A Dispatch from the Insect War Front

Homemade NeemII

Blasting them off with water slowed the aphids down, but they were still there today.  In addition to the squash vines, bean vines, and blueberry bushes, I also found them on the new growth of my apple trees.  I didn't find any squash bugs on the squash vines, but I know they are there.

This morning I mixed up a sprayer full of an organic pesticide known as NeemII and treated the affected crops.  It's cheaper to buy neem oil and pyrethrin and mix them together on your own, but if you have a small garden it probably makes sense to buy the premix.  The pyrethrin is extracted from the seed cases of chrysanthemums.   It kills many insects on contact and biodegrades very quickly so its effects are not long lasting.  Neem oil is extracted from the seeds of the neem tree and is a perfect complement to pyrethrin.  While it may not have the quick killing power of pyrethrin, it lasts for up to a week and provides long term protection.

To make the mix, I follow the label instructions for each and dilute them in the same water.  Note that I am not a chemist and do not guarantee that this is safe or replicates NeemII exactly.  I just know it works well for me and other people.  I use a pump-up, quart-sized hand-held sprayer, which works great.  With traditional sprayers that require a trigger pull with each squirt, it can get quite tedious and tiring for a very large application.  Once mixed in the sprayer, I pump it up and spray the undersides of all the leaves that I want to protect.  Most insects hide out on the underside and since pyrethrin is a contact killer, simply showering it down on the leaf tops will not work.  I shake the sprayer often as I go to keep the ingredients mixed.  Even though the ingredients are organic, I wear cheap nitrile gloves when handling the concentrates and spraying the plants.  It should be fine, but I'm just cautious.

Weekly Gardening Outlook: Insect Fighting and Makeshift Nest Boxes

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

Aphids on a bean vine

Aphids on a blueberry bush

I noticed an unusual number of ants on my bean vines, blueberry bushes, and squash vines.  I looked closer and found that aphids were beginning to infest my crops.  Aphids are small, soft bodied insects that suck the juices from plants.  In small numbers, they aren't a problem.  If not nipped in the bud early though, the population can explode and harm crops.  The reason the ants alerted me to their presence, was that ants are known to "farm" aphids.  The aphids secrete a sweet liquids from their anus' called honeydew, which ants feed upon.  In exchange, the ants protect the aphids from predators.  Quite the system.

A low tech, organic treatment is to spray the aphids off with a stream of water.  They are fairly immobile and if knocked off the plants, cannot return and will die in the soil.  I did that this morning.  If they continue to be a problem, a treatment of an organic pesticide called NeemII (Neem oil + pyrethrin) will take care of it.

Squash bug eggs on a butternut squash vine

While spraying the aphids off of my squash vines, I also found these squash bug eggs.  A stream of water and a scrape of the fingernail and they are gone too.

Squash bug on a butternut squash vine

The water causes any adult squash bugs present to climb to higher ground where I smashed them by hand.  This is a good way to flush them out.  If necessary, a treatment of the previously mentioned NeemII will knock them back.

Turnips

The turnips have finally poked up above the mulch.  They do quite well planted four per square foot, but we don't eat a ton of turnips so I planted only one per square foot.  As they get pulled, I will replace them by succession planting radishes.

Immature cherry tomatoes

Immature Roma tomatoes

Tomatoes are coming!  Can't wait.

Eggplant

The eggplants are doing fine.  Flea beetles have put a few holes in the leaves, but that won't hurt them.

Young okra

The okra gets a whole bed to itself.  These will grow into 6 foot tall plants with treelike stalks 2-3" thick at the base.

Serrano peppers

Jalapeno peppers

Onions

Yellow onions

Purple onion

The peppers and onions are ready.  I'm making salsa today with store bought tomatoes.  Can't wait for mine to start ripening.  Gotta have the salsa!

Ripening blueberries

While not nearly as numerous as the blueberries from the farm, these are a nice treat each morning in the garden.  An explosion of flavor as they're eaten straight from the bush.

Sweet basil

Thyme, oregano, and lemon thyme (left to right)

Coriander (cilantro seeds)

Herbs are just so easy.  Most originated in the Mediterranean area and will tolerate poor soils and somewhat dry conditions.  It's a lot of fun to bring in fresh herbs for cooking with.  There's no reason why a person shouldn't have them in the garden.  The oregano continues it's spread through the bed.  It will be time to harvest the coriander soon.

