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Robbins Farm Garden

A Cooperative Learning Project

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November 5, 2022

November 8, 2022 by Shakti

baby hornworm on stem
found cabbage already pulled from ground
cut hardware mesh lengthwise for raised beds

Filed Under: 11 - November 2022, 2022, 2022 Photos, Photo Gallery, Shakti

August 13, 2022

August 13, 2022 by Shakti

Filed Under: 08 - August 2022, 2022, 2022 Photos, Gallery, Shakti

2022 Garden Pests

July 9, 2022 by Shakti

MonthsFirst SightingInsectCropTreatment
May5/14Leaf minorSpinach & beetsrow cover with blue sticky trap
May-June5/28Cabbage wormsCabbageHand removal (multiple passes each week)
June-6/4- fava
7/2- brussels & nasturtium
AphidsBrussels, fava, nasturtiumsInsecticidal soap
7/9?Squash vine borerSummer squash, pumpkinsYellow sticky traps and SVB lure (3)
Cucumber beetleSlicing cucumbersHand removal & yellow sticky traps
Potato beetlePotatoesHand removal & yellow sticky traps

[May] Leaf minor

We proactively covered the spinach and beets with agrofabric immediately after transplanting them in the garden. Additionally, we placed a blue sticky trap under the cover to catch any flies that might be in the soil or caught inside the trap. This worked very well — dozens of flies were caught by the sticky trap in the first couple of weeks and the spinach crop was beautiful with no notable leaf minor damage. Definitely recommend repeating this combination going forward (cover the crops at the time of transplant and keep a sticky trap inside).

Leaf minor flies caught in spinach bed with agrofabric cover (5/21)

[June] Cabbage worms

We first noticed the cabbage worms in the brassica bed on 5/28. Over the month of June, we found them in most of the green cabbage, cauliflower and brussels sprouts. Some days, we found up to three worms on a single plant. Having several gardeners inspect the plants each Saturday worked out very well. We would often find several worms the first time through and then a second inspection with fresh eyes would find 2 or 3 more. By the time the cabbages headed up, we had successfully kept the worms under control and got several beautiful cabbage heads.

[June] Aphids

As usual, the aphids attacked the fava plants as they set out flowers. We sprayed them with insecticidal soap, taking care to avoid spraying the flowers. The insecticidal soap succeeded in controlling the aphids; however, it seems like the insecticidal soap may also have killed some of the flowers, reducing the potential harvest. Unfortunately the garden photos aren’t detailed enough to support this theory, so we may want to try to document more carefully next year. Also, Elisabeth had recently watched an episode of Gardener’s World (BBC) where Monty Don said that the aphids don’t harm the productivity of the fava beans, so we may want to try leaving the fava untreated next year.

5/18: pre-treatment
6/4: initial sighting & treatment
6/11: post-treatment
6/18: post-treatment

Filed Under: 2022, Alan, Shakti Tagged With: aphids, bugs, pests, squash vine borers

Second Wind

September 25, 2021 by Shakti

The jerusalem artichokes are experiencing a second growth spurt of the summer with the flowers reaching 10 ft or higher! They might be responding to the rainy weather this summer or maybe the unusual height is a result of selectively planting only the biggest tubers when we relocated the bed this spring.

Filed Under: 09 - September 2021, 2021, Photographers, Shakti

2021 Garden Pests

June 20, 2021 by Shakti

MonthFirst SightingInsectPlantTreatment used
MayLeaf minersBeets, swiss chardagrofabric (late)
June5/28Aphids (black)Fava, borrageInsecticidal soap (2x / week)
June6/3Colorado potato beetlePotatoes, tomatillosHand removal
June5/28Cabbage worms (green)Cabbage, cauliflower, broccoliHand removal
June6/19Squash vine borer mothssummer and winter squashLures/sticky traps
July?Tomato horn wormRed October tomatoHand removal
Late July/Aug7/24Squash vine borer grubssummer squash, pumpkins, delicataHand removal (surgery)
Aug8/14Cucumber beetlecucumberNone
Aug8/14Aphids (gray)Brussels sprouts, tuscan kaleInsecticidal soap (1-2x/wk)

Leaf miners

Leaf minors got into the spinach and beets before we were able to cover them and caused significant leaf damage. We covered the beets with agrofabric after the early signs of damage, but that seemed to make it worse since the leaf miner flies were trapped inside the cover.

Aphids

28 May — first sighting on Favas. Treat 1-2x per week with slightly weaker mix of insecticidal soap to avoid leaf burn. Reduced aphids and successfully keeping them under control with regular application. Similarly, the insecticidal soap was effective on the borrage which was affected by aphids at the same time, but was also successfully cleared of aphids after several treatments.

aphids May 28

Cabbage worms

28 May — found on broccoli. We had relatively few cabbage worms this year and the ones that we found seemed to be on the broccoli and cauliflower rather than the cabbage. There have also been a few cross-stripe (black white and yellow) cabbage worms found on the brassicas in addition to the green cabbage worms.

