Is it HOT enough for ya?

I cannot believe how brutally hot it is. With 100+ degree temperatures the last few days, my younger plants can't help showing stress, no matter how much I water them. It also seems the heat is also making insect infestations multiply exponentially. Case in point a green, soft-bodied insect (I have yet to identify) chowing down on my bean plants, and another unidentified (and yet to be seen) bug eating my asiatic lilies. I am not amused. Also, I suspect I will have to replace one of my crab apple trees on our extremely steep hillside that simply doesn't receive sufficient water to establish a good root system.

In other news a combination of regular applications of Sevin dust, and companion planting with basil and marigolds have keep the dreaded tomato hornworms away. YAY! We've been blessed to enjoy deliciously rich heirlooom tomatoes for the last month. I finally transplanted my blueberry bushes into a raised bed. After digging them up and potting them last fall because the soil pH was too high, the raised bed and numerous bags of soil conditioner and other organic amendments should be just the fix they need. Finally, my control mechanisms for aphids and slugs/snails are working. Makes working in the heat worth it.

Finally, my always sweet and exceptional smart husband helped me create this guard for a young amaryllis bulb (that he kept stepping on when reaching for the hose). I just love a man who appreciates the power of recycling. :)

Eradicating Cabbage Loopers

This is the first year I've tried broccoli and it's been challenging. 3/4 of my seedlings died, leaving me feeling a little despondent. Then, thanks to a few lightning-charged rain storms, the remaining three perked up and were on the fast track to healthy production.

Flower head developing below:

Unfortunately, 24 hours later, my sweet broccoli floret would look like this:

I found at least twenty tiny, bright green worms and scores more eggs. As far as I can tell, based on the lack of markings of the immature caterpillars is that they are cabbage loopers. See sample below:

Biological controls include companion planting with rosemary, dill and sage, although I suspect it might be too late to use the aromatic herbs to repel existing caterpillars. An Integrated Pest Management (IPM) technique is spraying the entire plant with Bacillus thuringiensis (BT) which would kill young caterpillars. (I've had some measure of success with BT on tomato hornworms, but the key is spraying young caterpillars. The older ones tend to build up a resistance.) And of course there is hand picking them -- if you can spot them.

Even though pictures of the damaged broccoli plant may suggest otherwise, I've caught these intruders at a very early stage. My window of opportunity to begin vigorously spraying with BT is still wide open. Too bad the Co-op is not on Sundays. So I'll be handpicking again today and breaking out the spray guns first thing Monday morning. Wish me luck!

THIS MEANS WAR!!!!!!!!!!

The DH and I have declared war on tomato hornworms after we found another three decimating our bell pepper bushes. (I could slap myself for digging up those French marigolds!) I've squashed more than I care to admit, and my my trigger-happy hubby is anxious to break out the BB gun again. But, because I appreciate the benefits of the Five Spotted Hawk Moth these little buggers become, we're going to try a different route.

We've captured these three and are currently housing them in a glass jar on a restricted diet, i.e. one bell pepper a day. The plan is to build a more appropriate cage to enable them to form chrysalises, and release them after they've metamorphed.

Now I admit I've neglected my garden a bit this summer. Between visitors, trips and just trying to stay out of the unbearable S. Alabama heat, I've not done the preventative work necessary to keep it in tip top shape. But I'm going to start remedying that tonight. As soon as the sun sets. Good times.

Fight to the Death

You know times are hard when these hornets start fighting for the tomato hornworms carcasses. Gross.

Tomato Hornworms

Over the last few weeks, a few of my tomato bushes have been affected  by blight. I dug those up to prevent it from spreading. Without thinking, I also pulled up the French Marigold plants circling the affected tomato bushes. Because I didn't know it at the time of planting, I sowed a variety of Marigold plants. But French Marigolds are the most effecting at warding off tomato hornworms. Well, wouldn't you know it, the blight-infested bushes were surrounded by French Marigolds while the healthy ones are surrounded by Dwarf Marigolds and some other variety I forget now.

When the French Marigolds moved out, the tomato hornworms moved it. Three of them stripped a large plant overnight. I'm hoping that's all there were. But you can never spot those buggers until it's too late. Going to spend tomorrow evening spraying Neem Oil. Fun!

The Tomato Hornworm Strikes Again!!!

I did pretty good this year considering it's the end of June and I've only now encountered my first tomato hornworm. After reading about it in a Lowe's Creative Ideas magazine last year, I diligently planted marigolds (btw French marigolds are the most pungent, therefore best for repelling hornworms) around my tomato bushes to keep the hornworms at bay. So far so good. But one of my potted bell peppers was not so lucky.

Just yesterday I picked robust bell peppers from the same bush and didn't notice anything amiss. 24-hours later I check it out and the entire top portion of the plant lost its leaves. Upon closer inspection, I found an enormous mature hornworm sucking away at a remaining unripe bell pepper. This thing was so huge I was able to notice its white sucker feet which left their imprint on my poor bell pepper. Gross. Hope it enjoyed its last meal.

There he is...dead center.

So where did it come from? I don't know. Everything else looks fine but apparently looks can be decieving. Need to break out the BT and Neem oil pronto! In the meantime, guess I'll be planting marigolds with the bell peppers too. Think Lowe's will pay me for that tip?

