The strawberries as of today. The heat really beat on them. I lost a few and when I pulled them up they had virtually no roots.
Digging around in the dirt under the plants I found these. Grubs love to feed on roots so maybe I will try spraying the beds with beneficial nematodes. These are very small "worms" that feed on soil dwelling pests like grubs.
I got six watermelons from the vines so far. They have been some of the best I have grown. I trimmed back the vines today. I was going to pull them up but since I picked all the melons the vines began sending out new runners which started to flower. Maybe I'll get some more melons.
The sweet potatoes seem to be loving the heat as they really look healthy.
With the wind and heat a lot of the peppers broke. The birds pecked on them and the eggplants quit producing much. I still got several eggplants and a few bags of peppers. We diced and froze many and gave away more. The eggplants I breaded and baked and ate with spaghetti sauce instead of pasta.
I think I am going to pull up the peppers and replant a few in cages. Also put a frame around the bed and use the shade cloth to see if it helps the peppers and eggplant.
My butternut squash looks about ready to pick.
The fig bush has a few that are almost ripe.
I fertilized the strawberries and melon vines this morning. I use Alaska fish emulsion and Maxicrop dried seaweed for liquid fertilizer. I put about 1 tsp of Maxicrop and 2 -3 tbsp fish emulsion for every 2 gallons in the watering can.
For pesticides I use Thuricide which is derived from Bacillus thuringiensis. It is effective against caterpillars only. Once they eat anything sprayed with it they quit feeding and die.
Monterey Garden insect spray uses a bacteria that is effective on caterpillars and many other chewing insects. It is derived from Spinosad, a naturally occurring soil dwelling bacterium called Saccharopolyspora spinosa.
Serenade I started using this year. It is a disease control using another bacteria Bacillus subtilis (QST713 strain).
I found it to be very effective on my tomatoes.
The Garden Dust pictured I used because I had a massive outbreak of flea beatles which were destroying my eggplants and really damaging the tomatoes. It uses sulfur and copper for diseases and pyrethrins for bugs. It controlled the beatles until the plants matured.
The Rotenone-Pyrethrins concentrate I only use if I have too. It is a neurotoxin which is pretty powerful.
Rotenone is a natural plant derived substance contained in the stems and roots of certain tropical plants, such as the Jewel Vine or Flame tree (Derris Spp.), or Lacepod (Lonchocarpus spp.) which grow in Malaysia, East Indies and Peru. Rotenone is not a stable compound and breaks down when exposed to light, heat, oxygen and alkaline water. Rotenone has a longer residual life than most botanicals and is effective for about a week. Ultimately, rotenone breaks down into two common substances; carbon dioxide and water.
Pyrethrum is also a natural plant derived substance that comes from the chrysanthemum "painted daisy," which is primarily grown for production in Kenya, Ecuador, Rwanda and Tanzania. It is an primarily an extract from the seeds in the flower head.
Rotenone is an insect stomach and contact poison. Insects are killed by being deprived of oxygen to the tissue cells. It takes about 2-3 days to kill insects. It is toxic to fish.
Pyrethrum can kill insects rapidly at very low concentrations. It has what is known as a fast "knockdown." Generally flying insects are killed quickly. Pyrethrum is also toxic to fish.
Lastly if I must I will use Sevin. When fire ants invade they can destroy plants overnight. Sometimes the only way to get rid of them is a small dose of Sevin.
Though I try to be as organic as possible I feel that losing a crop is unacceptable if at all possible. Things like Sevin and some chemical fertilizers are kind of like taking pharmaceuticals. You don't want to live off them but use them when needed.
