What's eating in your garden today?

I have found so many different bugs this week I have named it the week of the bugs. Katydid did a number on my asian eggplant, aphids and ladybeattles are having it out on my okra, the plant seems not to care, spittle bugs on the rosemary,biglegged leaf bugs every where. The garden is doing just fine though. We SFG'ers have a head start with organic insect control by having healthy non stressed plants to begin with. Aside from the ladybeatles I have birds, wasps, spiders, lizards, frogs, and toads keeping the pest bugs down so I have realy only had to spray the big legged leaf bugs. I am not sure why but the coons, voles, rats and friends have left it completely alone.



So what's eating in your garden aside from the humans?

Well, let's see... I always have a million leaf hoppers jumping around in the garden, and I've noticed a few cucumber beetles in amongst my beans (weirdly enough!). Two or three Japanese beetles are usually in my beans as well. Then there's the yucky SVB I dug out of my squash vines yesterday (let's hope they heal). Oh! And don't forget slugs!

Aphids! On my southern peas! I have been keeping their population down, but it's been so rainy here lately, I just haven't been able to get out to spray with Neem or insecticical soap to keep them away. There have been more of them than ever, but I've started spraying them again.



Strangely but gratefully, the leaffooted bugs, which I was also having to watch and hand-pick every day, seem to have run their course. I haven't seen any in a couple of weeks.



Other than those two things, I've been pretty lucky. I've had leafhoppers, but they don't really seem to be hurting anything much. I've had leafminers, but just squish the little line they run through the leaf and that seems to have kept them under better control. They do still pop up every once in a while, but don't seem to hurt things much.

A tomato hornworm on one of my jalapeno pepper plants! At least he was, not anymore. Looked for more but didn't see any, yet. I'll keep checking. I'm just happy he left the peppers.

Something is eating my garden. I'll try to post some pictures tomorrow. It look like this something has scissors, as few of my plans were "cut" and the tops were laying near by. Also few of my okra plants just vanished. Very mysterious situation. Any advice?
Yulia

Without pics I'm just guessing could it be cut worms? If the cut was at ground level I think it could in which case you can prevent it by putting collars around you plants stems.

Thank you for your reply, shannon1.
I just googled it and the pictures of damaged plants looked exactly just like my plants. Now I am scared. It could destroy everything!
Can you clarify about " putting collars" suggestion. I don't know how to do it. I was dusting my plants with the DE. I am not sure if that can help as well.
Yulia

I have never seen so many tomato worms. Every day, I pick off 5 or 6 and I only have 11 tomato plants. Some of these worms are huge too, I don't see how I miss them.

yuliad wrote:Thank you for your reply, shannon1.
I just googled it and the pictures of damaged plants looked exactly just like my plants. Now I am scared. It could destroy everything!
Can you clarify about " putting collars" suggestion. I don't know how to do it. I was dusting my plants with the DE. I am not sure if that can help as well.
Yulia

Here are some ideas for collars:
http://squarefoot.creatingforum.com/t6563-cut-worm-protection

stripesmom wrote:I have never seen so many tomato worms. Every day, I pick off 5 or 6 and I only have 11 tomato plants. Some of these worms are huge too, I don't see how I miss them.

I spray with BT and in a couple of days all I find are dead tomato worms hanging from the plants. I've only had to do it a couple of times, as soon as I find a little one I spray.

So far I'm lucky. I was:( when I pulled out most of the summer and started anew. My lettuce from seed are already poking through. Havent't seen any pests yet on tomatoes or my peppers. Happy growing.

Thought this thread needed a bump. This evening when I checked on my boxes I found 2 beans that had sprouted since I watered this morning before work. Both have already been chewed off by a rabbit. I immediately went crazy with the cayenne throughout all my boxes. Here, bunny, bunny!

GG

Here, bunny, bunny!

What a great title for a thread. Much as i am fearful to say it, nothing seems to be eating anything in my garden right now. I seem to be doing the most damage, having just decided against celery in the SFG as it has totally spread WAYYYYY beyond its boundaries, into the pepper square. So I just ripped them all out.
Now I am afraid what is going to eat my crops after saying that.

lately I have found skipper larva rolled up in the pole bean leaves. It may be a good way to hide from birds but makes it easy for me to find and squish them:twisted:

GWN wrote:

Here, bunny, bunny!

What a great title for a thread. Much as i am fearful to say it, nothing seems to be eating anything in my garden right now. I seem to be doing the most damage, having just decided against celery in the SFG as it has totally spread WAYYYYY beyond its boundaries, into the pepper square. So I just ripped them all out.
Now I am afraid what is going to eat my crops after saying that.

I usually do the most damage in my garden as well! I am trying celery for the first time. The transplants were a bit scraggly but all parts that were yellow and wimpy were trimmed up by the same bunny that got the beans. Silly rabbit trimmed them perfectly, leaving the good upright centers standing tall and unmolested. If only I could capture and train it to prune my tomatoes properly!

GG