We Could All Use a Calcium Boost

Since digging up my vegetable garden last fall, I've been saving egg shells and other kitchen scraps to incorporate at the bottom of my vegetable holes this year. Seriously, there's more ziploc bags of frozen goop in my freezer than food.

Yesterday, I finally get my tomato and bell peppers seedlings in the ground, and wouldn't you know it...I forgot the kitchen scraps in the freezer! I so need a tumbling composter because out of sight, out of mind.

At least I worked in a tub full of compost, humus and potting soil so they're not totally defenseless. I even had the foresight to plant marigold seeds around the tomatoes since I read the flower smell keeps tomato hornworms at bay. Guess we'll see.

Guess Who Came To Dinner

The other evening while inspecting my gardens, my daughter and I noticed the wierdest half moth / half hummingbird freak of nature drinking nectar from my Ryan's Pink Chrysanthemum plant. I scopped up my baby and raced inside for the camera. Luckily it was still there happily drinking away. I was able to snap a few pics before it flew away.

Later that night I scoured the Internet for this species. You'll never believe it, it was a five-spotted hawk moth (aka sphinx moth or hummingbird moth). If this still means nothing to you, remember those pesky tomato hornworms I was so busy killing earlier this year? Well the five-spotted hawk moth is the tomato hornworm all grown up. Fancy that!

I came across several websites praising the beauty of moths in general, and five-spotted hawk moths in particular. I learnt that moths are nighttime pollinators as butterflies are daytime pollinators. Pretty important huh. This tidbit later influenced my perception of the five-spotted hawkmoth...I suddenly found them more beautiful. Don't get me wrong, they're no ruby-throated hummingbird or monarch butterfly, but there's something to be said for a creature that can go either way. It had the markings and wing span of a moth but the stealth of a hummingbird. Who knew. But don't take my word for it, take an evening stroll around your own garden and keep your eyes out for one.

A Bit of Misfortune. A Bit of Luck.

Upon another infestation of tomato horn worms, I dug the bushes up. It's such a shame, since I thought I'd gotten rid of them all. The bushes recovered and I even got to harvest a few more tomatoes. But I'd missed two applications of Neem treatment, and quick as that, they were back. Obviously Neem treatments need to be consistent during the growing season.

In other news, one of my birdhouses was severely damaged when it's post collapsed. It was a combination of termite damage (the post was untreated so this wasn't entirely unexpected, but sooner than I thought) and carpenter bees burrowing tunnels up and down the post. The thing nearly felt hollow when I picked it up and was filled with young bees buzzing inside. Couldn't get that curbside fast enough!!!

However, every difficulty presents an opportunity. In one of the areas where extra tomato bushes were planted, I created a new flowerbed. It's early yet and the plants still need to grow in, but I can't wait to see it next spring. Especially since it includes bare root Red Dragons which should be spectacular.

My Dad came for a visit, and built a birdhouse to replace the one I lost. Porch and all. We couldn't put the new birdhouse in the old location since we couldn't dig up the concrete without damaging existing plants, so we put it in an even better location. Can you say opportunity for a new flower bed!!!!!! Maybe in the springtime.

2nd Neem Application

It's been about a week since I treated my tomoato bushes and rose bushes with Neem Oil. Typically, the treatments should be applied every two weeks in the growing season, but can be applied once a week in severe cases. I found a baby tomato horn worm this evening on one of my bushes and applied a second treatment.

Neem Oil is a summer oil which acts as an insecticide, fungicide and miticide. After picking off a bushel of worms, the tomato leaves are slowly growing back. But I'm unsure if this is a result of my labor or the effectiveness of the first treatment. I do however see a slight improvement on one of my rose bushes. The leaves are healthy and shiny and green, the blooms are robust and plentiful, and new growth and old growth are existing together for the first time ever. My rose bushes also got a second treatment. We'll see how the other six do in another week.

More More More

A day later, I found another five. That makes the total 37!!!

After the rain storms, I did treat the bushes with Neem Oil and that seem to do to the trick. It's about time for a second treatment, but of course it's raining again. We'll see what happens tomorrow.

This sucks!

Would you believe it...I found another 5 tomato horn worms today. They practically stripped my bushes on one side of the house. AAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRRRRGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!

I Hate Tomato Horn Worms!!!!

This year, I was a little distracted by installing new flower beds, and didn't spray my vegetable gardens as often as I should have. After being away for a few days, I went out to admire my backyard yesterday morning, and noticed a few tomato bushes looking less than stellar. Upon closer inspection, I noticed a rather large lime green catepillar moozeying along. It was a tomato horn worm. Just like mice, if there's one, there's more. So I broke out the garden gloves and tweezers, and went hunting.

From my 18 tomato bushes, I extracted (and smooshed) 27 tomato horn worms!!! There were babies, adolescents and morbidly obese adults. All disgusting and all happily eating away my hard labor. Do you know one even had the nerve to raise its head and observe what I was doing!?! Sick, sick, sick! Putting up with a cute little rabbit is one thing, but this is ridiculous.

After this horrid chore, I went to task spraying my bushes with Neem Oil. Of course there was a rain storm yesterday afternoon so that was in vain, but I tried.

I'll be back out there this evening equipped with garden gloves, tweezers and my handy dandy spray bottle. If those little buggers know what's good for them, they'll moozey on to the next house.