Mystery Eggs on a Tomato Leaf

Here is a photo essay on the development of some mystery eggs that were found on the TOP of a tomato leaf. Luckily before they hatched I put them in a plastic bag because otherwise, I would have had 4 of these critters running around in my house!

These eggs were a pearly translucent color and very oddly
shaped. They weren't spheres, more like half a football
or a Viking burial mound. 7/11/14

They have turned an amber color and red marks
 are appearing on the eggs.  7/14/14

It is fascinating to see how the insects cut out little doors and left the eggs.

Leaf-footed bugs. They hatched out on 7/22/14 (in the bag)  and when I showed them to Denise
on the 23rd they were still alive. But I allowed them to die for a better photo opportunity.

 

Vicki - Bed 41

Is it time to say UNCLE?

Does it seem like you just can't get ahead of a particular bug or disease problem? Sometimes you just have to bite the bullet, Say UNCLE!  and start over.

Boo hoo...the tomatoes are goners.

It is hard to call it quits on plants you've spent so much time and effort taking care of - all that watering, fertilizing, spraying etc. It doesn't seem right to just give up and rip them out.

But to prevent residual disease and insect problems as well as interrupt the disease/bug cycle, sometimes you just have to bite the bullet, say UNCLE and rip out some of your plants.

In the home garden it is much easier to put off crying uncle because what you do only affects yourself. In a Community Garden what you do (or don't do) affects everyone else and their success.

There are many reasons why your plants are looking sad and pitiful - weather (too hot, too cold, too wet, too dry), lack of disease resistance in your plants, heavy insect attack, lack of fertilization, not spraying to knock back disease and bugs.

To help you decide, realistically, whether your plants have a chance if you step up and give them a bunch of TLC, ask yourself these questions:

1) How infested/diseased/damaged are my plants.
         If they are over halfway gone with disease and the season is almost over, rip them out.

         How many insect pests are on your plants - look for adults, larva and eggs. Tons? Do you really want to get into the game of coming out every single day and pulling them all off and looking on the backs of every single leaf every single day?

2) What is the weather going to be like for the next 2 weeks? Are you going to be able to spray and have it stick? Or will you be constantly re-spraying.

3) How long before you would most likely be ripping out that plant and working on the soil for the next season's crops?

4) Realistically, how much time do I have and how much effort do I want to expend to fight off whatever my plants problem is.

Think about the Kenny Rogers song  "The Gambler"
                             Know when to fold 'em
                             Know when to walk away

And in Gardener words, when to rip them out and plant again....                        

 You want to be Proactive instead of reactive!
Depending on what your problem was, there are some easy changes that should make your next planting more successful.


Spacing - putting fewer plants in so you have better airflow and access to all parts of the plants. This way when you spray for disease, the spray gets to all parts of the plant, not just the outside and top of your mass of plants.



 June 19, 2012. The tomatoes eventually took over
 half the bed. Way too thick!

Proper spacing means you can also reach all parts of the plant to check for insect pests and can reach and kill those pests. 

Defending against disease and insects - treating for bugs or disease is not a one shot thing. You have to constantly watch, check and retreat with the proper spray when necessary. You need to be able to come out and check on your plants every 2 to 3 days. It is amazing how fast a problem will zoom out of control in just 3 days.

In a community garden you will have more disease and bug problems to contend with versus in a home garden.  More plants, more opportunities. Therefore you have to continually "defend/protect" your plants.

Reduced airflow creates a perfect climate for disease to flourish. It also prevents fungal sprays from getting to all parts and surfaces of a the plant.

If you grow a solid block of tomatoes, beans, cucumbers, etc you can get the outer edges easily but not the middle. When you have a solid mass of plants there is no way you can see inside to check and remove bugs/eggs  so again you get behind.

Increase Airflow -

Remove leaves repeatedly to increase airflow and ability to take care of plants.  You don't have to denude the plant, just thin some of the leaves out from time to time.