Potato beetles

3 Jun — beetles and eggs found on potatoes

10 Jun — eggs found on tomatillos

17 Jun –larva on potato leaves

Relatively minor damage by potato beetles this year.

Squash vine borer (SVB) moths

May 29th — 3 traps set using lures from IPM (3 for $6+S&H) and general pest glue traps from Agway. No moths were caught using the general pest glue traps over the next three weeks.

Jun 19th — switched out the general glue traps for these yellow delta insect monitoring cards from Arbico (10 for $11+S&H) and got immediate results with the first moth caught within a couple of hours on the same day the traps were set. By Wed 6/23 we had caught about 15 SVB moths and replaced two of the insect monitoring cards with fresh ones. We continues to switch out the traps about once per 7-10 days over the next 2 months. By Aug 7th, the frequency of moths in any of the traps was very low, so we put away the traps for the season.

  • 6/19: initial placement near summer squash
  • 6/19: initial placement near pumpkins
  • 6/19: initial placement near delicata
  • 6/23: ~6 moths near summer squash [replaced]
  • 6/23: 3 near pumpkins
  • 6/23: ~6 near delicata [replaced]
  • 6/26: 1 near summer squash
  • 6/26: ~7 near pumpkins [replaced]
  • 6/26: 3 near delicata
  • 6/29: ~12 near summer squash [replaced]
  • 6/29: ~ 15 near delicata [replaced]
  • 6/29: ~3 near pumpkins (lure fell off)
  • 7/03 – ~5 near summer squash [replaced]
  • 7/03 – none near pumpkins (put lure back on)
  • 7/03 – ~6(?) near delicata
  • 7/07 – ~12 near summer squash [replaced]
  • 7/07 – 0 near pumpkins (lure had fallen off/put it back on) [replaced]
  • 7/07 – 3 near delicata
  • 7/10 – 0 near summer squash (lure fell off/put it back on)
  • 7/10 near delicata after replacement (missed pic of trap near pumpkins)
  • 7/10 – ~5 near delicata [replaced]
  • 7/18 — ~6 near summer squash (lure fell off) [reversed trap to unused side]
  • 7/18 — ~4 near pumpkins (lure fell off)
  • 7/17 — ~5 near delicata (lure fell off) [replaced]
  • 7/24/21 — ~8 near delicata [replaced]
  • 7/27/21 — 0 near summer squash
  • 7/27/21 — ~7 near delicata
  • 7/27/21 — 0 near pumpkins
  • 7/31/21 — ~3 near delicata
  • 7/31/21 – 0 near pumpkins [replaced]
  • 8/3 – 0 near summer squash
  • 8/3 – 1 near pumpkins
  • 8/7/21 – 1 near delicata

Final tally of borer moths caught with the lures and sticky traps

June 19-30th ~37 moths

July 1-31st ~59 moths

Aug 1-7th ~ 2 moths [removed traps on 7th]

The first clear sign of borers damaging the squash vines was mid-to-late July. Frass was found on the summer squash plants first. On 7/24, Lisa extracted 4 borers from the summer squash including some relatively large borers, so they had probably already begun to do damage in the prior week or two. By the following Saturday, 7/31, the pumpkins were clearly suffering from stem damage and more borers were extracted from the pumpkins and summer squash. On 8/7 at least 3 pumpkins and 3 delicata plants had surgery which involved taking a steak knife, cutting a vertical slit along the stem where there is fresh frass, and removing the SVB grub with tweezers. The cut to the stem can damage the plant, but it has at least a chance of surviving. We pack dirt over the location where the stem was cut to encourage the stem to send out new roots to support the plant. If we leave the borers without extracting them, they will certainly kill the plant within a week or two, so surgery is usually the better path.

8/7: Multiple borers were found in several plants (e.g. extracted 2 or more borers from a single plant). All of the pumpkins were in very bad shape from borer damage and surgery. Similarly 2-3 of the delicata plants have severe borer damage and had significant damage from the surgeries as well. The second planting of summer squash does not seem to be affected (so far).

8/14: All pumpkin plants have died and several delicata plants have also died from borer damage. The second planting of summer squash has some signs of borer damage.

8/21: All but one delicata plant has died from borer damage. The honeynut and butternut squash appear to be resistant. The mystery squash (possibly spaghetti squash) has borer damage, but is still reasonably healthy.

  • large areas of frass on the stem of a delicata plant
  • pumpkin stem with frass
  • wilting pumpkin plant, damaged by SVB

Cucumber Wilt

Cucumber wilt is caused by a bacteria spread to the plant by cucumber beetles feeding on the leaves. Once the wilt begins, the entire plant will be infected and will die within a few weeks. The first sign of cucumber wilt was Sat 8/14 and only appears to affect one of the cucumber plants so far. On Sat 8/21, still only one plant shows signs of wilt, but it has spread over more of the plant.

Filed Under: 2021 Journal, 2021 Photos, Photo Gallery, Shakti

November 21, 2020

November 21, 2020 by Nathan

Filed Under: 11 - November 2020, 2020 Photos, Alan, Gallery, Photographers

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2023

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