[J-Rod]

Okay, well it's not that big, I am still in the city. But I figured that I would get started, the knowledge will carry wherever I end up. I think everything is going great, the only pests are birds and ants eating my strawberries, and now a new infestation, what appears to be red and green aphids.



I do *not* want to use any pesticides. I would prefer some type of method that will be available in the low energy world. I have tried blowing diatomaceous earth on them, to no avail. A guy at work said to try some soapy water, would that work?

Here's the site that has all the progress from when I started from a patch of lawn this May.

http://jrodder.googlepages.com/gardenproject

For anyone living in Ohio that never gardened before, the clay is fierce. I forked down a good 10-12", and pulled up what you can see in one of the pics. You better have lots of good organic matter to incorporate!

[mlit]

I have heard the soap trick often but haven't tried it. I believe it leaves a film that tastes bad.

[J-Rod]

It's not fruiting yet, that's why I still was considering it. Thanks for the input.

[mlit]

I should have worded that tastes bad to the aphids, simple soap would wash off and should be reapplied after rain if aphids keep coming.

[strider3700]

soap will work for a small infestation like that. I've also heard of garlic and chillie power mixed with water that they didn't like. Can't say I blame them.

[mlit]

garlic and chillie That you wouldn't have to wash off before eating Just dip in some butter and eat.

[J-Rod]

Considering most of those tomatoes are for salsa and tomato sauce, it wouldn't be bad at all. Might wreak havoc on the salads though, the wife would kill me.

[cynicalheretic]

I part vinegar, 1 Part chili powder 5 parts water.

Works everytime

[strider3700]

heh it will wash right off just fine. You should be washing all of your fruit and vegetables before eating anyways. Even if you didn't use pesticides/chemicals.

[J-Rod]

Yeah of course I was joking. Chili powder, hmmm. I have some Dave's Insanity Sauce, maybe I'll try mixing some of that in a spray solution, with some vinegar for good measure.

[katkinkate]

Also white oil will work. It suffocates them. You can make your own with vegetable oil and water, shake vigorously in the spray bottle and spray while the oil droplets are still really small. You need more water than oil

[Grifter]

Planting corriander near the plants really does work. I tried it this year. 1 pot in the mini greenhouse and the plants are aphid free. The ones outside are minimally affected.

I've heard making a tea out of rhubarb leaves works, I haven't tried it though. The soapy water thing works but needs morning and evening spraying constantly. Thats my experience anyway.

[Grautr]

hi,
I have succesfully used a mixture of garlic and tobacco to remove spidermite infestations so that might also work for you.

[Grifter]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Grautr', 'h')i,
I have succesfully used a mixture of garlic and tobacco to remove spidermite infestations so that might also work for you.

[J-Rod]

I'll have to remember to try coriander next time, I hadn't heard of that one. It's a good idea that should be usuable even in low energy environments. I'm gonna try the Dave's for now, and let you know the results. If that doesn't work I plan on trying the white oil trick. Thanks for the responses. I'll update the site with the fruiting pics if anyone cares to see!

[napoleon]

Nice that you have a garden.

Does you neighbor know you havea garden?

Do you have a gun to protect your garden?

[basil_hayden]

Neighbors have gardens, too.

Who needs guns with well designed booby traps?

[jboogy]

nice start j-rod, i been using sevin,savin? but some of these organic pesticide ideas sound like they might be worth a try. I was lucky with my soil, even though southwest georgia is full of red clay I seem to have a good four or five inches of topsoil on top of it. my biggest problem has been birds eating the blueberries as they ripen. if you plan on enlarging you might want to see about getting a truckload of horse or cow manure delivered and investing in a 6 or 7 horse rear-tine rototiller.i started sweating just thinking about turning clay by hand(although i could use the exercise)my heirloom seeds performed crappily the second year, i went hybrid this year, i figure seeds will be available no matter what goes down in the future

[J-Rod]

Luckily we have good organic resources around here, (It *is* Ohio after all) I have tilled in manually all that good mulch I pictured, as well as about 4 bags of pastuerized cow manure. I think the soil has a pretty good consistency now, it holds water as well as it drains. If I was here for a few years, I bet it wouldn't be too hard to get some nice black looking stuff.

I recently had to buy some fish emulsion, as my peppers were looking dire, and I also used some wood ash around them. They have picked up quite nicely now. After I deal with the aphids, I think I'll have a nice crop. In retrospect, I should have planted the onions first, then the tomatoes to get them to mature at the same time, looks like I'll be ending up with a ton of onions and no good ideas to use them for, considering the wife hates them.

[Grifter]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('jboogy', 'm')y heirloom seeds performed crappily the second year, i went hybrid this year, i figure seeds will be available no matter what goes down in the future