Fruit worms can be extremely aggravating to deal with. Prevention is key with these pesky critters! It is important to work to try and prevent these from ruining your fruit. Treatment Options: Removing all the surrounding debris and weeds from around your trees or bushes can help to prevent egg laying by the moths. Hand picking infected fruits and disposing of them can help prevent spread of the worms. Use the organic pesticide, BTK […]
Birds can be both a pest and an ally in the garden. Birds help with pest control eating a wide variety of insects including aphids, caterpillars, mosquitos, and spiders. On the downside, they will also steal seeds and eat your tomatoes! Treatment Options: You can protect your seeds by covering them with a layer of burlap or shade cloth. I typically hold it down with a hardware mesh panel because that’ll help keep cats […]
Squash vine borers are the larvae of a bright orange wasp-like moth that has 2 black and 2 transparent wings. It lays the eggs that are born into larvae inside the stem of the plant. The larvae feed inside the stem near the base of the plant and can kill a plant in a matter of days. Treatment Options: As with most pests, the best solution is prevention. The moth will rarely travel much […]
These small rodents can be challenging and can destroy a garden! They’re usually first spotted by their ~3-inch holes they make in raised beds. Once you see these, it’s time to get into action before they get out of hand. They multiply quickly and will wreak havoc on not only your garden, but also your garden supplies like tarps, sheeting, and other materials. They can be pesky, so trial and error is important to see […]
Cutworms are the caterpillar of a brown or gray night-flying moth. The caterpillars are black, gray, or brown and are about an inch and a half long. These jerks can go through your entire garden of new seedlings extremely quickly! It’s important to watch out for them in your garden and do your best to protect again them. They look like little brown worms, and they like to spin around into circles around the plant, […]
Cucumber beetles look similar to ladybugs. They can either be spotted or striped with yellow and black coloring. The adults feed on stems, foliage, and flowers. The larvae weaken the plant by feeding on the roots. They also spread bacterial wilt and squash mosaic virus. Treatment Options: Cucumber beetles can be extremely difficult to control. You can buy commercial cucumber beetle traps or build them yourself. We build DIY cucumber beetle traps using yellow cups, […]
Squash bugs are one of our biggests pests in the summer. A minor infestation can get out of hand in a hurry if you don’t stay on top of it. The adults are a dark, triangular insect with a flat back. You can find their tiny copper-colored eggs in clusters on the undersides of leaves. You want to make sure to get them under control as soon as you spot them, or else they can […]
We just harvested carrots and onions from this raised bed and now we’re planting more stuff in its place. I originally planned on planting peppers, beans, and squash but that didn’t work out. I couldn’t find any peppers for transplant and didn’t have any southern peas seeds. We’ve loved having fresh greens again from the NZ Spinach and decided I wanted to have a large section of It. I also spotted a cucumber beetle and […]