Identifying the pest in the garden

Defoliated tomato seedling

I didn't go into enough detail as to why I think the critter eating my tomato plants was a bird or a rat.  A reader emailed me yesterday morning suggesting that a tobacco or tomato hornworm might be the culprit.  He is right that they can defoliate a tomato plant seemingly overnight.  It definitely looks like the work of a tobacco hornworm (or a tomato hornworm) with the leaves gone and the stem remaining, but I had ruled them out for a couple of reasons.  The caterpillars themselves are large and you can usually find them pretty easily. I searched very closely and found nothing, not even the frass (poop) that's usually apparent when they are around. More importantly, it's too early in the season for them as they don't show up until midsummer when the plants are much larger.

Other possibilities I considered were deer, rabbits, and box turtles.  However, those are all physically excluded from my garden by a 6 foot wooden privacy fence, two 50 pound active dogs, and then another 4 foot 1"x2" meshed fence that surrounds the garden (to keep the chickens out).  Squirrels would have just dug the seedlings up and they are rarely seen in my yard because we are surrounded by fields.  It's a pretty far run over open ground for a squirrel to get here from the forest.  I've already discussed the cutworm.  I dismissed it because they don't defoliate, they cut off the stem.  Also, I thoroughly sifted through the soil around the plants where it would be hiding during the day and found nothing.

At this garden site, I've personally watched a hispid cotton rat go down a row of freshly sprouted green beans eating every one*.  One of those could easily have slipped through the fences and past my dogs.  A bird of course can just fly in.  If anyone else has any ideas, I'd love to get your insights.  It was pretty frustrating.

*I need to do a post about the usefulness of a good pellet gun around the garden :)

Weekly Gardening Outlook: Last Minute Bed Prep and Some Early Plantings

This will be a continuing series where we look ahead at the coming week in gardening for the Northwest Arkansas area.

Bermuda grass infesting raised bed.

In December of 2009, I added two wooden framed 4' x 8' raised beds to my garden.  Despite scalping the area with a lawnmower on its lowest setting and laying down two layers of thick cardboard, the Bermuda grass persisted and invaded my new beds last year.  This spring, I raked the soil back and removed as much as I could, but I have no doubt that I will deal with it again this year.  If you are building a new bed and have Bermuda grass, my suggestion is to remove the top 3-4" of soil containing the grass before building your bed.  A flat-nosed shovel will do the job, but a motorized sod-cutter can be rented to expedite the job if you are putting in multiple beds.

Evergreen bunching onions flowering.

Evergreen bunching onions flowering.

The flowers are opening up on the evergreen bunching onions.  As they are pollinated and form seeds, I will be watching them closely to try to harvest some of my own seeds.  I started these from seed last spring and look forward to completing the cycle from seed to seed.

Apple tree leafing out.

Despite my concern over the -18 degree temperatures, the potted apple trees made it safely through the winter.  I will pot them up into larger containers soon.

Partially planted bed containing onions and herbs.

This past Sunday, I planted a portion of the "Bermuda grass free" bed with onion sets (yellow and purple), cilantro, lemon thyme, oregano, and bok choy.  The onions can handle any mild freeze that we may get, but I will have to cover the herbs and the bok choy.  In about two weeks, when all danger of frost has passed, the garden really gets going when I put in the main summer crops.  Until then, bed prep continues.

Oregano. 

A common herb, oregano is used in Italian and Mexican food.  Because it spreads via runners, I only bought one plant and will divide it up as it spreads to eventually have several for plantings in my blocks.  Oregano is known for its hardy nature.  Once established, it will come back year after year.

Lemon Thyme.

 Lemon thyme is a less common herb that I haven't found in stores.  It's great on fish and chicken or anything that you want to add a lemony zing to.  Thyme of any variety is very tough and stays green through the winter and comes back year after year.

Bok Choy.

I've never grown bok choy and bought this plant on a whim.  It appears that spring may not be the easiest time to grow these according to THIS source.

Arugula.

 Arugula is a nice addition to a salad with a spicy flavor.  It continuously sends up new leaves as I pick the young tender ones for salads.  As the days get warmer, it will bolt (send up flowers) and become bitter.  I will erect a shade cloth to cover it in three or four weeks to try to prolong the harvest.

