Need help! Bugs ate garden last year

[maf8009]

Can anyone give me advice?

Last year I planted usual garden vegs and the bugs ATE everything that did not die in the drought or flood/freeze....

1) I planted too early
2) the winter lasted longer than usual
3) we had late freezes
4) bugs ATE EVERYTHING
5) heat and drought came

I planted in raised-bed gardens and or large feed tubs

This year I want to put an "in ground" garden and will rent a tiller. I will use a soaker hose too when needed

What can be done to make this any easier? Please send me your BEST tips on gardening. Help!!!!

Of course I want to save money, but this costs more than just buying the food. Standing by for some of your advice....

 

[justusnak]

Hi Maf....welcome.
As for the garden bugs....I guess it really depends on wha type of bugs...and if you want to use chemicals on your garden or not.
Sevin dust will rid your garden of most any bugs. If you would rather not use a chemical...you can use Diomatacious Earth. (DE) Just make sure you get the FOOD GRADE....not for swimming pools.
If you are useing raised beds, containers...and you watch the weather closely..you can cover your plants if there is a freeze/cold snap coming.
Last year was a tough year for ALL gardeners. I dont consider myself a "pro gardener" however, I have been gardening for 40+ years....and several of our garden items just didnt produce well. Beets..tomatos..cauliflour..cabbage. Those had a rough time last year due to the weather we had. Too much rain! Maybe you can ask around your neck of the woods..neighbors, friends, see what does well in your area? Dont give up...the rewards FAR outweigh the work.

 

[FarmerChick]

I use Sevin dust and some "lighter" chemicals on the fields when needed.
It is a small window I use this stuff....use least amt. possible, etc.
But at some point you must save your harvest.

Do you have your local Farmers Almanac? Go buy one. It tells you alot of good info on planting times for your area. I get one each year and try to follow it and most times it is right...lol--go figure?

I had drought also and tons of rain killed maters and such. That is just luck of the draw literally. Mother Nature does her own things and we fight them best we can.

soaker hoses are a great idea for a smaller garden

Collect rain water barrels and hook to soaker hoses. (be sure you can do this..some places say no water collecting)

hoop houses over rows help also


I tilled a few small plots that are way far from water sources to experiment with new varities etc. drought...ugh---so I filled my 1000 gallon water tank and pulled it on a hay wagon over to the spot. I gravity fed some soaker hoses and those plots did fine.


bugs----sprinkle DE on top of the ground just after you plant. might help.

best of luck fighting mother nature like we all do..LOL

 

[sufficientforme]

I live in an area which has a lot working against growing a garden, we too have drought, hail, heavy rains, and LOTS of voracious bugs. I found the best source for help was my local county extension office. They offer not only insight to our difficult growing conditions but the Master Gardener program also arranges garden tours for our area to show people how they are successful here. Just a thought, maybe you have already tried this. I tried DE but not Sevin, it did not help here.

 

[enjoy the ride]

I do live in a more benign area to garden but I would not give up on raised beds- they allow much more control of the environment than a wide open garden.
The first thing is to make sure that you have balanced soil in the bed- plants that are stressed give up more easily to everything.
Then get some floating row covers and some shade cloth. The floating row covers keep lots of bugs out- you need to make sure you've put it on early enough to keep bugs out rather than covering them up and giving them a nice safe environment inside.
I would have mulch on hand- mulch put on after the spring rains will cool the soil and retain water.
One of the nice things about raised beds is that you can put frames over them to act like mini-greenhouses for your early winters and to put shade cloth over them to keep them cooler in the summer.

I second the contact with a master garder or extension agent.

 

[Wifezilla]

Are you in Colorado or something? Your story sounds WAY familiar!


I have been in a losing battle with earwigs, roly polys and slugs for years. (Not to mention the evil tree rats) The only thing that seems to keep the bugs from eating my plants is a MOAT! Seriously. I plant in pots with holes in the bottom and then put the pots in large plastic trays lined with gravel that get fed water from my pond.

The only things I planted in ground that didn't get destroyed were my brussel sprouts, a lettuce bed with a lot of DE on it, and my grapes.

While the cute fluffy butts do help with the bug control, they also like to eat my plants Hence the fence around the planting trays.

 

[meriruka]

maf8009, what bugs in particular?

I use a bunch of different stuff. Food grade DE, a sprayed solution of garlic, dish soap, milk & water is a great repellent. I plant marigolds & pyrethrum & tansy around, (Tansy smells so bad it even repels me!)

For potato bugs I pick off the adults and (yes, this is gross) I smash the young red blobs right on the leaves & leave the 'remains' there.
Twice a week for two weeks, no more to be seen.

 

[enjoy the ride]

maf8009, what bugs in particular?

I use a bunch of different stuff. Food grade DE, a sprayed solution of garlic, dish soap, milk & water is a great repellent. I plant marigolds & pyrethrum & tansy around, (Tansy smells so bad it even repels me!)

For potato bugs I pick off the adults and (yes, this is gross) I smash the young red blobs right on the leaves & leave the 'remains' there.
Twice a week for two weeks, no more to be seen.

I had slug stomping rock around the garden or I carry a pair of clipper and snip them in half.

It's amazing what lengths I will go if my precious crops are threatened.

 

[freemotion]

Guinea fowl. I had three that patrolled my gardens. NO BUGS for the first time ever. I never knew that cucumber plants could produce until the frost took them. I saw cucumber beetles, but then the guineas saw them and that was that.

That is the only redeeming quality those birds have..... They did dust bathe in some of my herbs and dug them up in the process. For most of the garden, I mulched by planting Dutch white clover and they didn't mess up those areas. So next year, I will be more diligent about getting the clover seed around all the plants.

 

[me&thegals]

That's exactly what I wanted to hear!! I hope/plan to get guineas this spring. My organic squash and cukes are progressively worsening every year with bug infestations. Cukes until frost! Awesome!

Here's my question: Do you fence them in? Do you need to supplement their feed?