Garden Wisdom Blog — category: Insects Pests and Diseases
Planting to Attract Predatory Insects
category: Articles and Instructions category: Garden Resources category: Insects Pests and Diseases
Planting to attract predatory insects is one of the key tactics for pest control in an organic garden system. Insects, like plants, come in all shapes and sizes, and play many different roles in the environment as well as in your garden. As sure as some insects are pests others are positively beneficial.
About Milkweed
category: Flower Talk category: Insects Pests and Diseases monarch-butterflies
All butterflies (including moths), as well as a wide range of bees, flies, beetles, and even hummingbirds, will feed on the nectar-heavy flowers of all milkweed varieties. The Monarch, however, seeks milkweed out on which to lay her eggs. Monarch caterpillars require milkweed to feed on prior to pupating, and they tend not to thrive when presented with alternative food sources. Planting milkweed is thought to be the number one step North American gardeners can do to help the endangered Monarch.
Bumble Bees: An Interview with Brian Campbell
bees category: Insects Pests and Diseases
We like to make distinctions that do not exist in the natural world. Bees are descended from wasps and are so closely related we should think of them as wasps with good PR. So, the next time someone says bees are good and wasps are bad please correct them.
Blossom End Rot in Tomatoes
calcium category: Articles and Instructions category: Garden Resources category: Insects Pests and Diseases how-to-grow irrigation prevention tomato
Blossom end rot is one of the most common complaints for tomato growers, particularly on plants grown in containers. It’s a complex problem that results from calcium not being available to the plants as the ovary at the base of the flower is fertilized and begins to develop into a tomato. It is very typical in plants that are in soil that is alternately dry and then wet. That fluctuation means that even if calcium is present, it is not consistently available to the plant. Another contributing factor is the use of high nitrogen fertilizers, which cause rapid growth, placing...
Save The Rusty-Patched Bumble Bee
bee blend bee turf bees blog category: Articles and Instructions category: Garden Resources category: Garden Wisdom category: Insects category: Insects Pests and Diseases
Save The Rusty-Patched Bumble Bee West Coast Seeds recently launched the hashtag #savetherustypatchbumblebee across our social media platforms including Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. We have been encouraging our followers to re-share our post and tag a friend in an effort to attract awareness to this endangered pollinator. An Endangered Species The rusty-patched bumblebee was officially declared endangered in the United States in March 2017. Now on the brink of extinction, this beloved pollinator’s population has dissipated by nearly 90% over the past twenty years. Pesticides, loss of habitat and climate change are just some of the threatening factors which are...
