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Re: Intro (and something is eating my turnip greens)

Square Foot Gardening List - http://www.flinet.com/~gallus/sqft.html

Steve Reynolds wrote:
> 
> Square Foot Gardening List - http://www.flinet.com/~gallus/sqft.html
>
> Also, something is eating my turnip greens and radish leaves. I have
> lots of small holes in the leaves. Any suggestions?
> 
> Thanks in advance,
> Steve Reynolds
> Athens GA

Hi Steve,

I have had a similar problem here (in the Florida Panhandle) and wish
I knew what it was. Lost all my March-planted greens and radishes to
the critters.

It was a very small (about 1/4 inch long) dark gray or black worm(?)
or caterpillar(?) that was eating mine. I bought some BT and sprayed, 
and that seemed to stop them on a later batch of radishes, but I had 
to pull out all the others because they were so badly eaten they 
looked like I was growing a batch of lacy green doilies. 

I have no idea what this thing is, but I've seen a lot of flies around 
the garden that answer the book description of hover flies, which are
supposed to be beneficial, and wondered if they were the caterpillars
of this fly. I also noticed a few very small beetles, also about 1/4
inch long that jumped away quickly, and wondered if these were flea 
beetles and maybe this critter was their offspring. I just dunno.

Anyway, examine the underside and stems of all the leaves and see
if you have some of the black creatures attached.

I sprayed a newly emerging crop of greens that I replanted the last of
April with BT and haven't seen any damage. The other greens were
attacked almost from when they put out their first leaves.

BTW, I'm new to the list too, and to sq ft gardening, which I just
discovered this year. The advice to add coarse vermiculite to the soil
has been great for me; our sandy soil dries out so fast, and this seems
to really help slow down the drying.

So far, we've dug three 4' x 8' beds, one 2' x 2' bed (trench-method) 
surrounded by a 2' x 2' square trellis (I call it my cucumber tower,
although I've planted pole beans, butter beans, and cantaloupes in it),
one 1' x 10' trench for watermelons and squashes, and also 14 five-
gallon buckets with tomatoes and eggplants. Although I'm getting a late
start (for our area) in digging and planting my beds, I'm still pleased
to see developing tomatoes, peppers, squashes, bulb red onions, and maybe
even some tiny cantaloupes, plus we've been eating our fill of lettuce, 
sorrel, scallions, and various herbs for salads. I'm amazed at what this
method of gardening can do, even here in buggy, disease-prone Florida, 
and I've only just begun!

Carolyne
Upper zone 9 (or perhaps lower zone 8) in NW Florida

-- 
Abuse a man unjustly, and you will make friends for him. 
~ Edgar Watson Howe


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