can be! I knew there were toads around when I would check my roses in the morning and find that there were no more aphids on my roses and no ants going up and down the rose stems “farming” and “moving” the aphids around.

Indeed, it is to our benefit to use one of these environment-friendly natural pesticides (spray or otherwise!), wherever possible, to keep the pests out of our gardens. These “elite” environment-friendly Natural Pesticides, the garlic spray, the hot pepper wax, the insecticidal soap, the neem spray, is usually available at any garden nursery or even at Canadian Tire. As for the toads – my favorite type of pesticide — well. . . .good luck!

Marcie

There are good natural sprays for fruit trees which you can use even if you don’t yet have a problem with insects or fungi. It’s easier to keep your plants disease-free than to try to cure them once they’re infected, and this is where a program using natural sprays can play a big part in keeping your trees, especially fruit trees, fungi and insect free. As a matter of fact, you might consider a spraying routine and using natural sprays for your fruit trees  from early spring right on through the summer months.

Every bearing fruit tree should get at least one spraying of a mixture of garden sulfur and horticultural oil early in the spring before leafing occurs in order to kill any overwintering cocoons.

Then throughout the summer, you might want to use the following natural spray recipe on a regular basis in order to keep insects and fungi away from your fruit trees.

My favorite spray is the one suggested by horticulturist and organic gardener Howard Garrett. He says his Wash-Away-Fungi spray packs a punch because it contains four fungus-fighting ingredients, and he is right. I added the Murphy Soap because it helps the spray stick to the leaves and this soap is wood based.

The Wash-Away-Fungi Recipe

In order to create this “Wash-Away-Fungi” recipe, you will need the following:

1-2 cups of compost tea

(Optional if you don’t have any compost which is completely finished)

(If you are spraying edible plants or fruit, do not use tea made from manure compost)

1 tablespoon liquid seaweed (found in plant nurseries)

1 tablespoon blackstrap molasses (the kind you use for cooking)

1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar

1 tablespoon of Murphy soap

1 gallon water

Backpack or pump sprayer

Special Explanations About The Ingredients:

The compost tea, the seaweed, and the molasses not only fight fungal disease in the garden, but all three feed the plant through the leaves (called foliar feeding) especially if you are spraying really early in the morning when the leaf pores are still open.

You needn’t worry about the molasses attracting bugs. I was until I saw how the plants absorb the molasses instantly. Boom it’s gone! The fruit trees just love it!

The acidity of the vinegar helps kill black spot on roses, powdery mildew, brown patch, and other nasty fungi.

Mixing The Ingredients:

It’s easy to do. Just measure and pour the ingredients in the sprayer and mix well.

Hint: I found that if I premix the tablespoon of molasses in a 1/2 cup of very hot water and then pour the whole thing into the sprayer, the molasses mixes better with the rest of the ingredients. I found out the hard way that cold water and molasses don’t mix so well!

If you want your spray to have even more “umph”, add 1 to 1 1/2 tablespoons of baking soda/ potassium bicarbonate or 1/4 cup garlic tea.

To make garlic tea, liquefy 3 bulbs of garlic in a blender and strain out the solids. Pour the garlic juice into a 1-gallon container and fill with water. Shake the garlic juice well before using.

When And How To Do Your Spraying:

1. Do not blast away or you will damage the leaves. Rather, lightly mist the top and the underside of all the leaves and be sure not to drip vinegar on the soil.

2. Do your spraying very early in the morning for two reasons:

a) If you spray when there’s little or no wind, you avoid back spraying yourself or spraying your neighbor’s plants. Yes, you must get up early in the morning to get your spraying done before the wind starts blowing.

(Certain people may argue that usually the wind dies down after 6 pm; however, your trees have just been through a hot day so need time to recuperate. Also the spray must dry before nightfall, and many times at night the humidity is high.)

b) By spraying early in the morning, you avoid damaging the leaves because you are allowing time for the spray to dry before the sun gets hot.

Once you have finished your spraying, clean your sprayer thoroughly.

If you have some kind of a spraying program using natural sprays that both feed and protect your fruit trees, you should have a lot better luck at keeping your trees healthy and fungus free.

Every lawn owner hates the term “White grub in the lawn” for they know that if left untreated, they will end up with no lawn. But what are grubs? More importantly, what is the natural treatment used to get rid of these grubs?

