Gardening

[Invicta]

I am too old and frail to dig my garden these days, so I bought a mantis tiller.  One of the best things to come out of the USA.

[John81]

I've seen their commercials but never seen one in action. I have long wondered if they worked well. I'm glad this is doing good for you.

 

We no longer have a garden, mostly because that was my wife's project and her health problems won't let her properly tend a garden anymore.

[Ukulelemike]

Our garden suffered this year because our inverted died and we couldn't pump water in the amount that we needed to water it. We are having to pump off of a generator and it just costs too much to water the garden with the price of gas.

 

Sadly, while the technology of solar panels is excellent, the accompanying part like inverters and controllers seem to suffer. So, unless we run everything 12 volt, which can be very pricey, we just can't run enough for a garden.

[Standing Firm In Christ]

For the gardener's...

The Gardener's Song
(sung to the tune of The Marine Hymn)

From the ants in your petunia bed
To the crabgrass on your lawn
We will fight them off with chemicals
Til the bugs and weeds are gone
We'll use quarts and quarts of poison sprays
And we won't stop til we're through
All the bugs and weeds are dying now
But your plants and trees are too.

[Invicta]

For the gardener's...

The Gardener's Song
(sung to the tune of The Marine Hymn)

From the ants in your petunia bed
To the crabgrass on your lawn
We will fight them off with chemicals
Til the bugs and weeds are gone
We'll use quarts and quarts of poison sprays
And we won't stop til we're through
All the bugs and weeds are dying now
But your plants and trees are too.

 

It is ants in my lawn which is my main problem  Red ants that make ant hills and bite if you disturb them.  I levelled the hills with my Mantis Tiller and have tried some nematodes.    It says you have to keep the lawn moist for 2 weeks.  I was a bit worried about that as it has been very dry, but the day after I used them it rained heavilly and has rained almost every day since.  That must be almost the two weeks.

 

My main pest this year has been black fly on my runner beans, reducing the crop.  The next is cabbage white butterflies on my Brussels sprouts and purple and white sprouting brocolli.  

 

Last year, I cleared some ground and planted potatoes.  The early ones were not too bad, but the King Edwards were eaten away by slugs and leather jackets.  This year I used slug bait and thet has helped, but next year I will try slug nematodes it the ant nematodes work.

[Ukulelemike]

It is ants in my lawn which is my main problem  Red ants that make ant hills and bite if you disturb them.  I levelled the hills with my Mantis Tiller and have tried some nematodes.    It says you have to keep the lawn moist for 2 weeks.  I was a bit worried about that as it has been very dry, but the day after I used them it rained heavilly and has rained almost every day since.  That must be almost the two weeks.

 

My main pest this year has been black fly on my runner beans, reducing the crop.  The next is cabbage white butterflies on my Brussels sprouts and purple and white sprouting brocolli.  

 

Last year, I cleared some ground and planted potatoes.  The early ones were not too bad, but the King Edwards were eaten away by slugs and leather jackets.  This year I used slug bait and thet has helped, but next year I will try slug nematodes it the ant nematodes work.

Have your soil tested and once you have the results, make sure next year to add plenty of supplemental minerals and such, as needed, to your soil where it is needed. When your soil has all the nutrients it needs, and your plants are healthy, they will actually deter the bugs from eating them-it is when the soil is unhealthy, and thus the pants are lacking proper minerals, that they actually put out a signal to attract the pests. 

 

Our soil tends to be very deficient in many things, but especially copper and selinium, and last year, when we got all the nutrients in, we had far fewer bugs than ever before.

 

As for the ants, we us diatomacious earth, (DE). Toss a handfull onto the ant hills every day for a few days-it kills some of the ants, and they usually move-you'l have to follow them around a bit but eventually they will leave or die off. It can also be used on other pests lke spider mites. If you animals get fleas or mites, give them a good dusting.

[Invicta]

 

As for the ants, we us diatomacious earth, (DE). Toss a handfull onto the ant hills every day for a few days-it kills some of the ants, and they usually move-you'l have to follow them around a bit but eventually they will leave or die off. It can also be used on other pests lke spider mites. If you animals get fleas or mites, give them a good dusting.

 

I have not heard of that.  I looked it up and it seems that you need food grade which is very fine and applied by means of a puffer and you need a mask.  1kg tub (2.2lbs) a puffer and a set of disposable masks is the equivalent of nearly $50.00.  I will wait and see if my nematodes work first.  They are supposed to feed on the lavae of ants.

[Ukulelemike]

I have not heard of that.  I looked it up and it seems that you need food grade which is very fine and applied by means of a puffer and you need a mask.  1kg tub (2.2lbs) a puffer and a set of disposable masks is the equivalent of nearly $50.00.  I will wait and see if my nematodes work first.  They are supposed to feed on the lavae of ants.

WhAAAAAT? I don't know what you looked at, but my wife and I use it with our bare hands and no mask. And we buy it much cheaper than that, by the 50lb bag. When I get home I will get a price and seller.

 

Don't know why you would need a mask-I nor my wife have ever had any problems with it. As I said, we also dust our animals with it for pests, and if they lick it off, it works well for internal parasites, also. Now, granted, I wouldn't recommend you take a handful and snort it, but I have never had a problem with it.  One year we had a (literally) overnight invasion of spider mites-one day, nothing, the next day, the ground was moving. They were everywhere in the garden-the ground, the plants, everywhere. We took a couple 5-gal buckets of DE and covered everything. Within two days there were none to be seen.

Edited to add:

 

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/B00025H2QS/de12-20

This is food grade DE, 50lb for $29.99 on Amazon.

 

Also, look here for some good info:

http://www.richsoil.com/diatomaceous-earth.jsp

[Invicta]

WhAAAAAT? I don't know what you looked at, but my wife and I use it with our bare hands and no mask. And we buy it much cheaper than that, by the 50lb bag. When I get home I will get a price and seller.

 

Don't know why you would need a mask-I nor my wife have ever had any problems with it. As I said, we also dust our animals with it for pests, and if they lick it off, it works well for internal parasites, also. Now, granted, I wouldn't recommend you take a handful and snort it, but I have never had a problem with it.  One year we had a (literally) overnight invasion of spider mites-one day, nothing, the next day, the ground was moving. They were everywhere in the garden-the ground, the plants, everywhere. We took a couple 5-gal buckets of DE and covered everything. Within two days there were none to be seen.

Edited to add:

 

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/B00025H2QS/de12-20

This is food grade DE, 50lb for $29.99 on Amazon.

 

Also, look here for some good info:

http://www.richsoil.com/diatomaceous-earth.jsp

 

Well I got the price from Amazon which was  £19.99 for 1kg, 2.2 pounds, which is about $30 plus the othder items.  Food grade it very fine, it seems and is abrasive, and very fine abrasive powders can be carcegenic.

[Ukulelemike]

Well I got the price from Amazon which was  £19.99 for 1kg, 2.2 pounds, which is about $30 plus the othder items.  Food grade it very fine, it seems and is abrasive, and very fine abrasive powders can be carcegenic.

Well, I can assure you it isn't carcinogenic, but knowing you're in England, that might explain the price difference. We are able to purchase it from a co-op out here for about $20 for 50 lbs