The veggie garden 2010-IPM (Part 1)

Integrated Pest Management (IPM) has been something we have strived to do this growing season. Little did we realise  that doing it is no easy joke. And we are still getting our arms around the first episode of this season.


The first shock came when we returned from New Jersey after being away for over 14 days and started taking stock of what had changed in the garden.

We took these pictures (in our Cauliflower and Broccoli plants) and off we went to ID our foes. We figured these were Aphids that we have been battling for a while. All that we have ever done with earlier Aphid attacks was to sacrifice our plant and give in.

This time around it has been different. Our first line of attack was a home-made remedy that made ME almost puke. Coming from someone who loves onions, garlics and the like.....you can only imagine how pungent this was.





The recipe came from the following book- The Organic Gardener's Handbook of Natural Insect and Disease Control: A Complete Problem-Solving Guide to Keeping Your Garden and Yard Healthy Without Chemicals

After a good dowsing, some Aphids seemed to have browned and maybe dead. In the meantime I frantically searched for places I could buy ladybugs (1500 Live LadyBugs - A GOOD BUG! - Lady Bug) or green lacewing eggs ( 1000 Green Lacewing Eggs -Larvae eat 10M Aphids per Day). After ruling out nearby nurseries that had no idea about them and my regular places that had run out of stock, I ended up at Amazon and ordered them and waited patiently for them to be shipped out.

More on the insects and what we discovered in our own garden on the next post