What Are Cabbage Maggots?

The cabbage maggot is a bright milky white and is soft-bodied. They are usually found in clusters at the roots of the plant. Each cabbage worm grows to be about 1/3 inches long. The cabbage maggot attacks the root of the plant causing channels to from in them. A plant that has been damaged by a cabbage caterpillar will slimy or brown in the damaged area. The plant will slowly start to wilt  and will eventually die.

Cabbage maggots prefer moist weather and presently thrive in the United States due to optimal weather conditions. The adult cabbage caterpillar is a fly and closely resembles a common house fly. However like in most other cabbage pests, it is the cabbage worm rather than the cabbage fly that causes damage to the plants.

Other Commonly Found Cabbage Pests

Other cabbage pests that may damage crops are the cabbage looper, the imported cabbage worm, cross striped cabbage worm, the cabbage moth.

• The cabbage looper is light green in color and moves in a looping motion. These particular cabbage pests are found on the under side of the leaves and feed mostly on the leaf veins. They slowly chew their way to the centre causing great damage to the plant.
• The imported cabbage worm has larvae that are velvety green with a thin white stripe. The imported cabbage worm causes similar damage to the loopers but feed closer to the centre of the plant. Larger larva can cause great damage to the plant.
• The larva of the cross striped cabbage worm is bluish grey in color with black stripes across its back. In addition it has yellow and black stripe running across on each side of its body. The cross striped cabbage worm feeds on all tender parts of the plant but prefer terminal buds. These cabbage pests are also found in clusters.
• The cabbage moth has larvae that are lime green, small, spindle-shaped and have a forked tail. The adult cabbage moth has a small grayish brown body with folded wings. The larvae cause damage to buds

It should be kept in mind that at most of times it is the cabbage caterpillar that causes more damage than the adult cabbage moth. Thus it is important to start damage control at an early stage.

Cabbage Disease Caused By Cabbage Pests

The presence of cabbage pests can lead to a number of cabbage diseases that can be very harmful for the crop. The cabbage caterpillar and the looper cause holes in the leaves that lead to the plant starving and eventually dying. Cabbage maggots that affect the roots of the plant cause the leaves to wilt.

The plants of the cabbage family are affected by other cabbage diseases as well, that may not be caused by cabbage pests. These are:

• damping- of ( where the seedling dies)
• bacterial soft rot ( leaves turn yellow starting at the edges)
• leaf spots ( brown lesions appear on the leaves)
• black rot ( leaves turn yellow or brown)

Control of Cabbage Pests and Cabbage Disease

It is important to pick off the larvae of cabbage worms as soon as they appear as it is the larvae that cause the most amount of damage to the plant. In-furrow application of insecticides may give some respite from cabbage maggots. Soil insecticides may also be used to prevent and control the spread of cabbage worms and caterpillars.

Plant disease and garden pests are despised by every gardener so whether it is cabbage worms that worry you or pests in the form of garden weeds, control them actively before they start taking over your garden.

Reference:

1. Cabbage Insects – University of Kentucky Entomology
2. Cabbage Maggot – Government of Alberta, Agriculture and Rural Development

Why Practice Organic Sustainable Gardening?

Food items grown practicing organic sustainable gardening are richer in vitamins and minerals because the soil has more healthy living organisms. Sustainable gardening is nothing new but just a recapitulation of the process gardeners have been using for ages together with some innovative practices. Cultivating a garden with sustainable ideas is a holistic approach drawing its outlines from environmental needs, biological science and more.

Organic Ingredients While Environmental Gardening

In order to get the best results from environmental gardening and create a sustainable garden, using organic ingredients is important.

• Choose pest resistant plants and mulch all uncovered soil for water retention, improving the soil quality and to control weeds.
• If any fertilizer is needed beyond compost use organic ingredients only, like aged manure.
• Try to prevent diseases and insect problems in your sustainable garden but once infected use least toxic methods such as biological or physical barriers like bait traps and water sprays. Remove slugs by hand and use baking soda for treating powdery mildew.