There were 5 tomatoes planted in this bed on April29, 2012.
They became a HUGE mass of diseased vegetation by the
end of July 2012. No airflow

Make a garden plan - you don't have to stick to it but if you make a plan it does increase your chances of success. Spending 5, 10 or 15 minutes at the beginning of EACH planting season, planning out where your plants are going will actually save you hours of work in the long run.

 Plant only half your bed in plants with heavy foliage so you can get to all sides. Just by reconfiguring your plantings you will increase your success greatly.

 

Remembering to think about each plants full, mature size makes a world of difference!

Vicki - Bed 41

Is there a bird in the shed?

Wrens are famous for going where
you do NOT want them.

Did you suddenly find that a bird has gotten in the shed? Or your porch? Garage? The netting over your blueberries?

The first thing to do is Don't Panic!! The poor bird just wants OUT but has become confused and can't find its way out.

I've dealt with birds in all these situations and the solution is the same every time. It isn't always a quick process but it always works.

Provide an opening for the bird to fly out and herd it there. Birds (as well as all wild animals) have a fear circle. You want to get on the other side of the bird's fear circle and to make it fly away from you. No need to actually swat with a broom. If you do need to use a broom to get the bird to fly down, just put it behind the bird and make a gentle motion.

If the bird is in the shed or a garage:
1) Turn the lights out
2) Open the door as wide as possible
3) Get on the other side of the bird and

  ZOOM! it will fly out the opening with light

If the bird is on a screened porch or inside the netting over your blueberries:
1) Open the door on the porch wide. Or create an opening in the netting over the blueberries.
2) Get on the other side of the bird.                             
3) Encourage the bird to go out.

                                                        ZOOM! it will fly out the opening

Now I will admit it is much trickier getting a bird out of the blueberry enclosure than it is getting it out of the porch, shed or garage but it can be done with no harm caused to the bird besides panic because it was trapped.

Good luck if you find yourself in this situation!

Vicki - Bed 41

Don't Give Up on Your Fig!

Recovered Celeste fig - 7/22/14

See that greenery at the base of the dead fig stick?  This picture taken today, July 22nd, proves that patience aka procrastination pays off.  I'm sure the neighbors have wondered all summer why I'm growing a stick in my front yard.  Today, I was going to replace it with a gifted butterfly bush and, lo and behold, I found that it's recovered from the cold spells of our 2014 winter.  Do you recall the single digit night?

The more protected fig in my back yard sent up new shoots from the base last spring and is now taller than 5 feet.  No fruit, regretfully, but there's always next year. 

The figs in the Green Meadows Preserve Orchard have all recovered except for one.  But a bed check tomorrow might find it alive and kicking, too.  Hope so!

Spotlight on Something Unique - Chinese Red Noodle Beans

Many may remember some of the interesting vegetables we grew last summer and how we toured the garden via the blog spotlighting on those that were unique with our posts.  It was such a nice way to learn about some extraordinary performers and I thought it might be nice to add to our list.

Chinese Red Noodle Beans
grown by
Vann Gaskin of Bed 33

Our first addition is rich in history and comes to us from southern China!  Vann, of Bed 33, not only has the healthiest looking bean plants in the garden but some of the most beautiful to stroll by and take a gander.  Chinese Red Noodle beans are an heirloom variety that is very common to the southern regions of China.  It first came to the America's via Chinese immigrants who were here working on the transcontinental railroads during the 1800's.

Heat tolerant and vigorous are just two of many attributes that come to mind when describing this wonderful pole bean variety.  On observation, it seems as if to take its time setting pods but the wait appears to be well worth the time spent. Once it gets started, the plants are continuously producing pods of the highest quality, which would earn it the rank of an outstanding performer in any gardener's journal.  As an added bonus, this cultivar is highly resistant to the Mexican bean beetle that tends to plague our community garden each year. To date, the plants have not required the need for a fungicide or pesticide treatment to remain healthy.

