Hi Guys,

I know there's a few SeaBreezers that have backyard vege patches out there - as I've seen a few [great] photos on this site showing off some good home grown produce.

Mrs GPA has a nice little 20m2 plot out the back, plus a heap of pots... she has various lettuces, chili's, strawberries, beans, broccoli, cauliflower etc etc mostly doing quite well...

Anyhow, of late something has been eating at most of the plants - so I was looking for advice on some kind of organic pest control - you know, something like (I'm guessing) garlic & chili spray; and when and how to apply for best results etc...

Any advice gratefully received. Thanks.

Thanks KK

We haven't had a problem until just recently... but cannot find any bugs... Mrs even did the 'spot light' torch check after dark just before I posted.

We've actually had something eat the whole head off all the cauli's - and also something eat all the leaves off the strawberries...

We know what cabbage moths are/do - but this is not that...


Thanks for the prompt reply - Cheers

^^^^
Thanks - we actually have a brood? of Maggies here - wife has been hand feeding them for a while - so long that they actually bring their young over...

My routing is, 5pm, a stubby and a kind eye...
I usually send an hour looking and squishing bugs while the sun goes down

Get a product called Eco-oil. It is a combination of canola oil,eucalyptus oil and tea tree oil.Mixed lightly with water and sprayed as a preventative once every fortnight or so keeps 97% of critters away.
I used it on a commercial flower farm so I know it works.

Legion said...

We find rats and possums sometimes eat the tops off things just for the sake of it.

yeah - we've had rats before, but haven't seen any for ages... suspect that they are the cauli bandits!!

And we occassionally have ducks on the front lawn... not sure how to heard them into the back yard vege patch tho'

Ted the Kiwi said...

We use broken up egg shells and they seem to work well - make sure you break them up extra small though - its like walking on glass for them. Garlic spray works in combination as well - although make sure you wash this off thoroughly before eating......especially on yr lettuce varieties it can really ruin a good salad!!!

+1 I allways use eggs shells and it works very very well for the crawling bugs

I have used the water that the washing machine pumps out with good results...not sure how organic it is though.....

GypsyDrifter said...

Legion said...

Plant a few chrysanthemums here and there in the vegie patch.

You can try diatemaceous earth, works to keep bugs down in the chicken area for us.

The problem with most forms of control are, there are plenty of good insects that will also be killed/scared away.

diatemaceous earth, Legion...!

I learnt something usefull today..Cheers!

Maybe it would've helped if I'd spelled "diatomaceous" properly though.

Thanks to everyone who replied - some good tips in there.

Mrs GPA is very surprised/pleased with the response from the SeaBreeze community...

(she thought it a little odd to post a vege garden question on a water sports site!)

PS - I have received better replies to various motoring/vehicle queries on here than via the 'proper' motoring forums - go SeaBreeze!!

Does anyone know if this is Cercospora leaf spot ?
It's on my silverbeet and beetroot
I have never come across it before

GypsyDrifter said...

Does anyone know if this is Cercospora leaf spot ?
It's on my silverbeet and beetroot
I have never come across it before

Hey - look for kk's post further up the page. I downloaded that doc.. it's very comprehensive and has a section on pests etc.

GPA

GPA said...

GypsyDrifter said...

Does anyone know if this is Cercospora leaf spot ?
It's on my silverbeet and beetroot
I have never come across it before

Hey - look for kk's post further up the page. I downloaded that doc.. it's very comprehensive and has a section on pests etc.

GPA

Wow! that Doc is beautiful, so comprehensive, gonna get into an Aquaponics setup soon, hope you work out your dillemas too GPA, I havent had much luck myself with organic pest control methods, but then again I most likely havent tried a wholistic approach, just picking and choosing arbitrarily what I thought would work, never the whole permacultural setup with all bases covered. Organic certification is whole different ballgame, good luck mate

GPA said...

^^^
Yeah - we FOUND the pest... kids' pet rabbit had found a way in... Mrs GPA saw her in there...

Not my fault - Mrs GPA was getting very upset with the loss of plants and was at a complete loss to explain it... we suspected rats - but in fact it was something bigger!

thats funny
for snails a ring of copper pipe works well if you pour lemon juice over it once in a while.

GPA said...

^^^
Yeah - we FOUND the pest... kids' pet rabbit had found a way in... Mrs GPA saw her in there...

Not my fault - Mrs GPA was getting very upset with the loss of plants and was at a complete loss to explain it... we suspected rats - but in fact it was something bigger!

awwww shucks...it was not neither of us

Just wanted to share...

I won $500 worth of ozito tools
for a garden comp this week..(found out this week)

I am looking forward to trying to figure out what I want to buy