Watering While Organic Sustainable Gardening

Water conservation and careful watering are important sustainable ideas and essential when setting up a sustainable garden.

• Group plants with similar water needs and water directly to the roots by hand or using drip irrigation.
• Use rain barrels to conserve water while environmental gardening.
• Choose drought tolerant plants and weed regularly as weeds compete for water and will not create the ideal sustainable garden.
• Plant ground covers to minimize bare soil while sustainable gardening.

Sustaining Yourself While Conservation Gardening

A sustainable garden is an ideal spot that cannot be created in any way unless the gardener takes it on himself to do so by employing conservation gardening methods. By choosing easy-to-grow plants and mulching, a great burden will be taken off the sustainable garden owner. Further, it is most important to enjoy your sustainable ideas to create the ideal sustainable garden.

What To Remember While Conservation Gardening

When attempting to create a sustainable garden with sustainable ideas, it is important to keep a few tips in mind:

• Build a nutrient rich soil that will produce strong and healthy plants in your sustainable garden. Organic matter of the soil can be increased by adding compost, green manures, aged animal manures or peat moss.
• Do not let plants get too wet, dry and dehydrated or allow them to become too hot or shaded while conservation gardening.
• Practice environmental gardening by rotating the plants so that pests may not destroy a large section on the sustainable garden.
• Design your sustainable garden in such a way that it complements needs of birds, plants and mammals and you as well.

What To Grow While Organic Sustainable Gardening

The good news is that many landscape roses can be grown in a sustainable garden. They are beautiful plants and are so disease resistant that they require no spraying. The Knockout rose and Flower Carpet Rose are varieties that can easily be grown and are excellent sustainable ideas.

What is really encouraging about sustainable gardening is that it is for the small budget gardener. It is low-maintenance as well as low-drudgery gardening. So once you are aware of the basics, get started with your own sustainable garden.

References:

1. Sustainable Gardening – Sustainable Gardening
2. Sustainable Gardening – Sustainable Gardening Australia

Getting Rid of Weeds

Garden weeds cannot be eliminated entirely, but can be controlled. Even grass weeds that are difficult to eradicate can be conquered if you persist. Annual weeds will die in numbers if you continue the weed killing process by doing away with the seedlings before they flower and shed more seeds. When the population of weeds have been reduced, to keep controlling weeds mulching and prompt removal of garden weed seedlings that do appear will keep the garden almost weed free. Controlling and getting rid of weeds is a long battle, which will last a couple of season rather than a few weeks if the garden has been neglected.

How To Get Rid Of Weeds Without Chemicals

While garden weeds are annoying and harmful, it is even more harmful to use chemicals for weed gardening. So how to get rid of weeds without chemicals in a non toxic way?

• Most seeds reproduce by means of corns and bulblets, which remain on the soil even after the main plant has been removed and this makes weed gardening and weed killing an ongoing task.
• Pulling out weeds by hand is one of the best ways of controlling weeds. This can however be a very long process of getting rid of garden and grass weeds. Even then you may never completely be able to eradicate the garden weeds.
• Try and remove all types of garden weeds while they are still young, well before they have started to set seed and you will cut down on time spent weed killing.
• A garden that is well mulched is very good in keeping down garden weed growth. Different types of mulches can be used such as, organic mulch such as compost, pine bark chips or peats. Non- organic mulches, such as black plastic placed between vegetables or stones can be very effective.
• It is said that pouring boiling water on garden weeds is a good way of controlling weeds as it will kill the weeds as well as the seeds. Just be careful not to get any on you, or on the plants that you want to keep.
• Undiluted vinegar is another good choice for killing weeds. Put it in a spray bottle and use on weeds, being careful not to get any spray on your plants as it can also kill them.
• If you are the type of person that makes your own compost, never add old garden weeds with seed heads to the heap. These seeds may not be dead and will germinate again in your garden. Commercial compost is fairly weed free. When compost is mixed with farm manure it can be full of garden and grass weeds. This can add weeds that you did not have to your garden. It is for this reason that weed free, sterilized compost is the best bet if you are having problems controlling weeds.

