Identifying Slug and Snail Damage: Using Iron Phosphate to Effectively Kill and Manage Snails and Slugs

Identifying Slug and Snail Damage: 

Using Iron Phosphate to Effectively Kill and Manage Snails and Slugs

Slugs and snails are common in most gardens. They love leafy greens. They come out with the warming spring rains. I found the best way to manage them is with Iron Phosphate baited pellets. It can be used in organic gardens.

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I had such a problem that anything green would be destroyed.I had small snails that would chew 100's of holes in plants like Chinese Cabbage and Bok Choy. The larger slugs would make large holes in my Kohlrabi and Cabbages. The cabbage heads would form and I would find many many small snails in them.

Iron Phosphate is so effective, I forget I have a problem. As long as I use it regularly, I notice little, if any damage. I use it about every 2 weeks and I don't over sprinkle/concentrate it around the garden. A nice light broadcasting of the pellets is all you need.

Good Luck with Your Garden,
Gary (The Rusted Garden)

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Compost Tea Does Not Create More Fertilizer (This is What it Does)

Compost Tea Does Not Create More Fertilizer (This is What it Does)

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I will be making videos on some of the myths we hear and on the silly prices we are being charged for organic fertilizers. So you can each be informed and decide how you want to use something in your garden.

Compost tea does not create fertilizer. Fertilizer comes from elements. You can't create an element like Nitrogen, Phosphorous or Potassium. That is you can't grow it in a tea. If you could we would grow gold. Same idea.

Compost tea is really nothing more than seeping the elements from compost into a liquid. So if you put in a shovel full of compost, you won’t get any more N P or K than is already in the shovel full of compost. Therefore compost tea does have some very weak fertilizer it. For the sake of straight fertilizing you are better off just put the compost around the plant.

Compost tea can grow soil bacteria at a high rate. By adding in sugar, typically unsulfured molasses, along with an aeration stone… you can grow billions of soil microbes. Some people feel the microbes block plant pathogens from getting on the leaves. I do not know if this is true but I tend to think it is not. You simply pour the tea on the leaves.

So why do people swear by compost tea as a fertilizer and preach about the benefits. Well, it doesn’t hurt number one. It has some fertilizer in it from the compost. But the significant change they really see comes from the billions of microbes they pour into the soil.

The hungry microbes want to eat. They do their job by chowing down organic matter and changing it into a fertilizer form your plants can readily use and absorb. The bacteria speed up the breakdown of your organic matter and create lots of N, P and K. The plants suck it in and grow.

You are not really adding fertilizer to your plant. You are adding billions of soil bacteria that attack the organic matter and leave behind waste the plants love. This has a pro of greening up your plants. It also has a con of more quickly going through the organic matter. Nature moves at a pace that slowly breaks down organic matter and thus delivers an even supply to the plants over the season.

The bottom line is to keep organic matter moving into the garden. Compost is a great way to add free matter and thus fertilizer to your garden.

Good Luck with Your Garden,
Gary (The Rusted Garden)

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(2 of 9) Growing Tomatoes & Peppers: Acclimation (to Sun), Fertilizing, Cup Transplanting Peppers

(2 of 9) Growing Tomatoes & Peppers: 

Acclimation (to Sun), Fertilizing, Cup Transplanting Peppers 

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This is a 9 part series that takes you from seed starting to picking tomatoes and peppers. This is the 2nd video.  I shows you how to transplant the peppers into cups in 3 ways and how to fertilize them. I also talk about acclimating them to the sun.  This is a series you can follow to grow your own tomatoes and peppers. Makes sure you have annotations on as I add information in text boxes. The 9 videos will be produced over the 2016 season.

Good Luck with Your Garden,
Gary (The Rusted Garden)

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(1 of 9) Growing Tomatoes & Peppers: When to Seed Start, Starting Mix, Light, Watering & Feeding

(1 of 9) Growing Tomatoes & Peppers: When to Seed Start, 

Starting Mix, Light, Watering & Feeding 

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This is a 9 part series that takes you from seed starting to picking tomatoes and peppers. The 1st video shows you how to seed start your tomatoes and peppers indoors. I show you how to prepare the starting mix, how to prevent fungus and insects, when to fertilize, how and when to water and a bit about lighting. And I tell you when to start them.

This is a series you can follow to grow your own tomatoes and peppers. Makes sure you have annotations on as I add information in text boxes. The 9 videos will be produced over the 2016 season.






Good Luck with Your Garden,
Gary (The Rusted Garden)

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The Indoor Over-Seeding Method for Planting Herbs (Oregano, Thyme Chives): Examples of Planting, Growth, Division and Transplanting

The Indoor Over-Seeding Method for Planting Herbs 

(Oregano, Thyme and Chives): 

Examples of Planting, Growth, Division and Transplanting

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Many perennial herbs are quite hardy. They don't need to be started indoors one single seed at a time. I follow Nature's practice of pods popping open and dropping thousands of herb seeds onto a small space. Oregano and Thyme have tiny seeds. I put 30 plus seeds easily into a single starting cell. I over seed them. You can do the same with Chives at about 15 seeds per cell, even with them having large seeds. As you get to even larger seed sizes like Parsley or Sage, you can over-seed at 8-10 seeds per cell.

Oregano:

Thyme:

Chives:

They are hardy strong plants and can take having their roots torn and handled when you split them and transplant them into transplant cups. Once they grow in the transplant cups, you can divide them again when they are put into the ground or outdoor containers. One over-seeded starting cell will get you four herb transplant plugs in the end.

Transplanting to Cups:

I start my herbs indoors 10-12 weeks before the would go outside. I live in Maryland Zone 7 and look to plant in March. The above herbs can take light frost and don't mind the cold. You can do this with most perennial herbs.

Good Luck with Your Garden,
Gary (The Rusted Garden)

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