Relaxed's 2014 Outdoor Medical Grow

[thegreengrocr]

Count me in. Love to watch all the girls.

 

[Conradino23]

Did you try to use insecticide designed specifically for these moths/larvae?

 

[Lester Freeman]

Count me in. Love to watch all the girls.

Did you try to use insecticide designed specifically for these moths/larvae?

I have used BT spray which I don't like because of mold issues here on the beach, anything that sprays liquid on the plants in flower doesn't really do me justice I found, mainly because it's so humid here on the beach.

So I switched to granular BT, which is much better in terms of that humidity issue. But it doesn't guarantee anything... just one more little line of defense. I've been looking around for a black mosquito net, the type they use in Florida for the back porch, could never find anything that would fit right in here, would have to order an industrial sized one and have it custom cut, which is a pain...there's always a give and take to the issue. If I put up one of those nets permanently I would be hindering a bit of air flow, so I like to give the plants what they want, and that is to be free.

It's too early in the morning to start ranting and raving about this

 

[bluefly43]

For moth control, take a look at page 52 post #765

on the virtual couch, very interesting.

Last summer I had the beginning of powdery mildew

on my outside plant, I used just a pinch of Bayer rose

treatment for black spot and PM every 6 weeks. Not

only did it stop the PM immediately, I had absolutely no insect problems

of any sort.







Onions make people cry

but no vegetable makes them laugh

 

[GardenFaerie]

For moth control, take a look at page 52 post #765

on the virtual couch, very interesting.

Last summer I had the beginning of powdery mildew

on my outside plant, I used just a pinch of Bayer rose

treatment for black spot and PM every 6 weeks. Not

only did it stop the PM immediately, I had absolutely no insect problems

of any sort.
Onions make people cry

but no vegetable makes them laugh

Imidacloprid, the active poison in Bayer's is not only one of the most toxic systemic pesticides on the market, it is illegal in many parts of the country, many areas of NY have it banned. The plant takes the poison in through the roots if you broadcast on soil and stays there. It does not flush out, or rinse off. If you smoke it, you will get it in your lungs. Please be careful when using extremely toxic poison. Bt-k powder is absolutely the most effective, organic method. It is being used all over the world for many decades to control gypsy moths which can take a forest down in one month. It is effective. Do not plop tons of dust on foliage. Apply it to the leaves and shake the plant to get the excess off. That's it. A worm eats it, and that is the last thing it eats and it works within a few hours. Sorry for the organic soap box, but I sure hope I never buy or get a bag of weed with that crap living in the cells of the plant.

 

[Lester Freeman]

There is definitely an art in being able to apply the BT dust in the most effective manner possible, the sprayer can sometimes "clump up", and makes it a "low surface area" spray, and depending on the angle you are spraying at, there is more or less clumping going on. To use the integrated sprayer orifice that comes with the BT dust bottle takes quite a bit of skill, especially if you are not to dust the actual buds, but the foliage. As kind of an add on to GF's post, BT also degrades in sunlight (depending on UV concentration) in 1-3 days, so if the moth lays its eggs the instant the BT degrades, and your next application is not until next week, than they could potentially have a few days to grow and move inside the inner-crannies, which at that point I'm sorry to say they're not going to come into contact with the dust. And liquid spraying is pretty much out of the question for me in hard flower, hell, even with a liquid spray, you'd have to drench the hell out of the buds to get some of these worms. I guess my point is that for me and my little backyard grow, there is no "sure-fire" method to eradicating them and having 100% success.

 

[bluefly43]

Imidacloprid, the active poison in Bayer's is not only one of the most toxic systemic pesticides on the market, it is illegal in many parts of the country, many areas of NY have it banned. The plant takes the poison in through the roots if you broadcast on soil and stays there. It does not flush out, or rinse off. If you smoke it, you will get it in your lungs. Please be careful when using extremely toxic poison. Bt-k powder is absolutely the most effective, organic method. It is being used all over the world for many decades to control gypsy moths which can take a forest down in one month. It is effective. Do not plop tons of dust on foliage. Apply it to the leaves and shake the plant to get the excess off. That's it. A worm eats it, and that is the last thing it eats and it works within a few hours. Sorry for the organic soap box, but I sure hope I never buy or get a bag of weed with that crap living in the cells of the plant.

Point well taken, guess I'll find something else. I use the

Bayers for my roses, thought it should work ok, never thought

it might kill me.

 

[GardenFaerie]

There are no surefire methods for pests on plants, but cultural practices can really help. I had an outbreak of mites and aphids this year much to my chagrin. But, I learned a valuable lesson. That said, when I get my growing started I definitely plan to use mosquito netting. I saw they sell it at Joanne's Fabric and Crafts, which is also online. I can post the link (with permission) if anyone is interested in what I found.

I do not believe too much sun or air will be thwarted by this netting. I am also not concerned because if I think the plants
don't get enough air flow, I will put a fan out there to move the air where the plants are.

Something else I've done over the years which is very effective is to grow catch crops close by. Grow the exact plants you know your moth larvae like to eat. Plant things which also attract pests so you will bring beneficial insects into the area. If there is no food, an ladybug will fly over and find a yard with some aphids...their preferred food, but they eat ten times more in THEIR larval stage. Learn what all beneficial insects look like in their larval stage. And this everyone knows, but I'll say it anyway, check your garden every day, two or more times a day. Every morning we walk the entire garden front and back. I love to see what came up, what didn't, what is in flower or about to flower, check for strawberries, or dandelion greens. I do that again mid day and again in the evening. I always see something new and I always marvel. Gardening is my main delight in life.

 

[Lester Freeman]

Gardening is my main delight in life.

Sounds like you live like I do then , sure feel free to post the link too.

Also feel free to drop by my regular garden Relaxed Lester's Garden Photos

 

[GardenFaerie]

Sounds like you live like I do then , sure feel free to post the link too.

Also feel free to drop by my regular garden Relaxed Lester's Garden Photos

I've been to your garden photos already! Hahaha. My husband says plants are my squirrel. So now when we walk through a store and if I see something and walk towards it, he says, "SQUIRREL!" Like a dog who is going to run at it. Imagine his nerve

Utility Fabric Mosquito Netting White at Joann.com

This netting fabric is very light, can be washed gently and is 72" wide. I am going to use it to surround the very simple enclosure I am going to build using 1x2" firing strips. I'll hinge one side so I can get to the plants easily and I may do that on two sides. I'm talking very simple hinges with a hook and eye lock. It will keep the rabbits, raccoon, rats, mice, insects, snakes, slugs and snails. I am going to put copper tape along the entire bottom and no snail or slug will cross that, not ever.

Your garden is great! I am growing very little vegetables this year. Brandywine tomatoes, onions, garlic, herbs, artichokes, and potatoes. I do more vegetables in the fall because that's when they really shine around here.

EDIT: I almost forgot; with Joanne's, they have 40%off coupon usually always. I'm not positive it works online, but if you ordered one piece of cut fabric, that counts as one regular priced thing and you would get the discount with the coupon. But really the link is just to show what to search for if you want to make your own nets. I love the idea.

 

[Lester Freeman]

I checked out that netting, although it may be good material, it's pretty expensive, and for me to net my entire planter bed it would cost about 60$. Luckily there's a Joannes nearby so I can go check it out in person before dedicating to such a thing. For now I'll just ride it out with my Agribon row cover which my plants seem to LOVE. It keeps the temperatures a good 10-15 degrees Celcius higher in there. The row cover cost about 20$, and I'm still using the one from last year . I just can't really have a completely packed to the bone tent with the thing on because the air currents aren't as good, but they love it when I got the sides clipped open and that ocean breeze just comes on through. Luckily there's a forest of lush vegetation, aromatic and colorful flowers all over the place. I hear those borers LOVE Italian Parsley, that stuff grows even more vigorous than the Mint! Hard to believe since we got Mint growing out of cracks in the bricks, and that parsley found its way into the cilantro so now we're in a bit of a pickle in that arena And should have a good batch of strawberries ready to be harvested next week Potatoes and garlic seem to be a tough one for us, carrots going real slow, our soil is just a little too compact, and being only one person working in the garden, it's hard to keep up with everything at the same time. All the different plants that need disinfecting, pruning, trimming. That's what I like about gardening, is that there's an almost un-ending list of things to do, which is all for the greater good of well-being. You can say I'm addicted to wandering the garden, it sure is a lot nicer to walk around with a drink and admire the beauty of nature and life, but what I don't enjoy is pulling worms out with an ice-pick. But again I am gonna think about having them cut me a custom piece down at Joannes in the future, thanks for the heads up on that high quality material gardenfairy. The truth is I am maintaining two gardens at the same time, one of them is inland towards the valley, the other one - my pride and joy is at the beach. So I am really seeing the difference between the tomatos grown here, and there, they love it inland thats for sure. And I'll go as far to say I think there's more moths on the beach, not sure why, I think the humidity is more condusive to them, there's more morning dew that feeds all the little bugs. So during the week I am maintaining this other garden in the valley, and I go to check on my other garden on the weekends where I'll spend all day outside just gardening. I do have someone that looks over things while I am gone, but they aren't exactly able to pick through the buds with an ice-pick and know what to look for, that kind of thing does take some experience.
I'll end this rant here and just conclude that I'm excited to see and be with my plants. Weekly update tomorrow.