Weed Gardening – Applying Weedkillers

If weed killing without chemicals is not quite working out, you might have nothing left to do but apply weedkillers for weed gardening and kill those garden weeds.When using weedkiller for controlling weeds however, it should be done with great care.

• Make sure you have the correct type of weedkiller needed for controlling weeds in your garden.
• Decide whether you want to use a sprayer or spot-treat the garden weeds with a paintbrush or special applicator. Remember to only use the sprayer on windless days, if not the spray can find itself on other plants and damage them. Spot treating can be extremely time consuming if you have a number of garden weeds. Spot treating however is the safer weed killing option.
• Keep children and pets off the lawn for a couple of days or longer after using the chemicals for getting rid of weeds.
• When using a systemic herbicide for controlling weeds, the weeds are not killed off immediately; it can take a week or more to wither. Always use a separate sprayer for herbicides. If the sprayer is used for feeding or applying pesticides, the herbicide residue can damage garden plants. This can happen even though you have washed the sprayer thoroughly.

Weed killing and controlling weeds can be a painful and backbreaking task but if you really want your garden to remain healthy, it is important that you keep at it and do your best at getting rid of weeds.

References:

1. Controlling weeds in your lawn and garden – The Garden Helper
2. Control Weeds in the Garden and Landscape – Purdue University Consumer Horticulture

Clay Drainage vs Sand Drainage

One of the most important questions about improving drainage is what sort of soil should be used in your garden. Is sand drainage better than clay drainage for improving drainage in your garden? Clay soil is probably what you are most likely to find in your garden. Heavy clay soil can be better for garden drainage due to the fact that it can retain nutrients and moisture, and the roots are steadier. The problem with sandy soil drainage however is, when free draining, water and nutrients are often leached out, the structure is not as steady as that of the heavy clay soil. As a result, clay drainage often proves to be a better choice for improving drainage. It is important to understand the nature of the soil you will be using in order to create a perfect garden.

Improving Drainage – Poor Heavy Clay Drainage

When improving drainage for your garden, these tips might come in handy.

• Organic matter is usually the best answer to poor heavy clay drainage. The best material to use is rotted garden compost or farmyard manure. This should be done yearly by digging into the ground, the best time to do this is in autumn.
• Bulky organic matter is good for improving drainage and open up heavy clay.
• Peat and bark are the best as mulches and do a good job of improving the soil surface.
• Always remember to use as much material as possible for better garden drainage.
• If you have a large patch to cover, it is best that you concentrate on one area before moving on to the rest of the area if your material is limited. You will not get the same effect if you try and cover the entire area at once, you will see the benefits of this as time goes on.

Sandy Soil – Improving Poor Soil Drainage

When you are working with sandy soil steps need to be taken in order to increase the water holding capacity for better garden drainage. The reason for this is that sandy soil quickly loses any nutrients that they are given. Digging in plenty of compost is a very effective solution for improving drainage; however never dig deeper than the depth of one spade (25cm to 30 cm). Deep digging will open up the soil even more allowing water and nutrients to escape. The best time for digging is when you are ready for planting; always make sure that the soil is firm after digging or planting.

Poor Soil Drainage – Identify Badly Drained Soil

Very few plants can thrive with poor soil drainage. Certain plants such as vlei and marsh require the ground to be wet in order to thrive and the majority of garden plants cannot thrive if the ground is too wet and therefore improving drainage is vital. Badly drained soil  can be easily identified as it is:

• infertile, which means it is lacking in important soil nutrients
• lacks air
• has reduced bacterial activity which will slow down decomposition and the release of nutrients into the soil.

Soil drainage is a very important aspect of gardening as it not only ensures proper growth of plants but will also prevent dehydration of plants and ensure that your plants receive the right amount of nutrients and water.

Reference:

1. Prepare different soils – Garden Advice