New Comer to SFG

Hi, I was just reading through the threads and felt that this is a community I would like to become a part of. I just started my first SFG in oct a 4x8 box that's 10.5 in deep. I'm in zone 10a and my box started off great, 99% germination rate (except catnip) but then last week I saw little holes on my seedlings and I treated with soapy water and today there was leaf miner damage on a couple of my squares and I dusted it with this organic insect stuff that's mainly thyme oil. Slightly discouraged and wandered into this forum and found fellow gardeners with similar experiences. Gives me comfort.

Nymiko
We're here to help each other. I have learned heaps since I first joined. A very caring group.

Be prepared. This is a very addictive activity. And be sure to take pictures. We love pictures.

Kay

Hi there and welcome. I suggest that covering you young seedlings with tulle or other netting while they are young will help reduce insect damage. As the plants get bigger and stronger minor insect damage can often be overcome. One thing about SFG is, for most folks, if there has been a good variety of composts added to the mix, this provides good nutrition to the plants, they will be less likely to quickly succumb to disease that is often spread by insects.

Welcome to SFG.
But I could hardly pay attention to your post because of the super adorable avatar picture!

camprn wrote:Hi there and welcome. I suggest that covering you young seedlings with tulle or other netting while they are young will help reduce insect damage. As the plants get bigger and stronger minor insect damage can often be overcome. One thing about SFG is, for most folks, if there has been a good variety of composts added to the mix, this provides good nutrition to the plants, they will be less likely to quickly succumb to disease that is often spread by insects.

Thank you for the warm welcome, where could I get said tulle? And when I find it do I just put it over the whole seedling? I also have another question, I have planted four pea plants in one square and I know that I eventually might need some support for them, so I bought one of those colored round tomato trellis. But I think those are meant for one plant only and the four is so close together in one square using know what to do!

[quote="llama momma"]Welcome to SFG.
But I could hardly pay attention to your post because of the super adorable

My avatar is a picture of my bunny when she was a baby, she's now 6 years old, but still my baby

Nymiko...Welcome to the forum. You are in much different heat zone from me but I can tell you that light row cover helps a great deal against insect damage. It lets thru 93-95% of the sunshine and rainwater gets thru just fine.
You can use PVC tubes bent over your bed or in my case, I just bend wire coat hangers over the squares and attach either cheesecloth (shadecloth against too much sun), tulle or light row cover with spring-type clothes pins.

This is row cover, also called Remar or Agribon bought from many seed catalogs (johnnyseeds.com) or feed and grain stores.

This is cheesecloth used as shadecover against too much sunshine.
As for trellises for peas and beans, I use trellis netting attached to tall fence posts buried in the 2 north corners of my beds.

Here's my peas. You can buy 6- or 7-ft tall green fence posts at places like Home Depot and Lowe's for about $6 each. I use 2 in the north sides of each bed so I can either add trellis netting (which keeps for years), or string up my tomatoes between them using wires strung across the bottom and stakes wired to the tops. You can see the vertical strings in the bed behind the peas. This way I can rotate crops each spring.

Tulle is a fine netting used in making bridal gowns and fancy dresses and you can by it by the yard at fabric stores like Jo-Ann's and even Walmart's fabric dept. The same goes for cheesecloth.

Being in Florida, you can grow things for about 9 months or more each year. I know in the Panhandle area they have only one month of freezing weather, Jan., but in central and southern areas they are frost-free for the most part. An occasional frosty nite one can cover their crops with anything from towels, sheets, blankets and heavy frost cover (which protects down to 28*F) for the evening to save one's crops.
You are in a great growing area. Good luck.

Edited to add: I love your bunny. Cute as the dickens.

[quote="Nymiko"]

llama momma wrote:Welcome to SFG.
But I could hardly pay attention to your post because of the super adorable

My avatar is a picture of my bunny when she was a baby, she's now 6 years old, but still my baby

awww....I am sooo enjoying your bunny pictures! What breed is he/she? I had a plain brown dwarf bunny with a darling sweet affectionate personality for 13-1/2 years. My weakness is bunnies, kittens, and lambs.

quiltbea wrote: Tulle is a fine netting used in making bridal gowns and fancy dresses and you can by it by the yard at fabric stores like Jo-Ann's and even Walmart's fabric dept. The same goes for cheesecloth.