Click on the picture to get an enlarged view.

According to the Wikipedia, “white grubs or grubworms are the larvae of scarab beetles.” Here in Southern Ontario these beetles are usually “June bugs”, but some of these scarab beetles might be Japanese Beetles and every few years there is a population peak of European Chafer Beetle.

The Beetle’s Life Cycle Explained

Let’s briefly consider the beetle’s life cycle. The beetle lays her eggs in the soil during the June/July months. Then by August, the eggs have hatched, and the resulting grubs begin feeding on grass roots until about October when they begin their journey down deeper into the soil where they will overwinter.

Click on the picture to get an enlarged view.

By January they begin their journey back up towards the surface where they can start feeding on roots again, Around May each grub (the larvae) turns into a pupa which in turn emerges as a beetle in June. (I understand the June beetle larvae does 3 years underground before emerging as a beetle.) Soon the beetle is ready to lay its eggs to begin a “new generation” of grub worms.

It’s obviously very important to carefully monitor your lawn in April/May and again from August onward especially if there is a dry spell. The dryer the lawn, the better the grubs like it. Better yet, why not protect your lawn by spraying it with nematodes before the grubs get a chance to taste your lawn’s roots? You can apply the product spring and fall. See explanation below on how easy it is to apply.

So HowDo You Deal With a Damaged Lawn?

Of course by the time you see grub damage in your lawn, it is too late to correct the problem for the year. The grubs have already eaten your grass roots. However you can concentrate on next year’s lawn and begin repairing the damage as follows:

1. Begin by overseeding your lawn.

For more detail, read Organic Lawn Care, steps 6 & 7 at

http://www.plantsandgardeningtips.com/organic-lawn-care/organic-lawn-care

2. Reduce Your Use of Artificial Fertilizers.

The presence of a lot of grubs means you have an unhealthy lawn. Nearly always, the grubs are enjoying your grass roots because they are weak and soft… caused by using too much fertilizer and probably the type that has a high nitrogen number.

“Green up” fertilizers, particularly the liquid ones, force the grass to grow far faster than it would naturally. Local organic turf specialists use far less nitrogen than is recommended on most fertilizer bags.

The solution is to mow high, often and lightly, and leave the clippings on the lawn. Healthy soil with nutrients released slowly by decomposition lets roots grow slowly and steadily all year thereby producing strong roots. So these clipping are the best slow-release fertilizer there is for your grass.

3. Water no more than once a week, but water deeply.

See step 5 in the article Organic Lawn Care at

http://www.plantsandgardeningtips.com/organic-lawn-care/organic-lawn-care

Now that you have read step 5 in the article Organic Lawn Care, you can do one more thing. When watering, put a container on your lawn, and don’t stop until there is at least 2.5 cm (about 1 inch) of water in it. For most sprinklers that takes a full hour. Also check to make sure the water has penetrated the soil to a depth of 6 to 8 inches minimum.

4. You might consider putting up a nesting box for starlings because they raise their young on white grubs. With their beaks, they make only tiny holes in the turf to get them.

5. Final step is to put some nematodes back into your lawn.

Nematodes can usually be found at an environmentally friendly nursery. They may be somewhat expensive but are worth every penny.

To find a nursery near you, Google as follows: nematode + nursery + (name of your city/state)

What are nematodes?

Nematodes are microscopic worms which are normally found in the earth. Certain ones love to feed on the leatherjacket while others love to feed on white grubs. The nematodes enter the grub (which is the living larvae of a beetle) and release bacteria which kills the larvae. Then the nematodes reproduce inside the dead larva and later thousands of new nematodes leave the larva in search of further prey.

What do nematodes seek out?

Nematodes seek out white grubs, citrus root weevils, the Japanese beetles, the May/June pupa of the beetles, the European/Masked chafer, the black vine weevil, and the sod webworm.

How do you use the eco/environmentally-friendly product?

In the nursery, these nematodes are kept alive in a fridge, so when you buy them you should spray them on your lawn as soon as possible.

Spraying nematodes is quite easy to do. There are 3 easy steps to follow.

First, you water the lawn;

Second, mix the nematodes (as per the instructions on the container) in a special sprayer with somewhat larger holes than in a normal sprayer to allow these tiny worms to come out with the water.

Third, you attach the sprayer to your hose and spray. Application must be done in early everning or on a cloudy day and the lawn must be kept moist for a minimum of 3 days.

