Today, I continue my interview with gardening expert John Kohler…
In this episode, John talks about how to use natural pesticides, gardening tips, organic compost and more.
Check it out…
Your question of the day: What is the pest-iest pest you’ve ever dealt with?
Click here, scroll down to the bottom of the page and leave your comments now!
John hosts an amazing health event in Northern California that is coming up…
The Raw Health Expo is from July 31st to August 1st and is in Sebastopol, CA. To find out more and to attend (the price is super-reasonable… I think to little actually!) click here…
Live Awesome!
Kev
11:39 am on July 13th, 2010
I’ve got pests in my compost before I even started my garden! I’ve never seen a watermelon skinned before, but the raccoons and possuums raid the compost for all the raw food dropings! The watermelon rind was skinned down to thin as paper.
11:39 am on July 13th, 2010
Squash bugs are the pestiest pests I have encountered each year. The only thing that works, that is very labor intensive is picking the eggs and squash bugs off the plants everyday. I do agree with John, plant more veggies and share the food with the insect kingdom.
11:50 am on July 13th, 2010
Used to be slugs and snails. At the farmers market recently I discovered hazelnut husks. Put them around plants and the slugs and snails can’t navigate on them. My plants have been slug and snail free since I put them down. The other beasties are another story…
11:50 am on July 13th, 2010
I purchased organic compost from my local landscape supply company and my plants are thriving on it. Now I am starting my own compost bin. The compost I purchased cost $34 a yard.
12:03 pm on July 13th, 2010
Rabbits!!!
12:07 pm on July 13th, 2010
I USED TO OWN AN AVOCADO AND CHERAMOYA GROVE IN VISTA. MY UNCLES HAD A WONDERFUL VEGETABLE GARDEN AND FRESH HOMEGROWN IS THE BEST FOOD; YOU GET SPOILED. MARRIGOLD FLOWERS, GARLIC, CAYENNE PEPPER, AND ORGANIC SPRAYS WORK BUT USUALLY THE PESTS DON’T TAKE OVER THE ENTIRE CROP. WE ALWAYS HAD PLENTY TO EAT!
12:08 pm on July 13th, 2010
Japanese Beatles are THE nastiest pest we have!! We mix 1/4 cup Dr. Bronner’s Castile soap with Peppermint oil in 2 qts water, add 1 capful of cheap mint mouthwash to the spray bottle and hit ‘em with the spray. They drop off their food source which happens to be our crepe myrtle plants, our Boston Fern and my roses, but the damage is already done! They like our pole beans, too! They have decimated our Golden Chair tree; I hope it makes it.
12:10 pm on July 13th, 2010
We have ground squirrels!!! The eat the fruit and are difficult to get rid of. I don’t like to use poison.
12:15 pm on July 13th, 2010
You are so funny Kevin!!
The peskiest pests we have had are PICKLE WORMS!!!! aaaahhhggghhh
They get all our delicious watermelon, cucumber, and squash! Right now we have one beautiful butternut squash that we put a sock over and has been doing well.
I agree with John about incorporating a portion for the critters. They gotta get theirs, too! LOL>
The best way is to physically go through your plants and actually remove the critters.
The other pesky pest we get is mealy bugs on the kale, collards, broccoli, and cabbage. We spray them off with the hose then spray a mix of Dr. Bronners Soap (1/2 Tsp. with 1 1/2 Tsp Neem Oil in a 2qt. spray bottle with water)
Works like a champ.
Use that about 1x a week and it works wonders!
Also, I laugh, but it works. Chris goes slug/snail hunting at night with a flash light!! He gets em by the bucket!!! Eeeeewwwwww. Then we have to haul them away to the cane fields. Lol.
Funny what you learn when you garden…
Have fun!
Thanks~
C&S
12:15 pm on July 13th, 2010
Trips!!!
12:21 pm on July 13th, 2010
Deer, rabbits, raccoon, squirrels, squash bugs, tomato worms.
12:24 pm on July 13th, 2010
A good bug control is food grade diatomaceous earth. Just be careful to not breath the dust.
12:45 pm on July 13th, 2010
Fruit flies in my strawberries!
12:50 pm on July 13th, 2010
I just can’t get enough of gardening shows. Thanks! My biggest pests are squirrels. We have to share everything with them and they certainly aren’t shy. I would love to find a way to deal with them.
1:04 pm on July 13th, 2010
I used to pick off potato bug and squash bugs with my grandpa on our quarter acre garden. ;-P Good memories
We always had pests but you just watched the bite you took in the apple or cut off the wormy part of the ear of corn. People think that’s gross now but really it wasn’t so bad.
