Garden Tips 

Here are some things I have learned and found helpful.

Because of our high heat and humidity, pests start hatching early in the season here in Fl. I am already starting to see them now in April. The best thing we can do is start early with prevention.

Plant eating worm

By spraying a product containing BTK, or Spinosad in the beginning of the season or as soon as you see evidence of pests we can prevent infestations. They are both natural occurring bacteria that the worms eat and get sick and die. It does not kill other bugs and is harmless to people and animals. There are different forms of BT and Spinosad so read the ingredients and directions. It will kill butterfly caterpillars so if you want them around, don;t use it. But remember while they are caterpillars, they eat your veggies! I try to avoid using anything except my Homemade Insect Spray , but I have started spraying Outbound as a preventative and have had great results and better crops. Worms are usually out just before and after the sun comes up. Go out early to pick them off. Look for curled leaves and inside is where they lay their eggs and turn into worms while eating their way out. Of course destroy all the worms you find. I am now offering Outbound (for worms and pest control ) from GreenWorld Path along with Total fertilizer, Total Plus with urea nitrogen, Eco Plus a fungicide and soil builder and Hydrolyzed Fish fertilizer. I have all of these available at the Hernando County Farmers Market every Saturday or at my farm by appointment. For more on pests see my Insect damage and control chart.

 Keep an eye on weather forecasts.

protect plants

We have a lot of storms with damaging rain and wind.

Support crops with stakes, cages, ties or whatever you can to prevent breakage.

For seedlings use containers, plastic bottles or row covers. It may take extra time, but it is time well spent!

For better fruit and veggies try to keep any obstacles out of their way.

grow straight carrots

If a cucumber for example isn’t hanging right it will curve. A tomato that grows into the cage wire will crease. My Marconi peppers since they are long sometimes run into their supports and curve, in that curve I usually always find a cocoon of some type. They make good homes for bugs. Carrots are another that will twist curve, makes them very hard to peel plus they don’t grow to the length or width they should.  Make sure the soil is free of large debris like clumps and undecomposed matter to help the carrots grow straight.      

Be careful not to splash the leaves with water or soil.

Thats why it is not good to water with over head sprinklers. I know it seems like it would be naturally okay, “rain is good”. For some plants getting the leaves wet isn’t too bad but most of the time especially

Drip irrigation

here in FL.with our high heat and humidity it causes mildews and blights. Splashing soil on the plants is worse. Soil is where the bugs come from. When the wet soil gets on the leaves so do bugs and disease. One way to avoid it is mulching with hay (organic of course), or having a drip system irrigation.  The mulch is good even with a drip because heavy rain splashes the soil onto the plants and the hay keeps the soil in place. You should always trim off leaves that touch the soil or mulch to avoid contamination.