Agriculture Reference
In-Depth Information
Walk through your smoothie garden and observe your plants every
day or once every few days. It's often easier to treat a problem you
spot in the early stages before it can spread to other plants or areas
of your garden. Before you make a diagnosis, inspect the leaves,
blossoms, stems, roots, and surrounding soil. Look for any wilting,
distortion, discoloration, holes, eggs, spots, and insects on the
leaves. Check the blossoms and fruit for any discoloration, holes,
spots, premature dropping, lack of fruiting, and insects or eggs.
Study the stems at soil level or slightly below the soil to look for
growths such as cankers or galls, wilting, stunted or spindly growth,
sticky coating, and eggs or insects on the stem or in the soil around
the base of the plant. This information will help you determine if
there are any pests on the plant or in the immediate area.
Smoothie Garden Solution
Attracting birds to your garden can be one way to keep the
unwanted pests under control. Provide a home for birds by placing
a birdhouse in a nearby tree. Offer pools of water at ground level
for the birds to play in. They do not like their baths too deep; one
inch of water is sufficient.
If you have a pest problem in your vegetable garden, it can often
be handled by handpicking, trapping insects, or spraying plants with
organic remedies. Removing an infected plant can also stop the
spread of a disease. If the plant is very diseased, pull it and check
the roots for discoloration, decay, eggs, distortions, and insects.
Always place diseased plants into a garbage bag as soon as you pull
them. This will help keep the problem from spreading throughout
your whole garden.
