Posts Tagged insects

Garden Pest Control

People would always love to have attractive gardens at home. Gardens may consist of diverse plants that tend to make the admirers spell bond. Gardening work consists of major work namely garden pest control. There are different types of garden pests that tend to provide hindrance to the growth of the plant.

Common garden pests

  • Mealy bugs

These are different kind of insects involving certain intricate morphological features. These insects do persist in leaves of green plants. The mode of attack can vary depending upon the specific species. The hairy appearance gives the pest to be flexible for any kind of ambient conditions. The bugs are known for extracting all the juice part that is present in the leaves.

  • Cabbage looper

The cabbage loopers generally infects plants like cabbage and beans. These pests offer great challenge to the gardeners. Its main mode of attack is to target the leaves. These have tendency to churn the leaves after the initial attack. This hinders the growth of the plant.  These pests are also infects crucifiers.

  • Asparagus beetle

Asparagus beetle affects the foliage part of the asparagus. This tends to make the overall green part of the plant to become pale. These also bring up problems for the shoot of plant to attain maturity. Premature death to the shoot tips is witnessed with the attack of asparagus beetle.

Garden Pest Control

Use of soap water is readily used as best method of control for garden pests. The garden pests also form the community that hinders the growth of plant comprehensively. Manual picking of pests are sometimes employed for the removal of localized attack of some pests. Sprays are also developed in homes to control the garden plants from attack from pests. Crop covers are also used for some varieties of plants to shun pests at peril.

Leave a Comment

Growing Tomatoes in Your Own Garden

Round, red, watery. Who can resist the guilty pleasure of having fresh, tasty tomatoes? Especially if they are coming from your own garden!
It is not difficult to grow tomatoes on your own. Here are several tips to make it even easier for you. Read the rest of this entry »

Leave a Comment

Myths Dispelling Facts on Growing Roses

Roses are probably one of the most widely grown plants in home gardens. They are also one of the most popular flowers throughout the globe.
There are some myths about growing roses. Many people think that roses are difficult and too complicated to grow and taken care of. Well, you are wrong. Growing roses is simple, fun and does not involve any myth. Here are facts dispelling them. Read the rest of this entry »

Leave a Comment

Deadheading – The Sine Qua Non For Re-Bloom Roses

Fully bloomed roses are among the most prized possessions for avid gardeners. Millions of people around the world favor these beautiful flowers. Taking care of your roses, pruning and deadheading them when needed, will help you to ensure that they remain healthy, vibrant and beautiful for a longer period of time.

Deadheading is simply removing those blossoms that are worn-out and giving the rose a chance to bloom again. This is a technique used by many professional and avid rose gardeners to keep their flowers beautiful and to ensure that they reproduce. By taking the blossom off before the flower has the opportunity to develop a fruit, you are convincing the rose that it has failed to reproduce. This causes the flower to send out hormones for re-growth. They will then produce a new bloom and attempt the reproduction process again.

Red Rose - A wallpaper

Red Rose - A wallpaper

Technically, professional growers define deadheading roses as the removal of a rose’s bloom stem. This removal is done down to the first and even second true leaf. While most professional and avid growers use this method, there are many gardeners who do not believe that this is the best way to handle the removal, depending on the situation. You can deadhead repeated blooming roses. This technique serves many purposes. It helps to conserve the plant’s energy and helps it to produce more blooms. Since insects are typically found in and near flowers, this method also helps to remove places within your roses where insects could actually hide and destroy the flowers. It also helps you to ensure that your roses are getting adequate circulation and protect them from fungi.

There are some things that you should definitely keep in mind if you are going to deadhead your roses. First, remember to always cut at an angle away from the node and just slightly above it. The stem growth begins from the nodes that are located nearest the cut. This means that subsequent bloom stems should be a bit smaller than the stem that you are removing. If your roses grow in clusters, you should consider deadheading further back on the stem than if you are growing Hybrid Tea for instance.

You should also keep in mind that antique roses and Old Garden varieties bloom in clusters from multiple nodes. These nodes are located near the cane terminus. If you are trimming these, be sure to only trim those clusters that are spent. The secondary clusters on these varieties will still grow and bloom after the primary cluster is spent. Once all clusters have finished blooming, then you should be able to trim the stem further down.

Deadheading roses can help to promote more blooms. However, this technique will only work on those plants that are able to re-bloom. There are many varieties of roses that do not have this capability. Even if you are not looking for re-blooms however, this technique does help to protect against insect infestations and will also help to prevent your roses from decaying.

Leave a Comment

Organic Warfare — More On Organic Pest Control (Part 3)

organic warfare , more on pest control 3Now that we’ve covered Cultural Measures, in our latest installment, we’ll be detailing the Mechanical War against pests, which is one of the oldest ideas when dealing with bugs — stepping on them, or letting machines step on them. Read the rest of this entry »

Leave a Comment

The Protected Cultivation of Fresh Beans

Up until recently, fresh beans were grown on the bottom of columns in greenhouses as intermediate products in order to utilize space. However, for the last few years, fresh bean cultivation has been accomplished via the monoculture method. Fresh beans are not selective in soil and can thrive in sandy, sandy loam and humus soil. Bean growing is more difficult in salty soils.

