It finally stopped raining, but now I'm getting hit with some garden pests. My spinach is being hammered by leaf miners. I know the common recommendation is to pull the affected leaves, but my plants are still pretty small. If I pulled the bad leaves, I'd be pulled 50% or more of each plants total. In desperation I hit them with some permethrin -- definitely not the safest insecticide out there, but it was way cheaper than Neem. Besides, I'm still a little ways off from harvesting any spinach. If I can find some cheaper Neem, maybe I'll try it.
Also got a bit trigger happy and killed what I now believe to be a Sac Spider -- a highly beneficial garden predator that eats problem bugs. Oh well. At least I'll know for next time.
I planted my Kentucky Wonder pole beans and my Burpee Stringless bush beans yesterday and transplanted out some more lettuce.
Finally, I realized I started four Rutgers Tomatoes, thinking they were indeterminate, when in fact they are determinate. So now I have no room for them, and will have to buy a few tomato plants at the store to replace them.
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The bugs will somehow always find your garden. Aphids will arrive next....
ReplyDeleteLuke, a reader of yours has contacted me by email, and can't seem to leave a comment for you, because of your settings. This reader doesn't have a blogger account....
ReplyDeleteThanks, EG, I think I fixed that setting.
ReplyDeleteFor the leaf miners you can try spinosad, which will not kill beneficial insect. It breaks down very quickly in sunlight, and is very safe to use. Depending on the crop, you could try floating row covers to keep out the egglaying bugs that give you the leaf miners (many species).
ReplyDeleteI have grown Rutgers tomatoes for many years for their flavor and reliability. They may be determinate, but I have always had them bear for me until frost. A local CSA grows them as a late season tomato; using them to replace other varieties that peter out after bearing for a couple of months. They don't plant the Rutgers out until July, so they don't start bearing until September. I live in PA.
Marguerite