Nip it in the bud

[FionaH]

Right then you lot of sceptics, I either saw this on a telly programme or read it in a mag .......so there

Where you actually awake at this point Bins?

[Snadger]

Right then you lot of sceptics, I either saw this on a telly programme or read it in a mag .......so there

Ok Binners....I'll be your knight in shining armour and save you from the men in white coats!

Carrots - How to harvest and store a carrot crop

Still think its a damm fool idea though!

[binley100]

Gotta be worth a go tho'........

Thanks Snadge.........see I told you so

[Snadger]

Gotta be worth a go tho'........

Thanks Snadge.........see I told you so

Watch you don't cut yourself.............and the seven years bad luck won't help much either!

[binley100]

.......and the seven years bad luck won't help much either!

.and that will be different .........how?

[iGrowVeg]

Firstly I don't think it's possible to have a pest-free environment with back garden or allotment plots. I've been trying for the past few years to at least decrease the number of pests and be on top of them to get rid as quick as poss.

I feel when a few prevention methods are applied this seems to limit the pests. So for example my problem is slugs and I think it's impossible to eradicate them completely as they are in the soil, so I use nemotodes in April to get rid of most of them and cover the plot all year round with a giant enviromesh cloche. I also have a hedgehog which likes snails so I don't have to worry about them.

The problem comes then as I've spent my time concentrating on slugs, something else shows up like aphids to eat my veg! There is a risk of spending too much time on pest control and not enough on enjoying growing your own veg.

[Snadger]

Since installation of my small pond and the settling in of the frogs,(there was loads of frogspawn) I'm sure its had an effect on the slug population. I don't recall seeing any slugs last year.

[Aberdeenplotter]

To protect from onion root fly, I rely on companion planting. I stick in a french marigold every couple of feet in the row and stagger them row on row. That works. For onion fly, I rely on the barrier method and use fleece or environmesh. The danger though is that if the insect is already present, instead of shutting them out, you may well shut them in. The new resistant varieties resistafly and flyaway do work well.

[Jono]

This year I planted a load of African Marigolds in with my brassicas after reading that the whitefly don't like the smell of the flowers. In recent summers my whole allotment was riddled with whitefly, but this time around there were virtually none.

Will definitely be doing this again in 2011.