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What Are Thrips and How To Get Rid of Thrips

Written by Stephanie on May 9th, 2012

Thrips are tiny slender insects with fringed wings. They are one of the banes of greenhouse gardening and can do significant damage to both the foliage and the flowers of plants. Thrips are sucking insects that puncture the plant and suck out the cell contents. This leaves scars, malformed leaves and flowers, and can render nursery stock unsalable.
Adult thrips are slender, less than 1/20ths of an inch long, and have feathery edged wings. Immature thrips are shaped like adult thrips, with a long black abdomen, but lack wings. Thrips vary in color from translucent white or yellow to black, depending on species and life stage. A few thrips are more brightly colored, but they tend to be predatory thrips that eat other bugs, not foliage.

Thrips tend to feed inside furled leaves and blooms and the damage they do is usually seen before they are observed. Scars on the foliage, black feces, misshapen flowers and leaves are all signs that thrips are feeding on a plant.
Thrips lay eggs which hatch into feeding larvae. These larvae go through two molts while feeding, then through a nonfeeding prepupal stage before pupating into adult thrips. The whole process may only take two weeks during warm weather, so a few thrips rapidly become an infestation. Thrips can’t fly far, but do drift on wind currents to new feeding sites. They can quickly spread throughout a greenhouse.

Thrips prefer rapidly growing tissue. This means fruit buds are damaged, leaving scars on the flowers . Scars can also be left on fruit such as citrus and avocados, making them less desirable to consumers. Leaves may be scared or malformed.
Thrips seldom kill plants outright. Most plants can outgrow the dmage caused by thrips. If, however, they become a problem, insecticidal soap can be used to control them. Spray the underside of leaves as well as the top, to insure through coverage.

Lacewings and minute pirate bugs may be purchased from some garden supply houses and used as biological controls for thrips. These insects will eat the thrips, but getting them to stay where they are needed and not fly away to other areas can be a problem.

Pruning the damaged tissue off of plants and destroying it is another way to control thrips. This destroys their eggs as well as many of the larvae and adults. It also removes the unsightly damage done by the thrips.

Pesticides are usually not warranted for thrips. Their eggs and larvae are difficult to reach with the pesticides because they are inside the leaf or flower bud. Usually, the thrips that cause the visible damage are long gone by the time any pesticide is applied. Some organophosphates and pyrethrins are labeled for use against thrips, but it is important to check the label and make sure it is safe to use them on the target plant. Insecticidal soap or spinosid is generally as effective and much lower in toxicity, so these should be tried first.

 

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Tips for Growing Okra

Written by Stephanie on May 1st, 2012

Okra originated in Africa and likes hot weather. It was brought over to North America by slaves. Because it comes from a hot climate, it is usually the last thing standing in a hot summer, still bearing away. The upright stalks can be used as supports for pole beans if desired.

Okra should be planted after all danger of frost has passed. It is planted about one inch deep and two inches apart. Rows should be spaced about two feet apart. Once the okra is up and growing well, thin the plants to one every foot.
Okra needs plenty of fertilizer. Before planting, spread 2 to 3 pounds of 10-10-10 per 100 feet of row. Mix the fertilizer in well with the soil. After the first harvest, spread an additional one cup of fertilizer per row. Water each time after spreading the fertilizer.

Okra is vulnerable to aphids, stink bugs, and ants. Of the three, ants are the hardest to deal with. No ant bait or poison is approved for use on okra. Spread ant bait around the parameter of the garden to attract the ants to it. Since ants forage at least 100 feet from the nest, they will pick the bait up and take it back to the nest.

Aphids are small bugs that excrete a sticky substance referred to as honeydew. It quickly molds and covers the leaves of the plant, preventing photosynthesis and eventually starving the plant. Malathion will kill aphids.

Stink bugs eat the plant foliage and the okra. They also sting humans trying to harvest the okra. They are green in color and small, with a darker green diamond shield on their back. Sevin ® Dust will kill stink bugs.

Okra is harvested when it is 3-4 inches long. Any longer and it will grow fibrous and tough. When plants are really producing, okra should be harvested every other day. Cut the okra off the plant with a sharp knife. Pulling it off damages the plant and reduces the harvest.

Okra can be stored for 4-5 days in the refrigerator. Fresh okra is used as a thickening agent in gumbo and jambalaya, fried, or steamed. It can be cut into slices and frozen for later use. Okra can also be used to make pickles.

