Protecting My First Outdoor Crop

[DemonTrich]

Personally I would.be spraying a 6' radius arpund my garden area. And move them.away from.any trees or vegetation. Any bugs in said area will welcome your plants as an awesome food.source.

For ground, platform and pots, check the IPM threads for the mixes. I don't remember what I or others make and use. For plants, if spray at the very least neem. Spinosad foliar sprays as well. Alternate every 4 days for a few weeks.

 

[Gardenholic]

Personally I would.be spraying a 6' radius arpund my garden area. And move them.away from.any trees or vegetation. Any bugs in said area will welcome your plants as an awesome food.source.

For ground, platform and pots, check the IPM threads for the mixes. I don't remember what I or others make and use. For plants, if spray at the very least neem. Spinosad foliar sprays as well. Alternate every 4 days for a few weeks.

Thanks for the tips! I started clearing out the ferns and other vegetation from around the plants today. I also caged them with 2"x4" mesh welded wire fencing. The 50 foot roll was exactly enough to do all four cages and tops.

I stapled about 90% of the cage directly to the platform with an ample amount of staples, leaving myself about 16"'of working room when I need to get in to feed or water.

I still haven't sprayed anything, but I need to act fast because they are budding quickly and I don't want to lose the crop to bugs, but I also don't want to spray anything that may harm
the baby mantids that hatched about a week ago.

 

[DemonTrich]

Found this the other day and thought of you OD growers. Nice big and tall fence.

 

[jumpincactus]

Well, I guess I'm not going to spray anything else on them after all. The mantis eggs I received as a gift finally hatched, and I've noticed more wasps and lady bugs hanging around than usual.View attachment 730435View attachment 730436View attachment 730437View attachment 730438

The baby Mantids are tiny, but I can count 9 or 10 of them, and they've been hanging around on the plants for a couple days now.

I haven't spotted nearly as many caterpillars around either.

On a side note, should I worry about red ants?

Red ants arent really a huge threat, although they are an indicator that you may have aphid honeydew that they are seeking out. They love aphid poop it is a delicacy to them. :D