The distinctive purple-red color brings such plate appeal for something unique in the kitchen as the beans will lose their color when cooked but retain it when sauteed or stir-fried.  They can also be used in any dish that calls for string beans and according to what I have read they lend a wonderful almost nutty flavor to most soups.  For the peak of flavor, it is best to pick the pods before they reach twenty-two inches in length.  Longer lengths will still be edible, however, the flavor tends to fall off and the beans will not be as tender.

In sampling, I stir-fried with freshly pulled garlic and peanut oil and served with some toasted sesame seeds.  The flavor was mild and pleasant with the slightest hint of a mushroom taste.  Although others who have tried say the beans are delicious, they do not taste the hint of mushroom within the flavor. So I guess that boils down to having sensitive taste buds, maybe the garlic variety chosen for the dish (grown with the addition of mushroom compost), or being completely off my rocker, you be the judge, grin!

Several years ago, the Chinese Red Noodle beans as well as several other distinctive varieties were part of a trial performed by the Master Gardener's in Santa Clara County.  Chinese Red Noodle performed very well in the trial and was a favorite for those desiring a rich bean flavor.  The link is below for your convenience as several of the varieties trialed would be worthy of growing within our garden.

https://mastergardeners.org/long-bean-trial-2007 - link to the long bean trial performed by Master Gardeners

Green Meadows Healthy Garden Tip:

Choosing varieties that offer resistance to the common diseases and pests issues we face goes a long way in lessening your dependence on the use of fungicides and pesticides.  Chinese Red Noodle beans are a perfect example of an heirloom variety having a natural resistance to the Mexican bean beetle. Many of the yard-long beans offer the same tolerance or resistance to these terrible pests. It's just a matter of choosing your varieties carefully and making their environment conducive for the plants to do well.  Vann has showed us a perfect example of tilting the odds in her favor for a healthy and productive garden by using carefully chosen cultivars.  Kudo's Vann!  If there were a bean award, we would need to give you "Best in Show!"

For those who may be interested in trying their hand at growing these wonderful beans the links are below for your convenience to a couple excellent seed companies that carry them.  In addition, I have also placed the link to the other "Spotlight on Something Unique" articles that show standout performers within the garden. 

http://www.rareseeds.com/chinese-red-noodle-bean/ - link to Baker Creek Seed Company

http://www.southernexposure.com/chinese-red-noodle-asparagus-yardlong-yard-long-bean-4g-p-1064.html - link to Southern Exposure Seed Exchange

https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=968409830075347530#allposts - key in spotlight on something unique in the search bar located in the upper right-hand corner

Happy Gardening,

Denise, Beds 25 & 29

Gardeners' Night Out - Fall 2014

An evening series of monthly programs on gardening sponsored by the Master Gardener Volunteers of Cobb County

August 12th (Tuesday)  7:00 - 8:00 pm
“The Annual Sequence of Blooms Beloved by Worker Honeybees”
with Rita Buehner, Master Gardener
       East Cobb Regional Library
       (Old Parkaire Mall Site)
       4880 Lower Roswell Road
       Marietta, GA 30068

September 9th (Tuesday) 7:00 - 8:00 pm
“All about Bluebirds and More”
with Jim Bearden, Master Gardener
      West Cobb Regional Library
      1750 Dennis Kemp Lane NW
      Kennesaw, GA 30152

October 14th (Tuesday)  7:00 - 8:00 pm
“Trees of Our Lives: Small Native Trees for the Landscape”
with Dawn Hines, Master Gardener
      South Cobb Regional Library
      805 Clay Road
      Mableton, GA 30126

November 11th (Tuesday) 7:00 - 8:00 pm
“Adaptive Gardening -- How to Keep Gardening on your Lifetime Can Do list “
with Joe Washington, Master Gardener
      Mountain View Regional Library
      3320 Sandy Plains Road
      Marietta, GA 30066

The mission of the Master Gardener Volunteers of Cobb County is to advance the horticultural education and practices of its members and to promote the knowledge of and interest in gardening to the members and to the public.