If okra gets too mature to eat, the pods can be cured and dried for use in flower arrangements. At the end of the growing season, a few pods can be allowed to grow and dry out on the okra plants. Since okra is open pollinated, seeds from these pods can then be saved for the next season’s garden and will breed true.

When the season is over, okra can safely be composted with other plants to fertilize the next year’s crops.
Okra is a heavy producer. One row will produce enough okra for a family of four with plenty to store for later use.

 

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Controlling Squash Bugs

Written by Stephanie on April 27th, 2012

If you have squash, cucumbers, or melons, you have probably seen squash bugs. These bugs are gray to black, are approximately 5/8ths inch long and 1/3 inch wide, and have brown and orange stripes on the upper edges of their abdomen. Squash bugs congregate on the underside of leaves. They pierce the leaf and suck the juices from it, causing the leaf to wilt and die. Late in the season, squash bugs will even go after your fruits and vegetables.

Squash bugs lay brownish eggs in clusters on the underside of leaves. These eggs hatch in 1-2 weeks into green bugs with red heads. These bugs are really small, 3/16s to 1/2 inch in size. They go through five instars, or stages, before becoming adults. Each stage is progressively darker until the final adult color is reached.

Each winter, adults hide in leaf litter, under leaves and logs, and in debris to wait for spring. As soon as plants start growing, they fly in and lay the eggs. Infestations are usually heaviest in late spring and early summer, when the overwintering adults are still alive and the young nymphs have hatched.

Because the squash bugs feed by sucking juices out of the leaves, they disrupt the flow of water to the leaves and nutrients from the leaves to the roots. Leaves develop yellow spots where they are pierced. These spots spread throughout the leaf and it turns brown and dies. Bad infestations of squash bugs can kill small plants. They can significantly reduce the yield from larger plants, as well as damaging the fruit and vegetables.

Adult squash bugs are hard to kill. It is important to regularly inspect your plants, especially the underside of leaves, for eggs, nymphs, and adults. Early detection and extermination is essential to minimize the damage these insects cause.
Eliminate all debris and leaf matter in and near the garden to reduce overwintering spots for the adult bugs. Compost such organic matter thoroughly to kill the pests before they can lay their eggs in the spring.

Should you find squash bugs, Sevin® Dust is one of the few substances approved for home garden use that kills squash bugs. It is a contact poison, so it is important to spread it on the undersides of the leaves so that it touches the squash bugs. If it doesn’t touch them, it won’t kill them. Always read and follow label directions before using any pesticide.
Organic growers and those with light infestations can pick the squash bugs off of the underside of the leaf and smash them. This works well with light infestations. Chickens and ducks love the insects, and can be used as a control once the leaves are big enough that the poultry will not try to eat them.

Heavier infestations can be treated with insecticidal soap, being careful to effectively spray the undersides of each leaf. It can be difficult to obtain the coverage necessary to treat a heavy infestation this way.

 

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Coax Your Lawn into a Thick Green with these Organic Methods

Written by Mindy on April 15th, 2012

No longer do you have to use toxic chemicals to create a beautiful lawn.  The following organic methods will help one create the lawn that is always viewed by your neighbors as being greener.

Fertilizing

A lawn is a hungry little beast.  It craves nitrogen and in doing so will need to be feed twice in the spring and twice in the fall.  Do not get hung up on synthetic fertilizer.  It contains salt, which can be damaging to the soil and reduces healthy bacteria and fungi.  Also, it can cause plant damage.

A better approach is to use an organically formulated fertilizer that is high in nitrogen or create your own.  This is done by aerating compost and spraying it over the lawn.  Not only will it feed the lawn but it will also give the beneficial bacteria and/or fungi a boost.

Water

Watering grass is a tricky subject.  If you water too little, grass will develop a shallow root system or turn brown, wither and die

On the other hand, if you water too much the ground will become saturated and the grass will drown and die.  Either one of these situations creates an environment that is conducive to weed development.  The trick to watering is to understand when to water and how much.

Before you turn that sprinkler on, check the soil moisture.  This is done by digging down into the soil.  Once you do that you may discover that only the top three inches are dry and the below that is saturated.  If this is the case, the grass does not need to be watered.

If the soil is dry past the three-inch mark, then consider watering but do not water the full amount all at once.  Water is a unique substance that likes to stick together.  To prevent wasting any of the water and allowing the grass to utilize this resource to the max, water in two shifts that are separated by 90 minutes or more.