Personal Comments:

I used nematodes on my lawn back in the 1990′s.

I’ll always remember that spring when I had to use the nematodes. I happened to bring up a shovelful of lawn only to discover that my lawn was infested with grubs. I started investigating and found that no matter where I used my shovel to check, I would find these grubs. They were all over the lawn. I panicked! I had become somewhat environmentally more careful, so I did not want to spray insecticide on my lawn.

I went to the only nursery I knew had other than insecticides to offer, and that’s where I learned about the nematodes. I had a large front yard, so I had to get two batches. Fortunately, after spraying in the nematodes, I never again had any grubs in my lawn. Needless to say I never used insecticide again.

The other day I asked the superintendent of an apartment building why there were no noticeable ants or ant hills on the grounds around the building.  That’s when he told me his secret.

He told me that he had been getting rid of the ants by sprinkling handfuls of  uncooked cornmeal here and there on the ground wherever he saw ants crawling around.  Apparently you don’t need that much to do the job.

Just keep checking the spots where you have sprinkled the cornmeal. If you still see ants  crawling around but there is no more cornmeal to be seen, sprinkle more of it around the ant infected  area.  The idea is to keep adding cornmeal  as it disintegrates or gets eaten up  until there are no more ants around the place.  If  the ants reappear, then begin the cornmeal treatment again.

Apparently ants love raw cornmeal and they will drag the stuff back to the queen and the colony.  Since the ants cannot digest the cornmeal, they will bloat and die.

So folks! Cornmeal is extremely cheap, is very environmentally friendly since it decomposes easily,  is not messy to use . . . just open the bag or box and lightly sprinkle or spread it on the ground where you see ants moving around, and the ants should gradually  “disappear”.  How easy is that???

Why not try it?

Marcie

Aphids are very small pear-shaped creatures that appear in great numbers on the rose cane tips in May and early June. Getting rid of aphids,  those tiny creatures who love to suck the juice out of growing tips and leaves on your roses or other tender plants and ruin your flower gardening efforts, is a must.

While sometimes the young have a pink cast or the off one is black, the majority are a lime green. They multiply extremely rapidly, suddenly appearing in such great numbers that it seems as if a huge migration has arrived overnight. I

Aphids colonizing a plant cause the leaves to curl inward effectively protecting the aphids from insecticidal spray. They tend to attack tender young shoots, emerging leaves and twigs. If you don’t at least control them, they can quickly destroy your plants.

Ants “take care” of aphids because …

. . . aphids excrete a dark sticky substance called “honeydew” which ants prize. The ants will move the aphids to less populated leaves, treating them as seemingly prized livestock for food production.

So if you see a lot of ants going up and down the stems of roses or other plants, you may want to check for aphids and get rid of both ants and aphids before the ants have their “ranch” on your prized plants. The natural citrus killer homemade spray can get rid of both.

8 Ways to get rid of aphids in your flower garden:

1. The fastest and easiest way to get rid of aphids is to squeeze them with your fingers and knock them off the canes or wash down infested plants with a brisk spray from the hose. Some research indicates that once sprayed off, aphids do not find their way back to the canes and recolonize.

2. You can spray insecticidal soap (found in any nursery or some hardware stores) on infested canes and foliage. The soap does not leave any residual toxicity that would harm beneficial insects. NOTE: The insecticidal soap must be reapplied every day or two until the infestation is reduced.

3. Natural citrus killer homemade spray for Aphids.

4. Rotenone applied either as a dust or as a wettable powder spray also works well.

5 Any pyrethrum-based sprays will work.

The first four ways mentioned above are probably the most effective, but the following are other options.

6. For aphid control you can apply diatomaceous earth, a powder made from the fossilized remains of tiny sea creatures called diatoms.

Its advantage is that, unless it is inhaled, it is harmless to humans and pets while to soft-bodied insects it is razor sharp and tears their exterior casing.

The disadvantage is that diatomaceous is easily washed off leaves and canes and must be reapplied after a rain.

7. Adult ladybird beetles and larvae consume large quantities of aphids. If you can somehow attract the lady beetles to your back yard, you’ve got it made.

However, buying ladybird beetles can be a waste of money because they can simply fly away (and help themselves to your neighbour’s aphids instead of yours).

