Re: CULT:Beneficial insects
- Subject: Re: [iris-talk] CULT:Beneficial insects
- From: B* S*
- Date: Fri, 05 Apr 2002 09:27:39 -0500
> So far as I know, there is no evidence that planting garlic deters any
> pests, including spider mites. Unfortunately, while there is often a lot of
> value in folk wisdom, there is also a lot of nonsense.
>
> One year the sparrows were eating the first shoots from my snap pea planting.
> As soon as leaves appered they would strip them off. I took the leaves off
> some Egyptian onions and scattered them around the peas. No more sparrows. Did
> it once a week for three weeks. The next year I planted garlic with them. No
> sparrows bothered them.
I was referring to insect pests and PLANTING garlic. Garlic can be
repellent to vertebrates, including some birds and rodents. Garlic (along
with other things) is often an ingredient in a spray recommended to deter
mice, deer and rabbits, although there is no hard evidence it is the
effective ingredient.
Sprouted seeds are very attractive to birds, especially crows and
blackbirds, because the starches in the seeds have been convereted into
sugars that can provide high energy food at a time when it is sorely needed.
While the smell of onions might deter some birds, these species "hunt" by
sight and have poor senses of taste and smell.
Bill Shear
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