Disheartened

[wildinthecountry]

Not been an easy year! Started with a new fruit cage, lots of healthy seedlings and optimism. What the slugs didn't get has been covered in whitefly and cabbage whites (under the netting and inside the cage). The kale I had such high hopes for looks ruined by fly. Gave up on the spring cabbages and composted them all but one. Nematodes did nothing to the slugs, nor did my nightly attacks. The Brussels are getting eaten by caterpillars. Any ideas?? Only good things are thousands of courgettes, the pale green Italian seed ones are lovely in salads, onions brilliant lots of different varieties drying on racks, just hope they'll keep ok, potatoes good so far but guess I should get them all out before slugs move in there too. And tomatoes, tried grafted ones this year and doing well. But these other so and so's are a pain. How does everyone else have such luck? (Also had lawn wrecked by chafer grubs, more of which in another thread later )

[Feral007]

Well that sucks! Some years are just like that I guess.

There'll be loads of people by shortly with their tips I'm sure.

[chris]

What can you say... Really you win some and you loose some. It's all part and parcel of GYO.

My advice is chin-up, there's always next year.

Nemaslug next year when the ground is warm enough before you plant your seedlings out, and then again 8 odd weeks later - whatever it dys on the pack.


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[Bigmallly]

Hi, what netting were you using as you start off talking about the fruit cage then move on to cabbage whites. The netting on fruit cages need to be so that insects can get in to pollinate the flowers. Brassicas on the other hand need a net that allows nada..........so the finer the better, some grapes use enviromesh, others use debris netting. With regards to slugs, I have to confess in using the blue pellets. Don't get disheartened, you'll do better next year. We all have failures (even the experts I guess).

[Alison]

Sounds like quite a normal year to me. In any given year I get some raging successes and some terrible failures. Will be different things next year but still some good and bad. Each year I grow loads of things so any failure is only a small percentage of the total. Anybody that claims perfection in everything is lying.

[Two_Sheds]

slugs ...whitefly and cabbage whites

Sounds like quite a normal year to me.

Yes, it's pretty much what we've all been facing. The long cold "spring" was a disaster for my French beans and squashes: I had them out at the right time but then the prolonged cold killed them.

After the long winter, we went straight into heatwave, so then it was a struggle to keep everything watered. I got a rain gauge, and measured only 2cm of rain all summer

As for pests, it has been the Year of the Cabbage White: long hot dry spells are perfect for them. They've produced so many caterpillars that their normal food (brassicas) have run out, and they're now eating weeds & horseradish. They're getting inside everyone's mesh too, it's not just you. I'm catching 20+ a day in my fishing net, they're like sitting ducks on the lavender.


You need a multi-pronged attack on them, don't rely on one method alone. Same with slugs. I make my own nemaslug and it seems to be working, along with the occasional organic blue pellet.

[kathyd]

I cover everything with debris netting until it's a decent size, then remove it from things that need pollinating. I use organic slug pellets, and have been hand-picking caterpillars daily this year for the first time - what a plague! Yes, these are under the netting - I've given up trying to exclude them completely, I just want to reduce the numbers to manageable proportions! I put brassica collars around my brassicas when I pot them into larger pots before planting out, grow carrots in the polytunnel or under debris netting outside, and sprinkle with something smelly like mint when I've pulled some up. I've discovered cabbage whites love nasturtians, so next year I'm planting loads again - but OUTSIDE my brassica netting!! Hopefully this will help me remove them more easily, and keep at least some of them off my crop plants. I spray aphids with a small amount of eco washing up liquid (maybe a teaspoon?) in a bottle of water, and keep checking daily for more. Um... can't think of anything else at the moment, but I'm sure others will have more garden-friendly ways of dealing with things! Whatever you do though, there'll still be losses. I lose quite a bit to voles, which is something I wasn't expecting!

[Marb67]

At least you had courgettes. AALL my courgette plants have NO fruit despite plenty of flowers, pollinating insects etc.

[wildinthecountry]

Many thanks all, I feel better already!

Slugs - trying to avoid pellets even organic ones which don't seem safe for pets, hedgehogs, owls etc all of which we have. I used Nematodes twice but have yet to be convinced. Maybe I didn't water enough, instructions say water daily for two weeks. They don't like the wool pellets I found in the end called Slug gone but large quantity would be best though expensive - they are a good mulch and soil improver when you dig them in later. I just put them round each plant. They're not keen on the toads I shoved in the fruit cage either but I just can't catch that hedgehog! Still had more slugs than ever before though.

I use enviromesh on the brassicas inside the fruit cage (which is half inch weldmesh). It's useless, unless you want to collect pretty white butterflies on your plants! Thanks for reassurance though that this has been a bad year for them. I will try the washing up liquid kathyd, I use that on roses. Hope we won't taste it! A friend says mix flour with water and spray so may try that too.

Still finding my way round this great forum but thanks for all your encouragement. I do plant lots of stuff and about this time of year I wonder if I'll bother again. But I do!

Not sure what to do with all these courgettes and tomatoes, sauce and chutney I guess! Sorry about your courgettes marb67 I thought it was just lots of water they needed. Every time I water I get more next day, if I don't pick they're huge the day after. Onions are good but hubby has just mixed them all up so can't now string the keepers separately!

I got my French beans in late because of the weather so they've been fine and still picking. Runners good too but hope it rains soon!

Thanks again.

[mothhawk]

For aphids, sifting fine dry soil over them is supposed to work - clogs up their breathing spiracle thingys apparently. I've not tried it 'cos I'm not much bothered with them - a few on the sweet peas for a week or two, but none now.

[Potstubsdustbins]

Blackfly/aphids on my runners today, I was just going to start to spray with water/soap and noticed the cavalry had arrived, a dozen or so bright red ...........................ladybugs. There won't be many of the little burgers left by tomorrow.

Potty

[wildinthecountry]

For aphids, sifting fine dry soil over them is supposed to work - clogs up their breathing spiracle thingys apparently.

Aha must be the same as the floury water thing, chokes the little horrors.

[Bigmallly]

Many thanks all, I feel better already!

Slugs - trying to avoid pellets even organic ones which don't seem safe for pets, hedgehogs, owls etc all of which we have.

I understand your concerns using pellets around pets & such but they should be fine used under the netting which is what I do.

[zazen999]

I run a community garden and don't use any slug pellets or nets. Believe it or not.

I do however have two ponds and make random cover for the frogs who then just about control the slugs. For new plants out - we found the slugs were taking them out overnight so we surrounded each new plant with a chopped comfrey 'moat' and by the time that had disintegrated the plants had made it. We have had huge caterpillars in the poly but we just keep the foliage down and cut the caterpillars up. Or squish them underfoot. Our main issue this year has been bindweed; just turn your back and it's grown another 10 ft; and dock mainly because it had two years of self seeding and it's gone bezerk where we have cleared old weedy patches.

But I have never seen so many cabbage whites. We made a pact to not use any pesticide or herbicide at all once we took it over and at times it's seemed a hard decision but we are still overrun with beans, tomatoes and courgettes and have some great crops growing; which as it's the first year after taming a jungle - and we just threw some seeds and plants in here and there - is a great result. We have swede and kohl rabis with no leaves but the roots are now fully grown and the purple kohl rabi catch everyone's eye.

Bear with it - next year it will be something else that comes along to annoy us.

[Two_Sheds]

I have never seen so many cabbage whites.

Agreed.

The caterpillars are now trying to climb up any vertical structure to pupate. Keep your eyes peeled folks, and destroy the pupa if you find them (they won't necessarily be in the brassica bed: I'm finding them literally everywhere, even climbing up the water tap)