When I started this year, I didn’t realize I would have to deal with bugs. I had this idea that since I was container farming that I would be free of such things. Alas, I was so wrong and I had to accept that this is all part of the learning.
The number one thing I took away from this summer is really learn your plant. For example, my tomato leaves have a tendency to curl so is it due to lack of water, is something bigger going on or is this just the plant. Keeping an eye on them will help mitigate problems much earlier. I was made super aware of this with my lettuce that died off because I didn’t take care of my aphid problems right away.
When you discover you have a pest problem, if you can, distance the plant from the rest of your garden! You don’t want these issues to appear in your other plants and these buggers can jump from plant to plant. Some of you may not have this option, that is okay. You will need to really pay attention to your other plants until the infestation is done.
Then do research on the lifecycle of the pest. This will tell you how long you will have to apply your bug eradication solution. You really want to follow this because you don’t want the issue to return!
I can only speak to what I experienced in my garden this year. I know there are many different options to clear up the issues that I had, so research is always beneficial to determine what works for you.
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| Aphids |
Aphids: I got these with in 3weeks of starting to get Arugula cuttings. They destroyed this plant and I discovered the problem too little to late, even after trying to kill them off. They were crawling underneath the leaves having a good time. I picked up VeggiePharm (http://www.pharmsolutions.com/veggie_pharm.html) because I wanted to keep the killing solution organic knowing I would be eating this later. It worked great! But my plant still died because it was infested so badly. This product contained oils that I had seen testimonials in my research that worked to remove them. I didn’t want to have to track down the oils on my own and this contained it all so I went with it.
You can also spray them off with a high powered water hose. Once they are dislodged from the leaf they can’t climb back up. I know it is weird, and I haven’t tried it yet, but supposedly it works.
Another option is attracting ladybugs to your balcony. I think this would be one of the hardest things to do living in a city. Personally, I have only seen one on my balcony and I leave in a residential area just on the outskirts of downtown Denver. I don’t recommend purchasing the ladybugs from the nursery as they usually just fly away which would be a waste of money.
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| Adult Fungus Gnat |
Fungus Gnats: We received 5 inches of rain in two weeks in July. My Spring Mix container had drain holes, but it could not dry out in between the nightly deluges. This is perfect conditions for fungus gnats to appear. They look like fruit flies flying around your plant, they aren’t the evil one’s, their larvae is. They feed on the roots of the plant slowly killing it off.
To kill these it is a two step process and I wasn’t successful in keeping my plant alive through this. Hopefully this doesn’t scare you! I know the soil needs to dry out in order to kill the larvae, but there are eggs that will hatch once the plant has water again, so your problem continues. To kill the eggs I used a mixture of hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) and water. In doing research I learned that different people have different ratio’s that they use. The soil loves the oxygen that the H2O2 gives it and in turn that will make the plant happy. The ratio I used was I used one part 3% h2o2 to five parts water. This works out to roughly pouring in 2 cups of 3% h2o2 into a gallon milk jug and filling the rest with water. I just read this morning someone suggested 1 tablespoon of H202 to 1 gallon of water. No matter the solution you us, apply again after 10 days, to make sure you have really got them.
Next year, if we receive that much rain again, I will bring them inside, or cover them with something that will help keep the rain out.
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| The Grasshopper We Had |
Grasshoppers: My kitty killed one of these a week ago… I was super proud! That is one less that will be eating on my plants. They have only discovered my balcony, they haven’t discovered the roof yet. I can only hope they never will. You can’t kill them off, you can only protect against them as they are resistant to most chemicals and reproduce very quickly. I had this issue with my basil (eating my basil, eating basil cont, and busted) so I purchased a garden bag which is a bag version of a row liner. I don’t love this as I feel the bag I purchased doesn’t allow adequate light through and the soil stays decently damp.
I think I will be forever scratching my head on how to prevent this insect from getting its grub on.
I hope this helps, if not there are tons of resources out there that can provide other options in taking care of our not so friendly critters.
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