8. And lastly…if your roses are covered with aphids, drape banana skins over the branches. Amazingly, in a day or less the aphids are gone. Although I have not personally tried this method, those who have say they have no more aphids as long as they save their banana skins for the rose bushes!

Gardening tip:

When using sprays on aphids or any other insects, it is best to alternate materials. If you use insecticide soap initially, you might follow up with rotenone, then the third treatment could be done with pyrethrum and then rotate back to your insecticide soap.

Why? Rotating control methods keeps the insects from developing resistance to a particular toxin. If a spray is used exclusively and regularly, the insects that survive live to breed and pass on their resistance, creating an ever larger resistant population.

Usually after the first infestation has been reduced by doing the above, natural predators such as ladybird beetles, wasps, predatory mites, and hummingbirds can help keep the aphid population in check.

Aphids are so small yet so difficult to get rid of. However, this natural citrus homemade spray kills the aphids  and even deters the ants which colonize the aphids for their honeydew.

When citrus oil extract comes in contact with the body of the aphid, the aphid goes into convulsions and is quickly neutralized. This homemade spray will have the same effect on any soft-bodied insects, and will even keep ants away for a while, but they may come back. However, since this mixture has such a refreshing smell, you’ll probably enjoy using it often.

To create this spray, you need the following items:

1 pint of water, grated rind from 1 lemon, a cheesecloth, and a pump spray bottle.

First you bring the water to a boil. Then remove the water from the heat and add the grated lemon rind.

Second, allow the mixture to steep overnight.

Third, strain the natural citrus homemade spray mixture through a piece of cheesecloth and pour the strained mixture into the pump spray bottle.

This recipe will yield about one pint of citrus oil extract.

Fourth, apply the natural citrus homemade mixture to plant leaves that are under attack by aphids or other soft-bodied insects. Be sure to spray the underside of the leaf too. The mixture must come in contact with the insects’ bodies to be effective.

This natural citrus homemade spray which kills aphids is extremely easy to make and as long as it comes in contact with the aphid’s body, you can get immediate results — with the added bonus of getting rid of the ants too. . . for a while. So be alert and take action immediately.

Garden slugs and snails love tender-leaved plants — any plants: vegetables, herbs, or even flowers . . . and to salvage your plants, you might want to use one (or more) of these 15 non-toxic slug-control methods to immediately control or kill these slugs (or snails).

If your plants have no more leaves or your tender stems have disappeared and, in addition, you see tiny shiny slimy trails on the ground or on the foliage, you have been visited by either slugs or snails– and the sooner you use slug control or slug killer the better.

However, getting rid of slugs or snails can be a challenge, especially if you have pets or young children and you don’t want to use poisonous snail/snail pellets. So to help you, here is a list of 15 ways that can help you either control or kill these pests.

1. The first time I ever had to deal with slugs, they were in the process of eating all my marigolds. As I did not want to use the slug pellets, I decided I would try getting rid of these pests by hand picking them off the plant.

Knowing they came out after the sun went down, I would use a flashlight and go about handpicking the slugs and throwing them in a pail of sudsy water. However, these little pests are smart; I had no sooner dropped them in the bucket of water, they would try to swim to the edge and climb up and out of the plastic pail. Especially the older mature ones had to be watched. I learned to fill only 1/3 or 1/4 of the pail with the water so that I could better see those who were trying to get out and flick them back into the pail. I soon realized this was not my favourite method of slug control.

(I did not like the feel of the snail’s slimy stuff left behind on my hand, so instead of using my bare hands to grab the snail, I would use a small trowel to pick up the snail or use a stick to flick the snail into the pail of sudsy water. Another option would be to wear a pair of those thin white plastic gloves).

2. The slug killer trap that seems to be popular is to drown them in beer or a yeasty concoction. The idea is to attract the slugs to the beer container, and when the slugs come into the container and try to reach the liquid, they fall into the beer and the alcohol in the beer destroys their body tissue.

Remember though: Nobody likes stale beer — not even the slugs. Mike McGrath, Organic Gardening, says that if you want to use beer to trap your slug, you must replenish every day. He adds that slugs are repulsed by stale beer, that they prefer “really cheap yeasty beers“!