Also, only water in the early morning or late in the evening.  Both of these times will reduce water evaporation so that the grass can take up this resource.  If you do have a fungal problem in your grass though, only water in the morning.  This gives the moisture time to evaporate before the evening dew.

Let the Air In

Aerating the soil is very important but do not bother renting a commercial aerator.  Instead, wear a pair of shoes with spikes on the bottom, such as those worn by football players.  As you walk on the grass, the spikes will poke holes in the soil or aerate it for you.

Aeration is important for water percolation and fertilizer up take along with oxygen exchange.

Create an Environmental Advantage for Grass

Creating a fair playing field for grass is very important.  This includes making sure the grass is mowed correctly and that the soil pH is right.  While one may think that mowing their grass as short as possible would be a way of smothering out the weeds, you would be wrong.  Cutting the grass as tall as possible, it seems shades the weeds to the point that they cannot receive adequate amounts of sunlight.  Without the right amount of sunlight, the weeds cannot produce enough food through photosynthesis and die.

The soil pH is another way of creating an environment that favors grass instead of weeds.  As an example, when one is talking about dandelions it has been discovered that this weed loves a soil pH of 7.5 while grass likes a pH of 6.5.  If your soil is 7.5, then your weeds will win.  On the other hand, if the soil is 6.5 the grass will win the war against the weeds.

You can buy a simple pH test kit for home but it can be expensive.  Another approach is to utilize your county’s extension office.  This office will provide the kits and directions on how to do a soil test.  Once the samples have been taken, they will be sent to a state lab that will not only give you the results but also recommendations on how to fix the problem.

On the rare occasion that a weed or two pops up its ugly head, do not panic.  You can treat it with hot water or an old-fashioned tool called the ball weeder.   This tool will lift up the weed and remove it from the environment.

A healthy lawn does not require the use of chemicals but instead a little common sense, understanding of the natural environment, and patience.

 

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Controlling Cucumber Beetles

Written by Stephanie on April 14th, 2012

Striped and spotted cucumber beetles are pretty little bugs that will utterly devastate your cucumbers, squash, watermelons, and cantaloupe patches.  Not only do they eat a lot, they carry bacterial wilt, which can infect and kill your plants even after the beetles are exterminated.

Adult cucumber beetles feed on pollen, flowers, and foliage, but can chew on rinds late in the season.  In addition to looking bad, this reduces the market value of the fruit.  The larvae, or caterpillars, feed on roots and stems.  However, they are mainly a problem because they spread bacterial wilt.

The adults of both striped and spotted cucumber beetles are a mere 1/4 inch long.  The striped beetle is yellow-green with three black stripes on its back.  The spotted cucumber beetle is yellow-green with twelve black spots on its back.  The spotted cucumber beetle is also known as the southern corn cutworm.

Adult beetles overwinter in protected areas near buildings, in fence rows, and among debris and leaves in the field.  When it warms up in the spring, they fly out to fields and lay their eggs at the soil line near curcubits (cucumbers, squash, watermelons, and cantaloupe).  The eggs hatch and the larvae feet on the roots of the plants.  Adults emerge and feed on the foliage and fruit, as well as laying more eggs.

The most serious problem associated with the beetles, however, is the spreading of bacterial wilt by the caterpillars.  This infection overwinters in the gut of cucumber beetles and is spread when the adult lays infected eggs.  The caterpillars inject the wilt bacteria when feeding.

The first symptom of bacterial wilt is flagging of lateral leaves.  Soon, adjacent leaves wilt and then the entire vine wilts and dies.  This condition spreads quickly and can take out an entire field of curcubits very quickly.

In order to prevent bacterial wilt, cucumber beetles must be controlled with a soil drench soon after they hatch.  This drench kills the beetle larvae before they can infect the plant.  For home gardens, using cans or row covers to cover the plants when small can prevent cucumber beetles from laying eggs near them.  Eliminating debris and other places they can overwinter can help reduce their population, as well.

If cucumber beetles are observed, applying a contact poison to the foliage of the plant, such as Sevin® Dust, to kill the adults can help.  Muskmelons and cucumbers should have such foliar applications every week during the peak of cucumber beetle season.  Watermelons are not susceptible to bacterial wilt and need only be protected when small.  Be sure to treat the undersides of the leaves as well as the tops for total control.

If a plant exhibits signs of bacterial wilt, remove it and discard it in the trash.  Do not compost sick plants as this may spread the disease further.  Treat nearby plants with foliar applications of poison to help reduce the spread of the disease.  Always read and follow label directions when using pesticides.

 

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