Monday, June 15, 2015

Sucker-punched by a moth

In my endeavors to have a 100% organic garden, I lost my squash.  :(  I am absolutely heartbroken over it but I'm better today than I was last week when I discovered it.

See, there's this nasty heifer moth that lays her eggs near your beloved baby squash plants and then waits.  Her eggs turn into nasty little fat grub worms who bore into your baby squash stems and commence to munching, killing your plant from the inside out.

Nasty heifer looks like this:


Her nasty little fat grub worm baby looks like this:


And your beloved little squash plants begin to wilt and die.  I noticed ours weren't making squash a couple of weeks ago.  They looked sad and wilty but were still covered in blooms.  When I investigated a little closer last week, I found the worms and after Googling "what the hell??", I pulled up my plants and cried a little bit.  I didn't know anything about these things!  My daddy grew squash every summer of my life and I'd never even heard about this.  I called myself watching for bugs.  I had a natural bug repellent that I made and I waited for signs that my garden was being bugged but never saw any.  That's because THIS BUG does his dirty work on the inside and by the time you notice the plants wilting, it's too late. 

Thank goodness my tomatoes, cucumbers and peppers are untouched.  Even without any chemicals.  Nothing's bugging them!

Larry and I went and bought new squash plants today.  I'm trying again.  We may not have squash until September but that's okay.  I'm not giving up.  I put them in a pot since they can't go into the garden bed.  Those things burrow and will come back.  We can't even plant squash there again next year either.  So I put 'em in a pot on the deck.  Our container gardens are doing so well.  We have cucumbers, lettuce, cherry tomatoes, sweet peppers, cilantro, basil and I planted more spinach today, all in pots. 


You are safe, squash babies.  I will watch over you like a crazy mama with a can of Sevin dust.  (BTW, if anybody out there knows an organic alternative to Sevin dust, please leave me a comment.  I read a solution of onion, garlic and water sprayed at the base will do it but I don't know.  I'd appreciate any help!!)

2 comments:

  1. So sorry about the squash . Watch the new ones because in july was always when Daddy had problems with bugs and they wilted and died,but by that time we had plenty.Daddy said look at Lowes for something thatyou use for grubworms and cut worms. Don't use the old soil .Daddy said they are in the soil and you have to treat the soil where you had the old ones planted.It's tough being a farmer. Love you.

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    1. We'll till the garden up when the tomatoes and peppers are done and not plant there next year. I have some diatomaceous earth that I'm going to try along with just watching them EVERY. SINGLE. DAY. If I see anything, I'll kill it on the spot. I just didn't know about them. This time, I'll be ready!! Thanks!! Love you, too!!

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