Iron Phosphate for Slug Control

Iron Phosphate is safe for animals. We just got a new puppy and she eats everything in the yard. I am noticing great success with using IP. It works in pellet form and has good lasting ability in rain. The slug eats it and it disrupts their digestion. They stop eating and die.

I notice my cabbages have a lot less holes. This takes 3 or 4 days to kill the slugs. Its worth picking up some at the store or ordering it. Use it before you see damage. Along with Sevin and BT, I just added IP as a standard.

How to Build a Hot-House Tomato Cage: In Pictures/A Slideshow

Check this link for the full article  How to Build a Hot-House Tomato Cage

Jump Start Zukes, Cukes and Squashes.

Looks like April is fooling us. Don't count out a day or two of light frost. Make sure you have a plan for protecting your tomatoes and peppers if you planted.


As for your zucchini, squashes and cucumbers... you can get a jump start now. Fill up 8 oz to 12 oz cups or containers with a good quality soil. Make sure there are holes in the bottom for drainage. Damp soil will kill the seeds. Drop one seed 1/2 inch depth or so into the center of the cup and sit them outside.

By the time mid May arrives and the warm days are here to stay, you'll have a good 2 - 3 weeks jump. You can transplant them right to your garden as soon as frost is gone for the spring. This will lead to a quicker yield.

If there is a light frost before germination don't worry about it. If the plants are up and leaved, you'll have to cover them our bring them in if it's a night of frost.

Gardener For Hire

Hello,

It is that time of year again. Spring is here and is the perfect time to build and plant a garden. I am for hire to build a 4ft x 8ft raised plot in your yard, if you'd like a garden but don't feel like breaking ground. Don't let another summer go by with the thought I should of...

I will be having my annual tomato, peppers, herbs and vegetable plant sale this year. Plants will be available April 24th through June 15th. Ill send out emails and update my garden blog with details. You can join the blog if you'd like. It's just about basic gardening. http://therustedgarden.blogspot.com/ I will also have hostas, annuals and other flowers. Plants range from $1 to $3.

This year I am offering to build you a raised bed plot the measures 4ft x 8ft. This is a raised bed garden that looks just like the plots in my yard. Feel free to come by and see them for some garden ideas. You can also read my article at this link and it details everything you need to know about a raised bed vegetable garden (with pictures). http://knol.google.com/k/how-to-create-a-raised-bed-vegetable-garden

The cost is $180 per 4ft x 8ft plot. Ill pick up the supplies, build the frame, turn the earth and raise the soil to 2 inches below the top of the frame. It will be ready to plant that day. All you need is a location that gets 6 hours of sun. Don't let the hardest part of growing vegetables stop you this year. Feel free to send me an email and Ill be glad to come over and help you plan the garden.

Gary

Lime to Fight Tomato Blights

I read (possible folk-lore) that blights are associated with low lime levels. Well not lime but all the things lime has in it. So what the heck.  I am going to take a 4 foot by 8 foot raised bed and shock it with 2 - 40 pound bags of lime this weekend. That will give me 4 to 6 weeks of the soil sitting with lime. This bed did have some blight last year.

I trypically treat blight by...

1) water without spalshing
2) cutting the bottom leaves up by 1-2 feet
3) pruning leaves that show and sign of blight
4) spraying with a wettable sulpher and epson spray I make.
5) heavily mulching with grass clippings.

It keep the plants alive but they still get harmed.

So I am thinking doing those 5 things with drastically changing the PH of the soil and mineral content might work.

We will see.