Alternate mixture: Instead of beer, you can make your ownYeast & Honey Mixture which can be even more effective: Boil some yeast and honey in water. The proportions aren’t very critical. Just mix some up, boil, cool, and use. OR

Mix one tablespoon of yeast and one tablespoon of sugar in a little bit of water and leave in a warm room (for three days if necessary) until bubbles form in the mixture before using it.

Directions for beer trap:

First find a clean plastic margarine or deep yogout container or any other plastic container at least 3 inches deep. The more you can put below ground the better. You don’t want these smart slugs to crawl out again.

Second cut windows one inch high by two inches wide on each side of the container about one-half inch below the rim.

Third bury the prepared container in your garden so that the windows are about 1/8 of an inch above the ground to prevent helpful ground beetles from falling in.

Fourth, fill the dish about half with the prepared liquid bait: unpasturized draft beer, beer alone, or a concoction made with yeast and honey or yeast and sugar.

Lastly, empty out and refill the container with fresh concoction or beer every two or three days. (Be sure you don’t have a pet who loves beer)

3. A second slug trap can be made by taking an old hose or piece of tubing, cutting it into sections about 2 ft long and leaving these sections in different areas where you have problems. In the morning, empty the tubings by holding them over sudsy water in the bottom of a high plastic pail and tapping on the tubing or hose until all slugs have been forced out into the sudsy water.

4. A third slug trap which I have used a lot was to place large boards between my garden rows so that I could walk on them in order to avoid compacting my soil too much. Every day, (morning and sometimes night) I would check underneath these boards and would dispense of any snail found there. After a while, I would get maybe only one or two a day, so the population gradually diminished.

5. If you have a raised garden, you can always use inverted flower pots along its edge to trap the slugs when they want to get away from the hot sun. Arrange the pot so that it is slightly raised on one side or overhanging a bit so that the slug can slither into it whenever the sun comes up and it needs a place to hide. Then do the rounds, collect the slugs, and drown them in sudsy water in a deep pail.

6. A good slug deterrent is using wood ashes. Slugs will not crawl over wood ashes.

When I was a young girl, we had to help weed my grandmother’s huge garden, and during all those years I don’t remember seeing slugs or snails in her garden, much less plants destroyed by slugs.

It was her custom to empty the cold ashes from the stove in the valley-like walking area between the rows of vegetables “to deter slugs” she would say. Her vegetables were always beautiful and healthy.

Note: It must be clean wood ashes. Avoid using painted, varnished, glued-together such as plywood, or tinted wood to create your ashes.

We also had the nicest rhubarb around, for every spring my mother would spread a thin layer of ashes over the patch of rhubarb before it would begin to grow. She had to repeat the procedure once or twice more during the summer, but our rhubarb was always left untouched. Again, unpolluted wood must be used to make your ashes.

7. Another slug deterrent is to use crayola chalk. Snails will not cross a thick chalk line.

8. Snails also hate crawling through salt, but avoid using salt on the soil or on the plant itself for it can damage your plants. Salt might be good as a barrier on a cement walkway or patio stones along the edge of your bed of plants.

9. Zap slugs safely — with a mixture of non-sudsing ammonia and water. It is much better than the salt mixture that some books recommend, for salt can harm the soil and/or your plants.

In a spray bottle make a solution of 1 part ammonia to 2 parts water. You can also make it 1 part ammonia to 4 parts water, or even 1 part ammonia to 10 parts water. The general consensus seems to be that 1 part ammonia to 4 parts water works best; however, always test to see how your plants react to the ammonia solution; then mix accordingly.

Whenever you see a slug, zap it with the solution and the slug disintegrates in seconds. If you have delicate flower petals, first knock the slug to the ground with your bottle, then spray it.

10. Use copper barriers – copper shocks slugs.

Since the copper tape you buy in the gardening store is rather expensive, check whether in your area there is a sheet metal shop where they make air-conditioning ducts, flashing, rain gutters, etc. If so, ask them if they have any scrap left over from jobs. They may sell these scraps to you by the pound.

Try to find copper strips from 4 to 6 inches wide and as long as possible. Then push the copper strip upright into the ground around each plant so that half is above the soil level and half is below. This copper barrier is extremely effective, for slugs stay away from it as though it were an electric fence. The wider the barrier the better, for the slugs cannot “hump” over these wide 4 to 6 inch strips of copper.

