Bug Talk

Today I went to Annie's Annuals in Richmond, CA for a talk on bugs by Annie Joseph who is a California Certified Nursery Professional and a master gardener and former pesticide company rep turned organic (at least with bugs).



I learned that when the temperature gets to be in to 70's (f) that's when aphids hatch, and about 2 weeks later the beneficial insect that eat them come out.

Spider mite and white fly outbreaks indicate an imbalance in the garden.

Products with imidacloprid (such as Bayer's Merit, or tree & shrub) stay in the plant for a long time and build up in the nectar, then when bees eat the nectar, they get confused and can't get back to their hives. it can also kills bees instantly if there is enough built up. check out biobees.com for more info.

Black beetles are OK they eat slugs!

If you fertilize with a fast release fertilizer with a lot of nitrogen, the plants grow fast, but that increases their suseptibility to insects as the cell walls are thinner from the fast growth.

Osmocote is a good fertilizer it releases slow and steady, also any organic fertilizer (Like down to earth).

If your dog likes to eat the stinky natural fertilizers, use liquid versions.

If you buy beneficial nematodes, refrigerate until use, then apply at dusk so they don't die in the sun.

for grasshoppers use insecticidal soap.

sluggo won't harm other animals like some slug products can.

the Safer yellowflag traps - use these to trap white flies, but DO NOT use near hummingbird attractors, as the birds will get stuck.

It was a pretty good talk, unfortunately, there were a few people who kept asking about non-pest management topics, so there wasn't enough time to go into detail about a lot of what Annie came to talk about. But what was covered was very informative.

Get more info about pests and managing them here:
http://www.ipm.ucdavis.com

Learn more about water and pesticide runoff here: http://www.ourwaterourworld.org/

Some suggested reading: