Bugs are eating my vegetable garden?
Question:I am new at gardening, this is only my second year. Last year a flood destroyed the whole yard in mid july, in the begining of this season I was fighting with the groundhogs and bunnies and now the bugs! They are eating all of my chinese cabbage and lettuce. What can I do? I don't want to use chemicals on my food but does anything else actually work? I have a good garden book that has some homemade recipes but these didn't seem to have much effect. Any sugestions would be very appreciated! Thanks
Answers:
insecticidal soap, Available at any home and garden store. its organic.
Just make sure you rinse off your vegetables thoroughly before consuming them.
An organic way- use an empty milk jug with the top two inches cut off. Place a banana peel in it with 1 cup of sugar and 1 cup of vinegar. Place a few in your garden- more if it is large.
I agree with Just Me..., insecticidal soap will do the trick.
Crystal, welcome to gardening. You didn't say what kind of bugs are eating your plants, so try this. Mix up a soapy (not detergent, bar soap chips) with a teaspoon of black molasses in a sprayer filled with water. Shake it up and spray it on the bugs. It will kill them- really. They have no resistance. You should also was your plants regularly with a powerful spray from the lawn hose. It knocks them off the plants and keeps the plants clean.
Get some DE diatamaceous earth it is completely non toxic you can even sprinkle it on pets food to kill internal parasites, it absorbs all the moisture out of bugs bodies leaving only an exoskeleton ,keeps on working unless rain washes away look for it in garden centers or feed stores, it is a powder good luck from Texas
Plant marigolds around the entire perimeter of the garden and intersperse them throughout the rows a little.
The "bitter" aroma repels most bad bugs.
Also occasionally buy and release ladybugs.
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