11. Another slug control alternative that destroys the slug is to put human hair clippings which you could probably get from your hairdresser or barber and surround your plants with it. When slugs try to crawl across human hair, they get all tangled up; they then strangle and die. In addition to stopping slugs from getting to your plant, human hair has the benefit of being a great fertilizer, for it contains a lot of nitrogen. Do I dare say that hair clippings is free?

12. Snails and slugs don’t like crawling over abrasive surfaces; therefore, you can protect young plants by taking extremely rough sandpaper, cutting out a size at least as big as a CD or an old 45 RPM record, and cutting out the center as you would for a doughnut. Then place this piece of sandpaper as a collar around the plant.

13. Another slug killer is diatomaceous earth which is made of tiny skeletal remains of tiny prohistoric sea creataures called diatom. The shells of these single celled fossils are broken down during pocessing into needle like silica particles that like the sandpaper can penetrate the bodies of insects on contact.

Just spread some diatomaceous earth on the ground around your plants. If it rains, you must replace this diatomaceous earth.

Using diatomaceous has some drawbacks in that it cannot discriminate which bug is good and which is the bad bug. Therefore it can be harmful to beneficial bugs including earthworms.

14. You can diminish the slug population by at least 75% if you water your garden in the early morning rather than at night. Slugs feel comfortable when the environment is moist, so if you water in the morning, the soil and plants will have dried by evening, so your garden will not feel so attractive.

15. Another habit which will help lessen the number of slugs being able to reach adulthood and restarting the cycle is to till your soil in the fall. Tilling your soil tears apart their winter habitat. Also what was to be their food is spread all over, so the slugs end up starving or being killed off by the winter weather.

16. One method which recently came to my attention is that changing the pH of the soil by making it more alkaline will deter the slugs; they like it acidic. Garden lime will do the job if sprayed on a lawn or around your garden.

NOTE however!!! You can burn your garden or your lawn by adding too much lime. So please, please, go easy. Check your directions and check with your nursery owner to make sure you will not overdo it.

17. If worse comes to worse, you can always get your child to collect the snails and give them a penny per snail they collect.

There you are — 17 different methods which can be used to diminish and/or get rid of slugs – and snails for that matter. Hopefully at least one of these suggestions will be of use to you,

Karen is wondering what can be done to stop the problem of Deformed Rotting Bartlett Pears growing on  her daughter’s beautiful tree.

Here’s what she wrote:

“Daughter has a bartlet pear tree that reaped abundant HUGE fruit this year which was, unfortunately, deformed with indentations and balck ‘holes’  . . .don’t know what the problem is and don’t know if spraying for a ‘fungus’ is appropriate. ????  Please enlighten us. Hate to see all this beautiful fruit going to the hornets.”

So here’s the steps I would take to deal with this situation:

Step 1.

The first step is to identify the problem by researching it online and in my gardening books.  The question is,” Is this caused by a fungus or an insect?”

Since Karen  said nothing about leaves or branches being attacked or infected, I presumed only the fruit had been affected.  I could eliminate any problems which involved more than the fruit.

When I was researching the material, I came across a comprehensive pdf  presented by the West Virginia University at http://www.wvu.edu/~agexten/ipm/insects/pcerti17.pdf, where all the diseases/problems re fruit trees were explained in detail.

The only pear pest I found that involved only the fuit was called “bitter rot”.  According to the University’s information, bitter rot is usually found on the fruit only.  It is caused by a fungus that can get through the unbroken skin of the fruit.

The article presented by the University continued to explain that “at midsummer or later, one can notice one or many  small, light-brown, circular spot(s) on the fruit.  If it’s quite hot, these spots enlarge quite quickly and soon change to a dark brown color.  As they gradually reach 1/8 to 1/4 inch in diameter, the area becomes sunken in or shaped like a saucer. When the spots reach 1/2 inch one can see small black dots in the sunken area. As the fruit ripens, it decays rapidly and finally shrivels into a mummy.”

Disease Cycle –

The mummified fruit with the fungus still alive in it  ends up on the ground while fungus spores, spread by wind and/or rain, end up in cracks and crevices in the bark or in the jagged ends of broken limbs. The fungus produces more spores which eventually are washed by rain unto the fruit.  Then the cycle continues.

Ideal conditions for the bacteria to grow and multiply is humidity between 80% to 100% (lots of rain) and a temperature of  85 F or higher.”