Swiss chard

Chard is another one of those plants every garden should have as a spinach replacement.  Young, tender leaves are good in salads.  Older leaves are good for cooking anywhere you would use spinach.  It grows through the hot summer and well into the fall.  It will grow through the entire winter if surrounded by a cold frame.

Pole bean vines

The pole beans haven't been too affected by the aphids.  They are usually a big target of the Japanese beetle when it emerges.  They will be treated with NeemII when I see the first beetles of the year.

Chicken and Egg Report:

5 gallon buckets serve as makeshift nesting boxes

The chicks were getting crowded in their space and began pecking at one another leaving small, bloody spots.  To give them more room, I took the divider out and gave them free run of the entire top of the chicken house. The only problem is that that cut off access to the nest boxes for the hens.  Clean 5 gallon buckets are serving as temporary nesting boxes for the hens during the next few weeks.  We had been getting 4-5 eggs per day.  It will be interesting to see how the hens adapt to this change.  Generally, environmental changes will temporarily diminish egg production.

Weather Outlook:

-Cooling down, with highs in the mid 80's through the week.  30-40% chance of rain every day, with a 60% chance early next week.

-Watch the amount of rain received and water accordingly.  A popup rain shower, usually doesn't water the garden much.

-Ten day forecast

What's Being Harvested:

-Herbs

-Serrano and jalapeno peppers

-Green, yellow, and purple onions

-Blueberries

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.

     Wilting spaghetti squash vine


The heat and lack of rain continue to be the big story.  Cooler nights arrive this week.  With this drop in overnight temperatures will come increased garden production and harvest.  Be ready to eat or put up the produce.  Until then, keep things well-watered and think about learning to do a proper rain dance.

Spaghetti Squash / Squash Vine Borer Update:

We stopped by to check on the spaghetti squash vines and the pest insects have found them.  When we say found, we mean savaged.  Squash vine borer?  Check.  Squash bugs?  Check.  Bacterial wilt carrying cucumber beetles?  Striped AND Spotted.  Check.  Aphids?  Check.  We went on a squash bug, cucumber beetle, aphid, squash vine borer killing spree.  Our shorts, hands, arms, and even cheeks were splatted with insects guts.  We must have killed over 150 squash bugs alone and our thumbs and forefingers are still stained yellow from their innards.  It was bad.  So bad that we are stepping up to pyrethrin spray.  Pyrethrin is a natural compound extracted from chrysanthemums and is approved for use in organic gardens.  Beware that pyrethrum and permethrin are not approved for organic gardens.  We will be mixing neem oil and pyrethrin into one spray.  The pyrethrin provides immediate kill and the neem provides some residual protection.  This can be bought as a premix under the trade name NeemII.  We will keep you updated.

Things to be on the lookout for:

     Adult squash vine borer (SVB) moth

Apparently these are still active.  This picture was taken late last week and the spaghetti squash vines are showing signs of SVB activity.  Sigh...

     Squash bug nymphs on spaghetti squash vine

     Frass (aka bug poop) on a watermelon

This is a sure sign of insect activity.  If found, take a closer look.  Hint:  Look above the deposits.  See the leaffooted bugs?

     Leaffooted bug nymph on a pepper plant

     Spotted cucumber beetle on a spaghetti squash vine

     Two striped cucumber beetles breeding

     Aphids and ants on a spaghetti squash vine

If your plants are inexplicably covered in ants, take a closer look.  Some ants, such as these odoriferous house ants (aka sugar ants), will "farm" aphids.  Aphids suck juices from your plants and produce a sugary substance called honeydew from their anuses.  The ants eat this and in exchange, protect the aphids.  Aphids are not very mobile and a sharp stream of water will blast them off of the plants and out of your hair.

Weather outlook:
-Mid 80s to low 90s all week, with a very slight chance of rain
-Ten day forecast

What's being harvested:
-Peppers

-Chard 

-Tomatoes
-Cucumbers
-Celeriac leaves, basil, mint, and other herbs

-Apples

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.

      First watermelon of the year

I hope you all had a great 4th of July holiday!  We harvested our first watermelon of the season this weekend.  It was very sweet, but still needed a few days on the vine.