Divided cilantro.

Transplanted volunteer cilantro. 

 My transplanted volunteer cilantro is doing great.  I bought two more cilantro plants and then divided them immediately in half before planting.  We use a lot of cilantro in salsa.  It will bolt as it gets hotter outside.  Once it flowers and forms seeds, they can be harvested and used for cooking.  Their seeds are the seasoning called coriander.  I will erect shade clothes over them in three to four weeks as well to try to prolong the harvests.

Yellow onion sets.

Purple onion sets.

 After these pictures were taken, the sets were covered with an inch of soil.  Our local nursery provides as many onion sets as I would care to take free of charge every year.  This year I added purple onions to the garden just for the variety.  Onions are very easy to grow.  For large bulbs, plant the smallest sets four inches apart and 1-2" deep.  Water them once and pretty much leave them alone until late July.

Rabbit or deer damage to a blueberry bush.

Budding blueberry bush.

I stopped by the house of the customer that I helped plant four blueberry bushes.  Three of their bushes suffered severe damage over the winter from rabbits or deer munching on them.  This next fall, we will install wire fencing around each bush to protect them.

Chicken and Egg Report:

We are still getting four to five eggs a day.  One hen has gone broody and is sitting on the eggs.  She's not pulling feathers from her breast, so I figure she'll come out of it pretty quickly.  FYI broody means that a hen begins sitting on the eggs with the intent to hatch them.  Usually she pulls the feathers from her breast so that the skin can better transmit her heat into the eggs.  She also doesn't get up to eat or drink very much and can lose weight.  In the spring and summer our hens go broody here and there and we just leave them be other than harvesting the eggs out from under them daily.

Weather Outlook:

About an inch and half of rain.

-The evening after planting the our bed, we got about an inch and a half of much needed rain!

-It's going to cool down with a chance of rain Friday and Saturday.  I've seen predictions that it might get close to a frost Saturday morning, so keep and eye on that.  By Sunday it should warm back up into daytime high in the 70s.

-Ten day forecast

What's Being Harvested:

-Herbs

-Arugula

Electric Fencing

Last year we had some issues with deer in a customer's garden.  We started seeing strawberry plants and lettuces eaten down with hoof prints next to them in the uncompacted soil of the raised beds.  The garden is bordered by the house on the north, an 8 foot tall wooden fence on the east, and a 3 foot terrace and a chain-link fence on the south.  The west was open to the front yard where the deer would enter.  Moving the 8 foot tall wooden fence to encompass the garden would be ideal, but that was not an option.  We decided that an electric fence across this opening would be the cheapest and simplest option.  Electric fences provide a small shock to anything that completes the circuit between it and the ground, much like a static shock in the winter.  It's surprising, but causes no damage.  Since setting up the fence in the early Spring, we have had no sign of deer in the garden.

We purchased three fiberglass, step-in type electric fencing poles ($5), electric fencing wire ($10), a piece of 2 foot long re-bar ($1), a few feet of insulated electric fencing wire ($2), and a small (2 mile) electric fence charger ($20).

Total cost about $40 after tax.

Set up took 15 minutes.




Setting up the fence and charger:

1. Place the poles where the fence is desired and press them into the ground by stepping on the foot peg.  Don't have more than 8 feet between poles; less distance is okay.  
2. String the fence with electric fencing wire along the insulated clips, making sure that all wires are connected.  In our case, the distance was so short that we looped a single wire back and forth.  If fencing longer distances, a jumper wire between strings should be employed.  Also, if fencing a long distance, use a T-post and insulators every 4th post to make a sturdier fence.
3. Locate the fence charger in a semi-sheltered place.  They can take getting a little wet and dirty, but don't put it where it will get directly rained on.  In our case, we put it between the house and the raised asparagus bed, under the roof overhang. 
4. The charger has two posts, one marked "fence" and one marked "ground."  Using a length of the insulated wire, connect the "fence" post and the fence wire.
5. Drive the re-bar into the ground to serve as a ground rod.  Using a length of the insulated wire, connect the "ground" post and the re-bar.
6. Plug it in.  Ours has an indicator light that flashes as it sends a pulse through a properly set up fence. 