Winter Gardening Means Mid-Summer Planning & Planting

The garden is in full swing, beans, cucumbers, and squash out the ears, plants loaded with tomatoes, and peppers well on their way to all developing nicely.  Many are asking what they can plant now for the small areas of real estate still available in their garden.  A second round of many of the summer vegetables is always a possibility; however, I tend to turn my attention to the fall garden..........................

Broccoli improves with flavor when kissed by frost!

I have been pushing parsnips lately as if they were a new drug in town to cure the wintertime blues, due only to the length of time they take to produce a healthy crop.  Several varieties of this carrot family relative can take 16 weeks or more to mature.

Parsnips have never graced my garden in the past and in speaking with some "ole-timers", they insist the flavor is sweeter than carrots in winter soups and stews. We shall see about that one!  According to Wikipedia, they are rich in history and during Roman times, they were actually considered an aphrodisiac. We shall see about that one as well, grin!

All of your broccoli's, brussels, cabbages, cauliflowers, etc. benefit from being transplanted into the garden between 4 and 6 weeks of age.  The proper time for sowing these seeds indoors is now for those who want to grow their fall garden for pennies on the dollar.  Beets, carrots, parsnips, and such do better directly sown and may go in as early as the end of July for those who want to be harvesting by Christmas dinner.

Burpee has a nice link where you key in the zip code for our growing area and the chart comes up for what to start and when.  In addition, I really like the links to the sowing guides from Botanical Interests, as these are quality seeds available locally at Pike's.

http://www.burpee.com/gygg/growingCalendarWithZipCode.jsp?catid=1000&_requestid=103634 - link to the growing calendar at Burpee Seed Company

https://botanicalinterests.com/img/site_specific/uploads/LateSummFallSowingGuide.pdf - link to the late summer and fall sowing guide for vegetables, herbs, and flowers from Botanical Interests

Green Meadows Healthy Garden Tip:

To get the most out of the fall vegetable crops, look for varieties that are resistant to the common diseases and insects we experience in the garden.  For example, Southern Exposure Seed Company carries the Green Glaze Collards that have excellent resistance to the cabbage looper and the cabbage worm.  They also carry the Dwarf Blue Vates Kale that resists yellowing of the leaves due to cold temperatures when winters are more severe than expected.  Anything that can offer resistance to downy mildew is a plus since we find that disease rather common.  Tilting the odds in your favor dramatically increases the success of a healthy vegetable garden with less dependence on the use of fungicides and pesticides.  This is especially important with the fall greens, as they tend to absorb what you spray.

One of the most comprehensive links for finding varieties that are resistant to many of the common vegetable diseases is at Cornell University.  I have placed that link here as well for your convenience.

http://vegetablemdonline.ppath.cornell.edu/Tables/TableList.htm - link to chart at Cornell for resistant varieties 

Happy Gardening,

Denise, Beds 25 & 29

Lunch & Learn Series - Fall 2014

Lunch & Learn 2014

A MGVOCC Educational Program

FREE & OPEN to the PUBLIC

 

Bring your lunch & enjoy an hour-long presentation

on a plant/garden-related subject.

Noon to 1:00 PM

County Water Lab 660 S. Cobb Drive & Atlanta Road.

Schedule and directions at: http://www.cobbmastergardeners.com

 

August 8,2014: "Weed ID for Weed Control"   Presented by Cornelius Tarver, Urban Agriculture and National Resources Agent

Tired of fighting weeds?  The challenge we face is all of them cannot be controlled the same way.  Neil will help us identify weeds in order to select the most effective method to control them.

Sept.12,2014: "The Joy of Bluebirds" All about Bluebirds and More   Presented by James Bearden

Jim's presentation includes the life of the Eastern Bluebird, including a Bluebird Trail and Nest Box Management; other birds that nest in cavities of bluebird boxes, and more!

