Darn Bugs!

floyd1440 5/27/2012, 8:30 pm

Here is what I found in my garden.

http://www.bing.com/images/search?

q=pill+bugs&id=E002EFF2FDDD75BC3FD747CC33C1B6AF2308E4C8&FORM=IQFRBA#x0y0

Now I went to Tractor Supply and got this diamotic earth, probably speled that wrong, but will that take care of them or will they constantly continue to lay eggs throughout the season?

Darn Bugs! 3170584802

**camprn** 5/27/2012, 10:34 pm

Once the plants get larger the pill bugs should become less of a worry. Hang in there.

floyd1440 5/28/2012, 3:26 am

camprn wrote:Once the plants get larger the pill bugs should become less of a worry. Hang in there.

Still haven't figured thse creatures out. Planted my brocolli, cabbage, cauliflower early from transplants and they seem to be uneffected but will have to wait until they are done to see if they have been eating the stem or roots.

What I hve grow from seed late this spring has taken quite a beating. Lost all my beans and most of my spinach. Being to late to replant spinach I just replanted the pole beans but the ones I removed were quite abused as their stems were almost chewed in two and a few were cut off completely. They are very destructive to young plants as you mentioned but I wonder how much they may have damaged my larger plants?

Darn Bugs! 3170584802

asilcox 5/28/2012, 3:22 pm

I put some diatomaceous earth in my garden, too.

I went away for the weekend and came back to an infestation of cabbage worm (I think). I picked them all off, but put down DE, too. It might be too late (really, the cauliflower leaves look like lace, now), but I thought it was worth a shot...

I also sprinkled about a 6 inch border around the gardens, too.

floyd1440 5/28/2012, 7:58 pm

asilcox wrote:I put some diatomaceous earth in my garden, too.

I went away for the weekend and came back to an infestation of cabbage worm (I think). I picked them all off, but put down DE, too. It might be too late (really, the cauliflower leaves look like lace, now), but I thought it was worth a shot...

I also sprinkled about a 6 inch border around the gardens, too.

Went down today after putting some diatomaceous earth over my entire garden yesterday and could not find one today but rarely see them unless it rains,

Has it effected your transplants too? My concern is they may go after the roots of my plants but my brocolli, cabbage, and cauliflower seem to be doing fine but as I mentioned earlier it hit everything I planted from seed.

It is organic so I can see no harm but I would like to put nothing on but think I got some bad compost last fall...hard to be sure though.

Keep me posted on how DE works for you and I will do the same

Darn Bugs! 3170584802

asilcox 5/29/2012, 5:31 pm

I will post back about the DE in a week or so - I just put it down yesterday, so it's too soon to tell anything.

I didn't dust the plants, except the cauliflower; I only dusted the soil. And I was careful not to put DE close to any flowers, since it will also kill bees, and I definitely don't want to do that!

floyd1440 5/29/2012, 6:51 pm

I went down today to check for pill bugs as it had rained and they always seem to come the surface when either I water the garden or it rains.

All I found was small white balls, which is apperantly the defense mechanism the pill bug resorts to when you touch one of them. So I must conclude the DE is doing its work but will monter it to see if any more surface in the following days.

The bag I got at Lowes said they will be dead in 24 hours but the man there said I may need to reapply if they layed a bunch of eggs..

asilcox 6/3/2012, 4:26 pm

Floyd,

Bugs seem to be gone from my cauliflower plants, yay! The plants may or may not recover, but at least I have given them a fighting chance!

Also, I used the DE in my house to get rid of stink bugs - worked like a charm! I don't want to use too much of it in the garden because of the bees, so I will use a stink bug trap/bait/lure instead...they are a HUGE problem where I live, and they like tomatoes, so I am trying to be proactive without hurting the pollinators. Poor bees don't need any extra hurdles...

floyd1440 6/5/2012, 8:12 pm

I checked my garden today and could not find any pill bugs but it has been dry here and going to rain tonight so will check it tomorrow as they tend to surface after it rains or I water the garden.

So far so good and glad to know I keeps stick bugs away as they haven't been to bad yet but last year they were everywhere.

Good to know and keep me posted if you have to reapply DE

Shocked

asilcox 7/6/2012, 10:46 am

Floyd,

The bugs are back. I applied a second dusting of the DE. I don't see the cauliflower plants making it, this year! I really don't want to use chemicals, but the cabbage worms seem to just keep coming back, so I may not have much of a choice...maybe next year I will buy and release some praying mantis? I have heard mixed results on that...but I worry about the DE - I don't want to get too close to anything that flowers, and accidentally harm any bees...

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