Tips and Tricks:

• Check that the charger is putting out by putting one hand in the dirt and using the other hand to lay a green blade of grass on the fence.  If the fence is hooked up properly, you should feel a slight buzz through the grass every few seconds as the fence pulses.
• Keep grass and weeds from growing through the fence.  They will ground it out and reduce its effectiveness.
• Get the fence up a few weeks before you have anything in the garden to protect.  We want the deer to be curious, sniff the fence, get a shock on the nose, and be trained that your garden isn't a fun place to be.  A deer can go right through it if there is enough temptation, so train the deer before your garden is in.
• If electricity isn't available where your garden is, get a solar fence charger.

Weekly Gardening Outlook

This will be a continuing series. Each Monday we will look ahead at the coming week in gardening for the Northwest Arkansas area.

HEAT ADVISORY until Thursday evening.  The weathermen are calling for temperatures at or above 100 degrees for the next three days.  During this time check your soil moisture every day and water as necessary.  Water deeply when the soil is dry 3" from the surface.  Depending on the amount of clay and organic matter in your soil, daily watering may be needed. 

Serenade / Blueberry Bush Update:

        

We continue to be impressed by the turn around our blueberry bushes are making after suffering from a pretty serious case of leaf spot.  Serenade is proving to be a very good organic fungicide.  

Things to be on the lookout for:

Insects aren't the only critters that want to eat the fruits of our labor.  This week we will look at how to control some of the larger garden pests.

Moles:  These pests will devour tender plant roots, causing promising young plants to wilt and die for no apparent reason.  If you are using raised beds like we are, putting a simple layer of 1/2" screen on the bottom of the beds during construction will eliminate the problem.  If not, use traps to thin the population.  This will not get rid of all of them, but it will reduce it.

Birds:  Whether it's cardinals chomping on just ripe strawberries or blue jays leaving tomatoes in tatters, these aerial bandits can make gardeners pull their hair out.  The most effective (and most expensive and troublesome) method of protecting your crops from birds is to cover them with bird netting.  Build some sort of a frame to keep the netting off of the plants.  Anchor the netting to the ground and ensure that there aren't any gaps.  Birds are very smart and will find any hole left in this netting.  Another option is hanging ball-shaped Christmas ornaments that are colored like the produce being protected.  An example is hanging red balls on a tomato plant.  They will peck the balls and learn that there isn't anything good to eat here.  Do this 2 weeks before the produce is ripe to give them time to learn.  Finally, and maybe the most fun option, is the motion-activated sprinkler.  Set this up in the garden and it will spray anything that moves.  No animal likes being hosed down and they will seek easier pickings.

Rats and Squirrels:  They will attack a garden from every angle.  From following along a row digging newly sprouted seeds to stealing corn right off of the stalk, they can do it all.  A midsized, active dog around the garden will keep them at bay.  Removing habitat such as brush (rats) or trees (squirrels) around the garden will help.  Trapping will reduce the population.  The motion-activated sprinkler is an option as well.

Rabbits:  A 18" tall fence surrounding the garden will exclude them from your garden.

Cats and Dogs:  Dogs can be excluded with a fence.  Cats are more difficult.  Like with squirrels, keeping a mid-sized, active dog around the perimeter will keep cats away.  If fencing isn't an option, try the motion-activated sprinkler.

Deer:  An 8' tall fence will absolutely keep them out.  A cheaper alternative is a 3 foot high electric fence around the garden.  A few shocks on the nose and they will look for a different food source.  This has worked well for us.  The motion-activated sprinkler may also be an option.

Weather outlook:
-Over 100 early in the week, cooling to the low 90's late in the week with a chance of rain
-Ten day forecast

What's being harvested:
-Green beans

-Peppers (Really loaded down with new peppers)

-Watermelons

-Chard (the kale's taste has gotten too sharp with this hot weather)

-Tomatoes (Picking several pounds a day)
-Cucumbers (Getting several a day)
-Celeriac leaves, basil, mint, and other herbs (all going strong)