October 10, 2014:  "Landscaping and Septic Tanks: What Homeowners Need to Know"  Presented by Cornelius Tarver

A Discussion of septic tank maintenance and  it's relation to your landscape.

November 14, 2014:  "Bonsai"  Presented by Michael Stoddard,  Board of Directors, Atlanta Bonsai Society

Bonsai, an ancient art which originated in China and developed in Japan, means "to plant in a shallow dish".  Mike, a long-time student of this art, will bring his  bonsai to show us how to plant, prune and care for our own.

 
Cobb County Cooperative Extension

678 South Cobb Drive, Suite 20,   Marietta, GA 30060-3105    Phone:  770-528-4070  

Horticulture Day at the Garden

Heading out to walk the Blue Bird Trail

It was a wonderful day at the garden in spite of the humidity. We had lots of visitors and showed the children who visited all kinds of interesting things - like fritillary caterpillars.

There was something for everyone either in the garden or outside the garden.  Approximately 26 people  went on the Blue Bird Trail walk with Jim.




Off to visit the bee yard!

Rita and Mike had a fabulous bee display in the garden. There was a honey extractor to look at and honey to taste which was made by the bees at Green Meadows Preserve. Mmmm.

Thank you to Vann & Dalita for coming out Tuesday morning and talking to our visitors. Especially for spending so much time out in the sun where the plants were!

Many thanks to Heidi for the Herb and Vertical Gardening handouts made available on our table. And to Carol and Vicki for helping during the event.

Just one of the tables full of information visitors could take away.

Fritillary caterpillar. They look vicious
 but this particular caterpillar is
 harmless. The spines are actually soft.

The bee exhibit was fantastic. It
was fascinating learning how
 the honey extractor works.

Special thanks to everyone helping the children with the scavenger hunt. It was a lot of fun for everyone to look for everything.

Rocks were easy to find but where to find the radish pods and tomatillos really stumped the searchers. As did the caterpillar on the list! Luckily for us, they are always on the passion vine (may pop) so are easy to find.

Vicki and Rita 

Definitely thank you to all the gardeners at Green Meadows who worked so hard at getting the garden ready for this event.  The garden looked and still looks fantastic. Special thanks to all the community gardeners who came out and did extra mulching throughout the garden and on the fence line.


Mike, the Bee Man

I heard lots of great comments about the Period Garden that Jack and the Master Gardeners have created around the house and the Native American Garden Tony, Jack and the Master Gardeners have created between the house and the woods.


Jack and Louise

Louise, Amy, Renae, Hope and Neil from Cobb County Extension put together a fun and enjoyable event. Thanks for asking us to participate!

Photos by Renae, Mike and Vicki

How to Water - over head or at the base of the plant

Which way should you water your plants? When it comes to vegetables there are certain plants it is best to take precautions with and NOT do overhead watering. Tomatoes, peppers, squash, cucumbers and watermelons in particular are all plants that get fungal diseases (blights and powdery mildew.)



These tomatillos have lots of space at the
bottom so they can be watered easily at
the base without getting the leaves wet.

Wet leaves set up the perfect conditions for disease to get established. For these plants it is much better to water at the base (ground level) and not get the leaves and stems wet.

You can't control the amount of water that comes from the sky but you can control where you place the water when you are hand watering.

There are 4 or 5 tomatoes in here. Only one
is easy to water without getting the foliage wet.
The only choice IS to water through the leaves.

But....there is always a BUT....if we haven't had any rain for several weeks it is a good idea to give the plants a shower to wash the dirt and grime off the leaves.

Carrots






Any time you wash a plants leaves off, do it early enough in the day (at least an hour before dark) to give the foliage time to dry before dark.

Carrots, lettuce, and greens on the other hand, like to get their foliage washed when they get watered. So you can do overhead watering frequently on them. As you can see above, it is hard to water just at the base of a carrot in a bed of carrots so you do have to get the foliage wet every time you water.