Step 2:

The next very important step is to clean up all the leaves, dead wood/debris under and around the trees and send all to the garbage or burn it. These should never be placed in the backyard compost bin.

Step 3.

Once that is done, I would check the soil’s pH and  soil type. In order for the tree to stay healthy, it must be able to absorb nutrition from the soil. That’s pH between 5.5 and 7 and rich loamy soil that drains well..

For further instructions on how to check the soil’s pH, you might want to go to http://plantsandgardeningtips.com and read the article “Testing Your Soil” found  under the category “Backyard Gardening”.

The soil under the pear tree should have a pH between 5.5 and 7.  The article will tell you what to do if it isn’t.

To find out how to check whether you have loam or something else as soil, read “Texture of  soils“  which is  found at http://organicvegetablegardeningguide.com/blog/texture-of-soils/

In that article, you will also find a video which will help you even more.

If the soil is clay or sand, it must be remedied.  However, no matter the type of soil you have, if you want loamy soil, simply keep adding compost which will provide the tree with nutrition.  If you don’t have compost, as a second choice one could work in manure in the soil around the tree base.  A third choice is to use those “fruit stakes” found in the spring at gardening stores/nurseries and pound them in the soil under the tree. . . definitely not as good as compost or manure.

(Note: if you get manure from a farmer the manure must be at least one year old manure i.e. aged manure.  Otherwise it’s safer to buy the manure at a nursery.)

Therefore, I would add plenty of compost around the perimeter of the tree, but this compost should barely touch the trunk of the tree.  The bulk of the composted material (or wood mulsh, but not the colored stuff) would be  spread from the trunk outward towards and under  the tree’s drip line.

Step 4.

Early in the spring before  the buds come out and after the weather stays above the freezing point , I would spray the pear tree . . . every crevice,  nook, and cranny on the trunk and branches  with horticultural oil.

For more information on how to do that, please check the article “Natural and Organic Fruit Tree Sprays” at my blog

http://organicvegetablegardeningguide.com/blog/

I just found out that there is a brand new organic horticultural oil made with Himalayan Cedarwood oil.  This is just new, but I know that cedar oil is wood base oil and has been around for a long time.

This RX Horticultural Oil  is being advertised as being enhanced by the powerful insecticidal and anti-fungal properties of Cedar Oil, great for eliminating  stubborn insects and disease. The best part is that it is safe around people and pets.

So anyone living in Florida might find this product at a  local nursery.  However, you can read more about it (or buy it online) at http://www.greenthumbsremedy.com/Greenthumbs_Remedy/Premium_Horticultural_Oil.html .

Regardless, the tree must be sprayed with at least horticultural oil and maybe with what nurseries call “dormant spray,” a mixture of sulfur and oil (although I personally would try oil only because I hate working with the sulfur mixture)

Step 5

After this initial spraying with the oil, I would continue with a spraying program.  I would spray the tree  every 15 days (or more often if it rains) with the home made recipe which can be found outlined in the article “Natural Sprays for Fruit Trees” (on this blog).

I have used this recipe over and over as a prevention program on all my fruit trees . . . one of them being a pear tree.  The trees love it, especially when I added the molasses (an antifungus ingredient).  A second ingredient which helps get rid of fungus is the garlic.

This recipe can be used all summer long as often as you wish for it’s made up of ingredients found in your cupboard.  Just be sure to spray EARLY IN THE MORNING when there’s no wind and before the sun gets hot.

Having said all this, I strongly encourage Karen to get a second or even a third opinion from nursery owners who may have seen these conditions ruining the pear fruit on trees in her area.  All I’ve done here is explain how I would deal with the situation.  There are many factors which are missing; therefore, I cannot  be absolutely certain that I have pegged the correct “disease”.

However, no matter the fungus or the insect causing this problem, you will have to spray to get rid of it.  Remember it’s better to prevent than to cure, especially if you can use eco-friendly products.

Karen, if you read this, I would love some feed back regarding your tree.  I hope I wasn’t too late with my response.

Good luck!

Marcie

What are unsurvivable surroundings for Bugs?

“Unsurvivable Surroundings” used to mean using insecticides or pesticides to spray plants the minute bugs began making their appearance. However, we have come to realize that spraying plants with insecticides or pesticides was creating other problems, not the least being that we were poisoning ourselves and our environment plus killing the soil’s microorganisms so necessary to plant growth. Finally other methods have been revived or created, methods which will [tag-tec]create unsurvivable surroundings for those unwanted bugs[/tag-tec] without putting people or other insect species at risk.