      Salvaged spaghetti squash from dying vines

About 70% of our spaghetti vines succumbed to the ravages of the squash vine borer (SVB) despite our best efforts at cutting the buggers out of the vines.  We harvested 4 squash from the dying vines, but they may or may not turn out to be mature enough to eat.  It appears that the remaining vines are going to pull through.  The adult SVB moths are nearing the end of their mating cycle (i.e. egg laying).  Our plan B is to replant the destroyed vines now with the idea that they should escape the SVB and still have enough time to produce for us before our first killing frost arrives in mid-October.  That's the plan; we will keep you posted.

Things to be on the lookout for:

We are still finding and smashing squash bug eggs and nymphs here and there.  Check your squash leaves for eggs once a week.

      Mexican bean beetle nymph


We found an adult Mexican bean beetle and several of its nymphs on watermelon vines, squash plants, and sweet potato leaves.  We didn't get a picture of the adult because it was mistaken for a lady beetle, which is a very beneficial insect for the garden.  The Mexican bean beetles are in fact in the same family as the lady beetle.  They are larger than a typical lady beetle, orangish brown, with black spots.  Images of the adults can be seen here.  The nymph (pictured above) is small at only a half inch long, yellow with black spikes protruding from the body.  They defoliate garden plants relatively quickly, so visiting your garden daily is imperative.  Hand picking nymphs has kept us from experiencing damage from them this year.  If you get a heavy infestation, neem oil is effective against them.

Weather outlook:
-Low to upper 80's
-Chance of rain every day
-Ten day forecast

What's being harvested:
-Watermelons
-Chard and kale
-Spaghetti squash (much too early)
-Onions
-Hearing reports of red tomato harvests (ours are STILL green)
-Green tomatoes
-Cucumbers (MANY cucumbers!)
-Kohlrabi (almost all gone)
-Squash and zucchini
-Squash blossoms
-Celeriac leaves, basil, mint, and other herbs
-Radishes

What's coming soon:
-Red tomatoes
-Peppers

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.

Hurray for rain!  We got rain last night after a hot, dry spell.  It filled the rain barrel, watered the garden, and knocked the dust down.  Despite manually watering the garden during this hot dry spell we've had, there is nothing like a good rain shower for a garden.  The collective "ahhhhh" from our garden plants was almost audible.  We hope your gardens were equally blessed.

Quick Tip:

If you are growing tomatoes, look at the fruits near the stem.  Are the skins cracking?  If so, this probably due to irregular watering.  To reduce this, monitor soil moisture closely using a soil moisture meter or your fingers pushed down 3-4".  The soil should be kept as near to a well wrung out sponge as possible.  Use drip irrigation or soaker hoses to deeply water your plants as needed.

Things to be on the lookout for:

It seems that we've been posting on pest problems a lot of late.  This is the peak time of year for insect activity and our posting reflects that.  Before we get down to business, here is a picture of this morning's harvest.

Moving clockwise in the picture above, we have three purple kohlrabi, two cucumbers, six eggs, and four Ronde de Nice zucchini.  Those zucchini will be stuffed with a meat sauce, covered in cheese, and baked this evening for dinner.

     Squash Bug Nymphs

Related to the leaffooted bug, squash bugs are an extremely common pest of squash plants.  They are particularly attracted to the yellow crook necked squash found in many gardens.  The adults and nymphs suck fluids from and inject toxins into the squash plants causing the leaves to wilt, and ultimately, plant death.  Beginning in early June, female squash bugs will begin laying egg masses in clusters of 12 or more eggs on the surface (pictured to the right) or more commonly the underside of the squash plant's leaves.  We have also observed eggs on the leaf stalks. Those eggs hatch small gray nymphs in about 10 days and these nymphs turn into adults by the end of the summer.  The best organic method of control we have found is destroying the eggs by mashing them between the thumb and forefinger.  This takes some effort though as the females will keep depositing these eggs until August.  A thorough check for eggs once per week will keep them in check.  Invariably, some eggs will be missed and hatch out.  Use a vacuum suck them up, or if that fails, use diatomaceous earth as we talked about in this post.

    Adult squash bug

Weather outlook:
-Cooling somewhat into the mid to upper 80's
-Chance of rain early and late in the week
-Ten day forecast

What's being harvested:
-Onions
-Hearing reports of red tomato harvests (ours are still green)
-Green tomatoes
-Cucumbers
-Kohlrabi
-Squash and zucchini
-Squash blossoms
-Celeriac leaves, basil, mint, and other herbs
-Radishes

What's coming soon:
-Red tomatoes
-Peppers
-Baby watermelons