Vicki - Bed 41

Vanilla Bean Mascarpone Ice Cream

Carol's son-in-law Chad made this Ice Cream for the Ice Cream Social. It was soooo good. Surprisingly so since I was mentally going Mascarpone? In the ice cream?

 Vanilla Bean Mascarpone Ice Cream with Biscoff Cookie

4 large egg yolks 3/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons sugar 
2 cups whole milk
1 cup mascarpone (7 ounces)
1/2 teaspoon fresh lemon juice
Pinch of salt
One Vanilla Bean

1. In a large bowl, using a handheld mixer, beat the egg yolks with 3/4 cup of the sugar at medium-high speed until fluffy, 3 minutes. In a saucepan, combine the milk with the remaining 2 tablespoons of the sugar, split length wise the vanilla bean and scrape insides of pod , add both scraped pod and vanilla beans into mixture and bring to a simmer.
2. Strain milk and vanilla mixture.
3. Slowly beat the warm milk into the egg yolks at low speed. Scrape the custard into the saucepan. Cook over moderate heat, stirring constantly with a wooden spoon, until thick enough to coat the back of the spoon, about 5 minutes; don't let the custard boil.
4. Pour the custard into a bowl set in a larger bowl of ice water and whisk in the mascarpone, lemon juice and salt. Let stand until chilled, stirring occasionally, 30 minutes.
5. Pour the custard into an ice cream maker and freeze according to the manufacturer's instructions. Transfer the mascarpone ice cream to an airtight container and freeze until firm, at least 2 hours.

 Make Ahead  - The ice cream can be frozen for up to 2 days.

Boo hoo.....tomatoes being eaten

Last week I saw a squirrel lazily sauntering through the garden with a grape tomato in his mouth towards his favorite tree. I've also found tomato parts scattered all over the garden as well.

Here someone lost a beautiful vine ripe tomato because those squirrels said YUM! and stayed to dine. They tend to carry off cherry, grape and small tomatoes but eat the big ones "in house".

 Unfortunately for us, leaving tomatoes to get to the vine ripe stage is dangerous...you might get the tomato or the squirrels might get the tomato.

Vicki - Bed 41

Cucumber-leaf Sunflower

Last year I planted Helianthus debilis ssp. cucumerifolius, Cucumber-leaf Sunflower at the far end of the sunflower/herb border. These annual sunflowers are a native of  southwestern Georgia but have spread further north. Interestingly, they have only spread as far north as Macon in the interior of the state but they have spread all the way up the coast to New England.






When my friend Hal gave them to me, he warned me that they reseeded readily. The plants he gave me came from middle Georgia in the sandhill region so I wasn't sure they would really grow well up here.

I think I've proved (at least so far this year) that they will thrive and do well up here. In fact, the plants at the garden are bigger and started blooming before the plants 100 miles south of here! Very odd if you ask me since spring comes earlier to the south of us.  It will be interesting to see how well they do the rest of the year and what happens next year.

Vicki - Bed 41

Disease and Insect Control, Part 2

Do not use a glass where
small children will have
access to it.!!

There are several important things to remember when using chemicals.

READ THE LABEL! Use ONLY as much as you need. More is not better.

Use dedicated measuring containers/utensils.

Use proper personal protection - at a bare minimum, use disposable gloves!

Avoid standing where the chemical will drift onto you or you will inhale it with every breath.  If you have a windsock, watch what direction the wind is blowing. Windsock and when to spray

Wash your skin with soap and water when you are finished.

Below is the instruction sheet we use for mixing and using chemicals at the Community Garden.

***********************************************************

Procedure and Directions on how much to mix and spray

Caution: Do not spray if rain is expected within 4 hours. Spraying without having time for the chemical to bond with the leaves means you have to respray. AzaMax stays on better than Actinovate or Serenade as they are water soluble. If it only rains a little bit you are fine. 5 days of rain or a down pour means you should respray for continued protection.  Also water your plants BEFORE spraying any chemicals.

