Natural Solutions to Things That Bug You (86 page)

Leaves skeletonized, no webbing, scars on fruit……..              Omnivorous looper

Leaves smaller than normal, yellowish, feeder

root blackened…………………………………………….              Avocado root rot

Purple discoloration around leaf veins…………………              Six-spotted mite

Leaves spotted, yellow mites with webbing……………              Persea mite

Leaves turn brown………………………………………..              Avocado brown mite

Brown discoloration on fruit, tiny brown

varnish spots………………………………………………              Greenhouse thrips

BEANS

THE EARLY BIRD GETS THE BEAN

If you want your snap beans to produce over a longer period of time, just pick them when the beans are about pencil width. Make sure that the seeds are just visible. If you wait too long the plant will make the seeds larger instead of the meat of the bean and use up all its energy.

IS IT A BEANSTALK OR A CORNSTALK?

If you plant pole beans next to corn stalks, the beans will use the corn stalk and wind its way up making it easier to grow them without putting up pole for them.

BEAN PEST PROBLEM SOLVERS

              THE PROBLEM                                                                      CAUSED BY                                         

Seedlings collapse after they come up…………………              Seedcorn maggot

Plants weak, leaves yellow or dying……………………              Stem rot

Plants wilt and turn yellow, fine webbing on

underneath side of leaves……………………………….              Spider mite

Leaves curled and deformed, may have shiny

appearance from honeydew and blackened…………..              Aphids

White strippling on upper surface of leaves……………              Leafhoppers

Leaves turn yellow, slightly curled, cloud of

tiny white insects fly up when plant disturbed………….Whiteflies

Stunted seedlings with misshapen leaves……………..              Thrips

Holes or leaves skeletonized…………………………….Cucumber beetle

Buds and flowers drop off. Beans pitted……………….              Lygus bug

Blossoms drop off………………………………………..              Low soil moisture, smog

Stunted plants, roots have knots or beads…………….              Nematodes

Tiny white grubs inside pod, round holes              ………………Bean weevil

Holes in pods, seed hollow and eaten………………….              Lycaenid pod borer

Chewing damage on pods or flowers…………………..              Corn earworm             

BEETS

IF YOU LIKE THEM YOUNG AND TENDER

Try sowing the beets in a short row about every two weeks and begin four weeks before the last frost during spring.

HOW SWEET IT IS

Beets grown in the spring and fall are usually sweeter than the beets grown in the summer. The cool temperatures tend to cause the beet to store more sugar. If you must grow beets in the summer and would like them sweet, then mulch them to keep the ground as cool as possible.

BERRIES

PLANT THEM OR CHILL THEM

Strawberries need to be planted as soon as possible after being purchased. If you can’t plant them, then you need to store them in a refrigerator at 40
F to keep them dormant. When you remove them, they must be planted immediately or the yield will be reduced.

THE SOUTH WINS THIS ONE

If you plant strawberries on a south-facing slope instead of a north-facing slope, they will bear fruit at least a week earlier.

DON’T WANT THOSE SUNSHADES

If you plant strawberries in narrow rows you will produce more berries. When you plant in wide rows, the plants in the middle of the rows will receive too much shade.

BRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR

    Place about a 2-inch layer of straw over strawberry plants to protect them during the winter. More than 2 inches tends to allow water to percolate through the straw and suffocate the plants. This results in the soil being unable to breathe and allowing carbon dioxide to build up and kill the roots.

MATURE STRAWBERRIES IN 8 WEEKS??????????

The secret to harvesting mature strawberries in only 8 weeks will depend on the following:


     
Plants should be spaced 4 inches apart in rows of 12 inches wide and allow enough room to walk between rows.

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Make sure you mulch the plants and allow them to flower.


     
Remove all runners.


     
The first year’s crop will ripen about 2 months later. The second year’s crop will be larger and will come in earlier.


     
Forget the old matted row system of planting.

DON’T GET BLUE OVER BLUEBERRIES

Blueberries are one of the berry families that do not need a lot of feeding. If you have mature bushes, you should only feed them about 1 pound of a quality cottonseed meal every year to provide you with an excellent yield.

SOME BERRIES DON’T NEED AN OLD CANE

Blackberries, dewberries and most raspberry varieties produce the fruit on “canes” that grew the year before. After harvest pruning is essential in order to grow a good crop the following year. Cut the canes at ground level and do not allow them to remain in the garden. Take care not to damage the new canes that are growing since these will provide you with next year’s crop.

BERRY PEST PROBLEM SOLVERS

              THE PROBLEM                                                                      CAUSED BY                                                       

Blackberries don’t turn black enough, become

red and sour……………………………………………….              Redberry mite

Leaves stippled and yellow, dried out and brown,

underside of leaves with strands of webbing…………..              Spider mites

Tips of young shoots wilt in sprung, thick white

worm in cane              ………………………………………………Raspberry horntail

New shoots wilt in spring, grub burrowing in cane…….Raspberry cane borer

Plants stunted, cane dies, worm tunneling in cane……Crown borers

White winding trails on canes in spring or summer……Bushberry cane miner

Young stems wilt, partially chewed canes……………..              Cutworm

Buds and new growth eaten in spring………………….              Leafroller, orange tortrix

Tiny holes in leaves and skeletonized………………….              Raspberry sawfly

Canes covered with white crust or brownish bumps….              Scale

Tiny green insects along stems or on new growth…….Raspberry aphid

Tiny white spots on leaves in spring, underneath

sides of leaves inhabited by whitish bugs………………Rose leafhopper

Berries deformed or scarred, thin insects on berries….Flower thrips

CARROTS

ARE YOU SUFFERING FROM CRUSTY SOIL?

Crust tends to form on the ground and causes patchy carrot growth. The seedlings are not strong enough to break through in some areas. Never cover carrot seeds with soil, instead use peat, compost or vermiculite.

CARROT PEST PROBLEM SOLVERS

THE PROBLEM                                                                      CAUSED BY