Saturday, August 11, 2012

How Does Our Garden Grow, Pt II.

While for the most our garden was a huge success and tons of fun (and yummy, too!), we had some setbacks. 
First, the dreaded squash vine borers took out my beautiful squash and my zucchini.  I was so, so sad.  I tried to perform the 'surgery' described in this website, but my infestation was just too bad/big.   Next year, I will be trying out some strategies to combat these nasty things, including BT and planting in bales of hay.  (The very interesting man at the feed store swears this is possible....hmmmm.)  BT is a natural virus (?) that only affect grubs, and the hay would of course eliminate the dirt for the grubs eggs to be laid in in the first place.  We'll see.

Next, my lovely cucumber bit the dust!  The vines started dying in weird stages and then the fruit started getting weird, too.

 
 
 
 In this picture (above), you can see this vine dying starting at the left side.  The growing end is still green and lovely!  (Makes me so sad!)

Turns out it was bacterial wilt.  This is basically a 'circulatory' disease, spread by sucking bugs (although I never saw any cucumber beetles).  Basically, the vines' get clogged up inside and die a slow death.  (Ok, I know that's a little dramatic.)  The tell-tale sign is a slimy string when you pull a stem apart.  Gross.

Here's a classic.  Leaves stripped down to it's skelton.  Almost always a caterpillar.
Yep, there he is, the little creep.  Spraying soap on them worked pretty well.  (That and squishing the nasty things!  That was fun!)

My poor mater!  Strangely enough (not really) the hybrid tomatoes did not have caterpillars on them.  We'll be sticing to hybrids next year.  Sorry apocalypse-fearing hippies out there!  My garden is small and my time is precious.  Only things that don't DIE are getting in my dirt!

The tomatoes still did really well, and I am pleased.
These are so yummy!  The plastic container is just one day's picking! (Excuse the weird photo upload.)


But my second batch of cucumbers, planted in late July to avoid the bug-party in June, died as seedlings.  I'm now trying to decide if I should try again or just wait until next year.

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1 comment:

  1. Someone told me to plant in bales of hay too. I guess it must have some merit.
    My "maters" did great off of one vine, as did my cherries, but the second tomato vine has yet to produce a thing. So, non-hybrid can create life! However, I do see your point. Evolution is occurring around us all the time. Why not with tomatoes too, right? Our world has to adapt to all the damage that has already occurred.
    That makes me think of "The Lorax". Did you see it? We bought it for the boys. It is so cheesy, but still gets the original message of the book in there. I hope it isn't too cheesy to get people to see the point. Sigh.

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