You can combine the pesticide ( Azamax) with1 fungicide (Actinovate  or  Serenade) so that you spray for bugs and disease at the same time. Only use both chemicals if you need both. If you only need one (fungicide or pesticide), only use the one chemical.

Spray every 7 to 10 days depending on how much rain we have and what kind of problems you are having.

                                                       ****************

AzaMax (pesticide to use on plants):

               bean beetles, cucumber beetles, squash bugs, etc.
  Shake concentrate container before measuring out

1/2 gallon - use 1 1/2 teaspoons of concentrate

1 Quart    - use 3/4th  teaspoon of concentrate
  if you can't beat back the bugs, ask about what amount to increase to
                                                                             
Actinovate (fungicide for fungus/disease control for plants)
             powdery mildew, tomato blight, viruses, curly top, etc
1/2 gallon - use  1/2 teaspoon of powdered concentrate
1 quart     - use  1/4 teaspoon of powdered concentrate
   if disease pressure is  high, ask about what amount to use

Serenade ( another fungicide chemical for fungus/disease control for plants)

            powdery mildew, tomato blight, viruses, curly top, etc
Shake concentrate container before measuring out

1/2 gallon - use 2 ounces of concentrate        

1 quart     - use 1 ounce of concentrate
   if disease pressure is high, ask about what amount to use
                                                                 
WEAR GLOVES!! Even when mixing the chemical. Definitely while spraying.

Watch the windsock when spraying to make sure you are upwind from the chemical you are spraying.

Put water in the container and then add the concentrate. Make sure it gets completely mixed/dissolved before using.

Shake very well to mix.

Then pour your chemical solution in one of the half gallon sprayers but only up to the round indented spots towards the top of the sprayer. If you go above those indentions, when you put the sprayer in, the chemical will overflow.

Tighten sprayer and pump to create pressure.  (If pressure doesn’t build, try tightening the sprayer in the bottle again). Test to see if you need to adjust the nozzle before spraying your plants. You want a spray, not a stream.

Once you are finished spraying your plants, you need to empty and rinse out everything you used. Sprayer, mixing bottle/jug, measuring spoons and/or measuring cup.  Be sure to pump clean water through the sprayer to clean out that part as well as the sprayer bottle.

Return everything to the proper shelf in the shed so the next person can find everything.

Thanks! 

Vicki - Bed 41

Disease and Insect Control, Part 1

The one thing I hate about vegetable gardening in Georgia is fighting disease and bugs in the summer. If you are growing your vegetables at home, you won't have nearly the disease and bug pressure that we do at the Community Garden.

If you use the proper chemical at the correct time and use the correct amount you will increase your success.

Of course, you will have even better success if you use IPM (Integrated Pest Management) techniques. Healthy soil. Healthy plants  Watch for bugs. Hand pick bugs when there are only a few. When the numbers get too high, then use the correct pesticide but not too much.

At the Community garden, we have an organic garden and use Serenade or Actinovate for plant diseases and AzaMax for our pesticide. All these products can be ordered through Amazon. Early in the season the prices are much better than during peak demand times.  Pike's does carry a small bottle of Serenade that is premixed and ready to spray. This is economical if you have a small garden or while your plants are small. If you have a large garden, it is more economical to get the large bottle of concentrate.

The sprayer we use is a Flo Master from Home Depot. It holds
a half gallon of mixed chemical and is easy to use.

 As for disease in the garden...well....it is easy for it to spread like wildfire so a good offense is an excellent defense. With as much rain as we've been having, conditions are ripe for all the different blights that affect tomatoes as well as powdery mildew attacking the cucumbers and squashes.

Since the chemicals we use are water soluble,  they wash off after frequent rains or if the rain was especially heavy. The AzaMax does stay a bit longer than the Serenade and Actinovate. Generally, spraying every 7 to 10 days is the recommended time frame. But if you spray on Day 1 and it then rains for 5 days straight, you should spray again as all your chemical has washed off.

Part Two will have the  mixing instructions that we use at the garden.

Vicki - Bed 41