 

[GardenFaerie]

I totally identify with you. I'll garden if I have to lay down to do it...and during my chemo treatment, indeed I lay down to garden. Nothing could keep me from it. Of course the garden suffered and filled with noxious weeds which I had to resort to paying someone to dig out, but I got dirty. This year, I hope I can do more in the garden than I have in the last three years. I'm in remission and they used the word "cure," but I will not believe it for five years.

 

[Lester Freeman]

I totally identify with you. I'll garden if I have to lay down to do it...and during my chemo treatment, indeed I lay down to garden. Nothing could keep me from it. Of course the garden suffered and filled with noxious weeds which I had to resort to paying someone to dig out, but I got dirty. This year, I hope I can do more in the garden than I have in the last three years. I'm in remission and they used the word "cure," but I will not believe it for five years.

Stay Positive my friend

 

[CCOiler]

I totally identify with you. I'll garden if I have to lay down to do it...and during my chemo treatment, indeed I lay down to garden. Nothing could keep me from it. Of course the garden suffered and filled with noxious weeds which I had to resort to paying someone to dig out, but I got dirty. This year, I hope I can do more in the garden than I have in the last three years. I'm in remission and they used the word "cure," but I will not believe it for five years.

Good job on your remission gardenfaerie

Not over kill is it!!!!

 

[Insanerooster]

I totally identify with you. I'll garden if I have to lay down to do it...and during my chemo treatment, indeed I lay down to garden. Nothing could keep me from it. Of course the garden suffered and filled with noxious weeds which I had to resort to paying someone to dig out, but I got dirty. This year, I hope I can do more in the garden than I have in the last three years. I'm in remission and they used the word "cure," but I will not believe it for five years.

Really happy to hear this good news.... Sending good vibes your way!!!!

Best and Blessed !!!!

 

[CronicHempHog]

Hey Brotha Relaxed sounds like you got quite a big garden
Have a great Tomorrow

 

[Lester Freeman]

Good job on your remission gardenfaerie

Not over kill is it!!!!

Really happy to hear this good news.... Sending good vibes your way!!!!

Best and Blessed !!!!

Indeed!

Hey Brotha Relaxed sounds like you got quite a big garden
Have a great Tomorrow

Hey Buddy,Thanks, I am just so glad Thursday is here. Excited to post my update this afternoon. Hope everyone is doing and growing well in their gardens! A Grand Thurweed day to ya

 

[stealthgrow]

Hi Relaxed.
I never realized you gardened as extensively as you do, your garden sounds amazing. I've grown tomatoes and maybe some string beans in previous years, but they never turned out. Now that I've learned so much about gardening though growing my MMJ, maybe I should give regular gardening another grow this summer. hmmmmmm....... Its gonna be a while before I can plant anything outdoors though, there is still about a foot of snow and ice on the ground here. Temps are going up and its melting fast but still.

PS. Subscribed and catching up.

 

[High yogi]

I totally identify with you. I'll garden if I have to lay down to do it...and during my chemo treatment, indeed I lay down to garden. Nothing could keep me from it. Of course the garden suffered and filled with noxious weeds which I had to resort to paying someone to dig out, but I got dirty. This year, I hope I can do more in the garden than I have in the last three years. I'm in remission and they used the word "cure," but I will not believe it for five years.

Love it, your love of gardening ... On my business cards I have printed " the garden is medicine, cultivate." Some get it a lot don't .. Just so nice to come to a site online and find such genuine enthusiasm.. ( I migrated from a different site to here and glad for it) currently enjoying a nice lumbar/hip joint/ sciatica cluster **** and have been tending plants in compromised positions lol as described. Any how, rock on.

 

[B A R]

I totally identify with you. I'll garden if I have to lay down to do it...and during my chemo treatment, indeed I lay down to garden. Nothing could keep me from it. Of course the garden suffered and filled with noxious weeds which I had to resort to paying someone to dig out, but I got dirty. This year, I hope I can do more in the garden than I have in the last three years. I'm in remission and they used the word "cure," but I will not believe it for five years.