1:07 pm on July 13th, 2010
Last year I used a product that contained fox urine and it was very effective is keeping the squirrels away. I did some research on the internet which told me human urine is just as effective. I sprinkle this every day around the perimeter of my vegetable garden. No squirrel damage! Yeah!
1:08 pm on July 13th, 2010
In my gardens earwigs are the worst. They munch on everything. I haven’t researched natural ways of getting rid of earwigs yet. But I will. My house plants- scales have been a plague. However I have discovered that spraying my plants with a mixture of rubbing alcohol, water and a squirt of liquid dish soap every two weeks will get rid of those nasty scales.
2:32 pm on July 13th, 2010
I used to do a lot of vegetable gardening, but here in Brooklyn, well, you get the picture. His advice is very good. See what the locals are doing, and pick off the snails and such. Where I was living beer was put out for snails, affective, but pretty disgusting as they drink themselves to death. As mentioned above, soapy spray can be effective against aphids on your roses. Did you know ants “milk” aphids…!… Anyway, gardening is very rewarding. Thanks.
2:43 pm on July 13th, 2010
Squash bugs!!! all my squash plants are gone now….and all of those butternut squash, too! the areas must have been about 10ft by 10ft each, =(. But now i have more growing! yay!
Nevermind, just checked. They’re gone.
2:52 pm on July 13th, 2010
My least favorite garden pests are snails and slugs, there is always more to get rid of. Aphids are no fun either. Some produce for me, some for the bugs. I share.:-D
2:56 pm on July 13th, 2010
The pest-iest pest I’ve ever dealt with by far is my mother.
Had to chime in with that! Look forward to viewing the episode.
3:22 pm on July 13th, 2010
Slugs!! I hate them … also fruit flies towards the end of the season, pain in the a$$
3:26 pm on July 13th, 2010
My wife she picks out many of my edible weeds.
))
And the weeds which prevent other bugs and Birds
which take all my blueberries. I tried a net and a fake owl worked for a few days but then the birds started to go to the bathroom on my big owl SOB’s
3:32 pm on July 13th, 2010
I have two 12 year old Juniper bushes, and they are loaded with bag worms! This year I have not been around enough to pick them off daily, so now there is an explosion of bag worms and half of one of the juniper bushes is brown. I fear it will not recover and may have to be chopped down.
When you pick these worms off and throw them in the dumpster, they will crawl out and go back onto the bush. There are thousands of these worms on these giant bushes right now. They are too vigorous. This year is the worst ever.
I have finally decided to spray 10 buckets of BT all over the bushes today and now I await results. In the winter I will follow up with something natural to kill the eggs that might be left.
Great video. I really like seeing/hearing about natural growing techniques in action.
3:39 pm on July 13th, 2010
The pestiest pest: mice, volles, rabbits, and everything that gnaws at each squash in the garden. My solution: I found snakes over an acre away in a large grass compost area and put them into the garden and down the holes. I haven’t seen mice since.
Second pestiest pest: those little black leach slugs that get the strawberries. I have no idea what to do about them.
4:24 pm on July 13th, 2010
Ok so the fruit flies in my strawberries might actually be fungus gnats…I’m still getting acquainted with the insect kingdom. The soap spray works ok, but I have to repeat the process every other week or so.
I dealt with the aphids on my tomatoes in the same manner, and they haven’t come back. I also pluck off those green little worm/caterpillers (that like all my plants) by hand.
5:25 pm on July 13th, 2010
Rabbits (those middle-of-the-night lettuce munchers).
For aphids on tomatoes I used lady bugs. You can buy them in pints (thousands in each pint). They will reproduce and return to the garden each year.
For deer you need to have a 10′ fence. They can clear a 6′-8′ one as they are great high jumpers.
Hogwire works well for fencing, with strips of colored cloth every few feet so they can see how tall it is and not crash into it.:-)
5:52 pm on July 13th, 2010
Japanese beetle’s are eating the leaves on my peach trees.
I will try #7. Elaine’s idea using Dr.Bonner’s soap.
Question what does the mint mouth wash do and will it work without it?
5:58 pm on July 13th, 2010
Slugs and Snails. They ate my sunflower seedlings which I directly planted into the garden bed. My solution was to grow them in pots first and then transplant them into the garden.
A really awesome compost is Happy Frog!!!
6:56 pm on July 13th, 2010
Excellent program Kevin with your guest John Kohler ,like more of his ideas on garden tips and information. Skunks 9 of them meandor around at dusk and do not scare easy especially when they forage.