Speaking of salt, irrigation water should not be salty either. Beans grow well under 6.1 – 7.4 pH degrees and are sensitive to cold. The minimum temperature required for seed germination is 50 F while the optimum temperature required is 68 F – 77 F during their development period and 64 – 68F during their flowering period. The temperature of the soil should be 64 F.

Fresh beans are not selective during the duration of daylight exposure. In greenhouses, fresh beans are grown in warm seasons (particulary in spring) by shadowing them. In this way, the temperature in a greenhouse is reduced during hot weather. On the other hand, there is no need for shadowing during the autumn season.

Beans do not like excessive humidity

Beans do not like excessive humidity during their flowering period since this causes the failure of their seed set. However, they require 60 – 70% water in the soil they are planted in. Irrigation should be done accordingly. There should not be much air current or a high level of humidity/temperature.

There are two cropping periods to consider when fresh beans are grown in a greenhouse — the fall season and the spring season. Cropping is done in the middle of September during the autumn and in the middle of December during the springtime.

The greenhouse in which the fresh beans are grown must be solarized or disinfected with chemicals during the summer, just as it is typically done for the other greenhouse products.

In addition, the ventilation windows of the greenhouse should be covered with a material which will allow air to enter but discourage insects from passing through (particularly during the fall season in order to protect against viruses). After tilling the soil for plantation, masuras are must be prepared for the double-row method with spacings of 45x20x15 inches.

One hour before drilling, soil should be left under warm chemical water in order to protect against diseases and harmful factors. 1-2 swollen seeds must be placed into each planting hole and covered with soil. Soil should not be humid during this process. Watering should not be done until the seeds are germinated and the cotyledon and first set of real leaves come up. Otherwise, seed decaying occurs due to excess water.

What to do, When the seedlings have 2 to 3 leaves ?

When the seedlings have 2 to 3 leaves, hoeing should be done. Trellising structures should be created by lacing twines on each row. This process should be done expeditiously, otherwise the plants will not grow effectively. Fresh beans have an innate twining quality. Once a bean plant clings to a trellis, it twines around the trellis and grows upright. There is no need for twisting it or pruning. Water should be given in small portions until the first formation of beans. When the beans begin to grow, they will need more water and thus the amount of water will increased along with the interval time (which will be reduced).

Which chemicals need to use ?

In the production of greenhouse beans, a controlled amount of organic fertilizers must be added to the soil. Prior to greenhouse solarization, 4-5 tons of stall fertilizer should be applied per thousand square meters.
Upon the first real irrigation, irrigation as well as fertilization should be applied during the growing period.
In one growing period, a total of  8-12 kg nitrogen (N), 10-12 kg phosphorus (P2O5) and 12-15 kg potassium (K2O) should be applied in pure form.

In fresh beans, the potential for self fertilization is 99%. Before the plants flower, the male and female organs are mature enough for fertilization and once the fertilization process is accomplished, flowers develop. Dry and hot weather during the fertilization period have a negative impact on the fruit set. The fruit (which is a bean) becomes small, it curls up, and then it turns yellow and falls off.

In fresh bean growing, beans should be harvested when they are mature and green. The fruit is a bean and there are seeds between the two carpel leaves. Harvesting should not be done before the seeds are filled and before the beans are in their place. There are three typical bean shapes: flat with curled ends, an open C or S letter.

In the event of diseases or pests, chemical control should be taken in accordance with the Technical Guidelines of Agricultural Control.

Leave a Comment

The Protected Cultivation of Squash

Squash cultivation is economical during fall, early spring and single-crop seasons. The appropriate drilling periods are September during the Fall season, the end of October, the beginning of November (in a single crop season) and the middle of December during the early spring season. Squash seedlings are grown in the same manner as that of cucumber seedlings. However, as there is a considerable risk of viruses during the fall season, seedlings need to be covered with a fine muslin or a mosquito net for protection against white flies.

Squash plants should be trellised using string in order to maximize space and pruning is not necessary. However, fruit flowers which are not inseminated on the plant and thus not able to grow should be picked up and discarded (as these are the most appropriate environments for the development of grey mould and white mould, which are serious diseases found in greenhouses). Additionally, squash does not like too much heat.

On the other hand, squash grows well in low temperatures but a light frost can cause plants to die, so they must be carefully watched. Male and female flowers, which are on the different parts of the squash plant, need to be pollinated via insects, therefore, unnecessary insecticides should be avoided.

In addition, in January and February during a single crop season (when the environment is not appropriate for insemination), it is possible to promote fruit sets by using 4 CPA hormone application with the dosage of 20 PPM to newly emerged female flowers. Squash should be harvested once every 3 three weeks (at the latest) during winters and once every two weeks during other seasons. Harvesting should be accomplished via a knife and fruit should not be harmed. In addition, during seasons with high temperatures, harvesting should be done early in the morning.

Comments (1)