The backyard project.

Discussion in 'Members' Systems' started by CaliforniaPermie, Dec 18, 2014.

  1. CaliforniaPermie

    CaliforniaPermie Junior Member

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    Been a while. So here's an update...

    Corn is going well 37 out of the 45 germinated seeds have sprouted and are doing well. View attachment 2967 . A majority of them have reached about 6in and I will be planting the beans as soon as they finish germinating.


    The bed where I will be planting the peppers and herbs currently has flowers and clover planted and is really taking off. I was really excited to find ladybugs have decided to make their home in the bed and are sticking around. View attachment 2968
    Something else that has me feeling good about the condition of the bed is that one day after cooking I went to throw some green onion that I used in the bed to breakdown. I did not break the green onion down further than what I started with and the green onion from the store that was meant to break down and return to the soil has taken root and is growing in the bed. View attachment 2969 I hope you can pick it out in this pic. If you're looking at the stake if you look below it you can see the green onion poking out through the other plants

    I am currently germinating the peppers as well as the other veggies and will post when there is more progress.
     

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  2. CaliforniaPermie

    CaliforniaPermie Junior Member

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    I was wondering if anyone could share some insight on dealing with white grubs. Our bed that will be where our tomatoes carrots and onions will reside seems to have a large population of white grub and I'm worried that the large amounts of white grub will have a negative impact on the yield. Any information would be nice. Ps. Back in November we did spray the area with beneficial nematodes.
     
  3. Heartwater

    Heartwater Junior Member

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    Take this with a grain of salt as I don't know what kind of white grubs you are referring to. We have those little buggers in our soils and in the soils of our greenhouses. They are always present in the lower portions of our compost piles after the heat dies down. We used to really worry about them getting into the beds and eating our plants so we screened the compost. After seeing them in the lower soil levels in the greenhouse beds year after year we gave up and stopped worrying about them. We have noticed no detrimental effects from them being part of the soil life. We might have different white grubs from yours but they aren't a problem for us. We don't till our greenhouse beds or our garden beds; we just add compost to the top of the soil. Hope that helps.
    John
     
  4. CaliforniaPermie

    CaliforniaPermie Junior Member

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    I'm not 100% but I am pretty confident they are grub for the Japanese beetle we get a lot of them during the summer so I am assuming that the grub is those bad boys. This summer we are going to be setting out beetle traps for them in an attempt to limit the amount of grub that remain for the following year. I do have enough seed that if I do notice any issues I can replant after dealing with them Id much rather let them hang around undisturbed instead of attempting to eradicate them. Thanks for the input
     
  5. songbird

    songbird Senior Member

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    i had a major japanese beetle invasion last year but they seem to favor only certain plants here, most of them swarmed on the wild grape vines and then i would find a few each day on the bean plants and a few on various flowers. i kept them under control by hand picking them into a container of slightly soapy water. i could pick between 50-100 a day off the grape vines and a few off the rest of the plants as i noticed them. they didn't do any damage to the seedlings here (with our cold winters the beetles don't come out until after most plants are sprouted and growing). most of the damage they did to the bean plants was on the newly growing ends and some of the flowers they would eat. nothing serious. beans tend to bounce back from some damage.

    to prevent cut worm damage to plants we put a little collar around them until they are up and growing. as i don't ever notice a problem either it works or we're doing something we don't need to bother with. : )
     
  6. Heartwater

    Heartwater Junior Member

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    I do not think that what we have is the Japanese beetle grub, just because of our high altitude and remote location. It seems that a little research leads me to believe that they feed mostly on grass roots though the beetles can cause you other damages. I think your plan to trap the beetles is a good idea. Break the pest cycle.

    John
     
  7. CaliforniaPermie

    CaliforniaPermie Junior Member

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    Thanks for the posts. It seems the best course is just monitoring and making sure I check up daily especially in the early days of the plants. I will post if I find anything worth discussing. Much appreciated.
     
  8. sweetpea

    sweetpea Junior Member

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    For what it's worth, I've found, since I've used lots of compost and mulch, and don't plant all the same plants in the same place, I have very little critter damage. Lots of insects start out as grubs, and some are very good beneficial insects, some help break down the thick carbons we toss out there, so you might want to trust your system and just let what's going to happen, happen. Observation of what they become will help you in the future. Every year doesn't have to be a perfect crop. Some years have more or less rain and there will be infestations of different things. It's important to understand the circumstances surrounding what might seem like an overload, rather than see them out of context.

    Just before this last big drought started I had a big infestation of a black sooty larvae on my fruit tree leaves, they ate just about everything. That only lasted 1 year. I didn't do anything to change it, other than hosed them off when they appeared. So Mother Nature is going to throw stuff out there that will come and go.

    It looks like your yard is in a neighborhood with lots of similar yards? Oftentimes all those neighboring yards are spraying and killing things, and you will benefit from that, even though you aren't spraying, so you may not have the bugs that are often talked about.

    -)
     
  9. Heartwater

    Heartwater Junior Member

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    Looks good there. Volunteers like onions are fun. I find that quite often onions and garlic survive the compost pile and take set. When I turn the pile and see those little green shoots I just nuzzle them into the garden. I'm jealous; I am still waiting the snow in the garden to melt. Happy gardening, John
     

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