Georgia Magazine - July 2010 - (Page 43)

Garden tips for July COURTESY OF SANJAY ACHARYA,WIKI COMMONS Lacewing adults may be pale green or brown, with large, veined wings.They eat mostly flower nectars, but their larvae will take care of aphids, scales, small caterpillars, thrips and other garden pests. COURTESY OF DIVISION OF PLANT INDUSTRY ARCHIVE, FLORIDA DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE AND CONSUMER SERVICES • Tricho wasps. Small as gnats, these wasps kill many kinds of caterpillar eggs, including those of the tomato hornworm. Although Woody says the tomato hornworm caterpillar turns into “the lovely hummingbird moth that flitters from flower to flower at dusk in the summer,” hornworms devour leaves and fruit, so the wasps are very beneficial. • Various predatory mites. These tiny helpers control spider mites and thrips on indoor plants. “They also [help control pests] on roses, strawberries, fruit trees, eggplants and other garden vegetables.” • Pollinators. Insects like bumble- bees, wasps and, to a lesser extent, butterflies aid in fertilization by carrying pollen from plant to plant. • Spiders. Spiders consume many garden insects, and those that live outside don’t usually come indoors. Give them straw mulch and perennial beds for shelter. • Tachinid flies. Resembling houseflies, these bugs battle cutworms, armyworms, tent caterpillars, Japanese beetles, squash bugs and more. Nectar and pollen plants attract them. • Ground beetles. The blue-black or brown beetles that live outside and dart away when disturbed eat slugs, snails and more. Leave some stones, logs and perennial ground cover for their hiding places. • Grow umbellifers like dill, cumin, coriander, celery, parsnips, anise, parsley and carrots to attract helpful bugs. • Keep roses and other flowers deadheaded, to encourage repeat blooms. • Fertilize container plants once a month, since frequent watering leaches the soil. If you planted your pots with fertilizer pellets, you can still give them a drink of liquid fertilizer every few weeks. • Keep basil cut or pinched back. If it flowers, the flavor will suffer. Make pesto from the cuttings. • Start seeds of cabbage, broccoli and collards in pots for transplanting into your fall garden. Bad bugs • Aphids. “Aphids are as bad as they get,” says Woody. These soft-bodied insects feed on sap, weakening plants, and their saliva can deform flowers, leaves and fruit. To control aphids, your garden needs lacewings, often called aphid lions for their voracious appetite. Lacewings, which can also help control leafhoppers, whiteflies and mealybugs, can be encouraged to stick around. “You can build up a better population (of lacewings) by applying a sugar and protein mixture that simulates honeydew,” one of their favorite foods, Woody says. “Simply dribble it on the foliage near COURTESY OF SAMUEL GRANT (LUCIS),WIKI COMMONS The bad guys: The aphids above have infested a rosebush. Aphids are soft-bodied insects that measure only about 1/16-inch long when fully grown, but they can seriously weaken plants by sucking their juices. They leave behind a sticky waste product, called honeydew. Inset: Whiteflies will do serious damage by sucking out plant juices, weakening the plant and spreading quickly. Remove affected leaves as soon as you notice these pests. July 2010 www.georgiamagazine.org your garden and especially near a ‘bad’ pest outbreak. Now, how about that for a natural, safe method versus the insecticides that cost so much and kill even more?” • Whiteflies. Like mealybugs, aphids and scale, whiteflies suck sap from plants. Remove infected leaves if the outbreak is small, or try sticky traps, available from garden centers. Tiny Encarsia wasps are great for parasitizing whiteflies in greenhouses. • Mealybugs. A colony of mealybugs looks like white cotton. Knock off these sap-suckers with a blast of water from the hose, or spray with an insecticidal soap. You can also buy an aromatic extract, commonly known as neem oil, from garden centers. Neem oil comes from India’s neem trees and is sold by such companies as Green Light and Dyna-Grow. To control mealybugs on indoor plants, wipe the plants’ leaves with cotton balls dipped in isopropyl alcohol. • Nematodes. Some of these roundworms are good, while others are bad news. Most, Woody says, feed on soil micro-organisms. To banish them, remove dead garden materials each fall and turn the soil when the garden is finished. Lynn Coulter lives in Douglas County and is the author of “Mustard Seeds: Thoughts on the Nature of God and Faith” and “Gardening with Heirloom Seeds.” 43 http://www.georgiamagazine.org

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Georgia Magazine - July 2010

Georgia Magazine - July 2010
Contents
Viewpoint
Mailbox
Picture This?
Georgia News
Calendar
Currents
Special Energy Report
Where the Wild Things Are
Still Going Strong
Reliving History and Exploring Nature
Around Georgia
Georgia@Home
My Georgia
Georgia Gardens
Georgia Cooks
Cookbook of the Month
Snapshot

Georgia Magazine - July 2010