8:24 pm on July 13th, 2010
the ego
11:30 pm on July 13th, 2010
Gophers! I could stand and watch whole plants disappearing into the earth. Now I plant everything in gopher cages.
11:31 pm on July 13th, 2010
Great shows! However, it doesn’t seem like his method of gardening is that sustainable. I think it is completely possible to have a closed system, building up your own soil, on a small scale. Methods such as crop rotation and growing cover crops will improve the soil integrity. The soil should not be continually depleted. It would be great if you interviewed some permaculture experts, such as BIll Mollison as they can show how working with nature will actually make your gardening easier.
The pest-iest pest must be cabbage worms!!
It would be great to here how you guys are gardening?
Thanks!
Christie
1:35 am on July 14th, 2010
How do I save my corn? Critters, you them and they are on the list of those who eat the corn before it is mature enough for us to eat! From earwigs through large ground animals and climbers to the birds. All we’ve stopped so far are the deer, not enough space for a head start on the run needed to clear the fence.
10:22 am on July 14th, 2010
I really have enjoyed these gardening episodes!! I learned a lot, especially ways to get rid of slugs. They are my worst enemy in my garden so far. Yet, there hasn’t been much damage so I’m not too concerned. I’ve got a lot of lettuce to spare:)
12:24 pm on July 14th, 2010
What is the differents between Vegen and Raw,is there a differents?
4:55 pm on July 14th, 2010
Thanks so much for the gardening episodes! I have several pesty pests that I am sharing my garden with, all insect varieties. The creepiest ones for me are the green worms…I am not comfortable YET with handling insects. Would like to use diatomaceous earth, but concerned it will hurt the good insects, so I am trying to figure out how to use it to eliminate at least the earwig and ant population. Anyone got any experience along these lines? I would appreciate some suggestions!
1:58 am on July 15th, 2010
this year the we’ve been plagued by those pesky striped squash/cucumber beetles. they ate every single zucchini, cucumber & winter squash sprout in our 1/2 acre garden! we’ve replanted & the next batch is now sprouting. we sprayed them with jerry baker’s conconction and it’s totally working! it’s simply 2 tbsp artificial vanilla & 1 quart water mixed in a spray bottle. so simple, but very effective so far! : ) the other challenge we’ve had this year is with our corn. we have these monster crows around here & they pulled out 95% of our corn sprouts! we replanted & put up a scarecrow. so far so good …
5:56 pm on July 15th, 2010
Cabbage worms!! But i have found if the cabbage plants get to a pretty decent size before the adult butterflies start hanging around, then the cabbage plant withstands their assult. So plant very early in the season, oh, and dusting with D.E. really helps.
Squash bugs and or vine borers are horrible, haven’t quite found a workable situation with them yet.
Pill bugs, or some people call them rollie pollies (sp?). I have millions of them (just a guess, haven’t actually taken a head count). Everything I have read says that they do not harm plants, but apparently they haven’t read the book! They will eat out roots and stems of some veggies, herbs and flowers, I have watched them do it. If anyone knows how to handle them, I would love to know.
All in all, I still LOVE gardening, don’t know what I would do if I couldn’t interact with mother nature.
2:55 pm on July 16th, 2010
This year it has been Japanese Beetles, thanks Elaine for the recipe!, rabbits and raccoons. I use the Japanese Beetle bags, but my crepe myrtle was about destroyed this year here in St. Louis. Next year, I’m going to fence more for the bunnies and raccoons.
3:33 pm on July 17th, 2010
The tomato hornworm (Manduca quinquemaculata) and Squash vine borer (Melittia satyriniformis) are both really tough for me to deal with. I am still trying to find organic controls…
12:39 pm on July 19th, 2010
It started with slugs. I mixed some sand around the plants. It took a lot out but still on the plants. When cutting my lettuce plants, I salt the slugs. They die within seconds. I found a product called Sluggo. I put it around my plants that they like and my problem is gone.
The next problem is Japanese beetles. I used a Japanese beetle trap away from my grape vines. They sworm in the bag. Some still go on the grapes. I knock them down in soapy water and they die in there. I also sprayed the leaves with a soapy water solution and put baby powder on the leaves. The problem seems to be gone.
Now I have mice eating my baby squash. I fighting it with sprayed soapy water solution with hot sauce, moth balls around, and cotton balls with peppermint extract under the leaves. Don’t know if it will work, but I have a few more things if it doesn’t. I also put some peppermint leaves under the plants. They don’t like the scent of peppermint.
I hope this will help some people with some of the things that helped me.