I love your bunny. Cute as the dickens.

Can I ask why only the middle section of your SFG is covered by the cloth? Should I only covered the plants that are currently being targeted or should I just go ahead and cover the whole box? Is there any amount of time that I need to remove the cloth to allow for pollination or something like that?

Thank you for your response and also for the compliment to Mochi =)

@llama momma

Mochi is a Lionhead bunny. she is litterbox trained and has full run of the house. She has the sweetest personality and knows a few tricks (She'd do almost anything for a raisin or a piece of banana)

Nymiko.....I'm living in Maine and I don't have the pest issues you have in the south. I just covered my cauliflowers and cabbages against some flea beetles. The rest of the garden bed was safe at that point.

Here's the cabbages with cover pulled back to check.

I cover my whole raised berm of strawberries (see below)as soon the berries start turning pink, but after they have been pollinated, because of the birds. They ate my whole harvest one morning before I got outside.


I cover my crops as they need cover; against pests, excessive sunshine (as in the case of putting out new transplants or extending harvest for late lettuce and greens), light or heavy frosts expected, and only as needed.

I imagine in Central/South Fl you would need to cover the whole bed of crops much of the time.

Edited to add: Re: Pollination. You can uncover your crops so bees can pollinate and until tiny crops start forming or you can use soft artist's paint brushes to pollinate your crops yourself, then cover them up quickly.

@quiltbea

Thanks for the tip, I will definitely cover my plants, there are still seedlings now so I'm sure I wouldn't even have to worry about pollination until they get a bit bigger. Wow your garden is so big! what do you do with all the harvest? This is my first time seriously trying to garden (I've half-hardheartedly tried to grow stuff before) I have a good sized yard that could fit a lot more boxes if i can learn how to manage all the problems. I just can't seem to get away from pests

Nymiko wrote:@llama momma

Mochi is a Lionhead bunny. she is litterbox trained and has full run of the house. She has the sweetest personality and knows a few tricks (She'd do almost anything for a raisin or a piece of banana)

I am loving Mochi and this new bunny breed (to me anyway) Thanks so much for indulging my questions. Enjoy your little angel bunny.

Nymiko....Many plants, the ones that don't blossom before sprouting their crop, don't need pollination so you can cover them completely. Like cabbages, broccoli, cauliflower, Brussels sprouts, Swiss chard, carrots, and things like that but you need to pollinate corn, squashes, tomatoes, peppers, peas, beans; anything that has a flower blossom from which sprouts the tiny fruit.

I feed a family of 5 and still could use more beds. They like their veggies. I only have nine 4x4's, and 3 berms (raised soil beds without lumber bracing, one of which is my 16' long strawberry berm) plus I keep my herbs in pots these days. I wanted my bed squares for more veggie crops. My garden plans change a bit every year.

As you get into this method, you'll probably want to increase your crops, which means more raised beds, like most of us have already. Then there's making your own compost pile or even getting a drum-style composter to make it easier to turn, and how about worm castings, and compost tea added to the list and gathering as many bags of yours and neighbors' fall leaves so you can add them to your compost pile.
Just stick with this forum and you'll learn lots of things that will help you.

quiltbea wrote:Nymiko....Many plants, the ones that don't blossom before sprouting their crop, don't need pollination so you can cover them completely. Like cabbages, broccoli, cauliflower, Brussels sprouts, Swiss chard, carrots, and things like that but you need to pollinate corn, squashes, tomatoes, peppers, peas, beans; anything that has a flower blossom from which sprouts the tiny fruit.

I'm going to build a tulle cage tomorrow for my garden bed, quick question, will the tulle affect the plants from getting water by my auto overhead sprinklers? i'm planning on a hoop house formation but with tulle