Different Ways To Create Unsurvivable Surroundings Which Gets Rid Of Unwanted Bugs:

1. Handpicking beetles or slugs or caterpillars.

The first way you may create unsurvivable surroundings is to handpick the unwanted pest. For example we know that the Colorado potato beetle usually lays its shiny golden brown eggs in clusters on the underside of leaves. By regularly checking the undersides of leaves and picking off these clusters of eggs before they even develop is one way to stop an epidemic of Colorado potato beetles. You may want to offer a beetle bounty to young children in your neighborhood — say at 1/2 cent for each beetle.

As for slugs, they feed at night and hide in the daytime. Put boards or pieces of tubing where you think you have slugs. In the morning, fill a pail of water about 1/4 full, add dish soap or detergent to the water, then lift the boards and remove the slugs by dropping them into the soapy water.

(I personally hate picking up slugs with my fingers, so I would use a trowel to carefully peel off the slug from the board and drop it into the soapy water.) Most slugs will remain at the bottom of the pail and drown, but the odd one will make its way to the side of the pail and try to crawl out. Just send these back into the soapy water.

If you use the tubing, just point one end of the tube towards the center of soapy water in your pail and dislodge the slugs by tapping on the side of the tubing.

You can use the same idea for caterpillars but using a can of water with a bit of detergent soap in it. You can easily carry the can around with you as you handpick the caterpillars.

2. Use Living Organisms (biological control) To Create Unsurvivable Surroundings

a. Beneficial nematodes: Not all nematodes are garden enemies.

One year I bought nematodes at a garden center and sprayed my lawn for grubs. Years after I sprayed (you must follow specific instructions), I never saw a grub, yet my neighbor had plenty of them. The nematodes did not bother with the grass roots or the earthworms. I was so pleased with the results.

The nematodes sold in gardening centers feed on soft-bodied, soil-dwelling pests such as grubs, wire-worms, and root maggots. To apply them to the garden, you suspend them in water and use a spray attachment on your hose. They may be expensive but are so worth it!

b. Milky Spore: Milky spore is a bacteria which when swallowed by grubs will cause them to die within two or three weeks. The white spore filling the grub’s body will then reenter the soil waiting for more grubs to come along. It can take two or three years for milky spore to become established in a treated area.

When applying nematodes or milky spores, avoid applying chemical pesticides to the same areas.

c. Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt): Bt is often used to get rid of cabbage worms, hornworms, corn borers, and the like. When Bt is ingested by these worms, it paralyzes the gut and gives the worms a case of indigestion from which there is no return. Different strains of Bt are used for different pests, so read your label.s

Note: If you see pale green caterpillars with a series of yellow and black rings from its head to its tail chewing on your parsley, dill, celery, or cilantro, you are probably looking at swallowtail caterpillars often referred to as parsleyworms. Handpick these parsleyworms and relocate them in another area away from the garden so that they can become the beautiful swallowtail butterfly. Then you can apply your Bt to your garden.

When you are applying your Bt, make sure you are spraying only your garden plants and not those plants adjacent to your garden

3. Attract the creatures that prey on pests

A third way to create unsurvivable surrounding for bugs is to plant garden plants that attract beneficial insects. Did you know that morning glory vines attract ladybugs and hoverflies, that goldenrod attract not only ladybugs, but also the assassin bugs and parasitic wasps. You could plant some grasses, perennial alfalfa, goldenrod, or hairy vetch in front of a row of fruit bearing shrubs or near your garden as a perennial garden. You can intersperse fruiting bearing shrubs such as swamp holly or cranberry bush. The grasses and the flowers can attract beneficial insects and the birds can use their shrubs as their home. You could even include some aromatic herbs such as dill and thyme which attract beneficial insects that prey on pests.

There are loads of beneficial insects: Assassin bug, green lacewing, hoverfly, ladybug, minute pirate bug, praying mantis, spined soldier bug, and the trichogramma wasp to name a few. You can find information on these in your library.

To sum up, by diligently handpicking such pests as Colorado beetle or the caterpillars/slugs, by using bacteria or nematodes, and by attracting the beneficial insects to you garden, you are Creating Unsurvivable Surroundings For Bugs.