iGrowVeg » Pests

Spring Cabbages and Plant Spacing Problem Update

Tracey — Wed, 08 Jun 2011 07:00:32 +0000

Back in February I had a Spring Cabbage Spacing Problem in my raised bed primarily because I had sowed my cabbage seeds too close together (closer together than the recommended spacing on the seed packet).

I tweeted my problem on Twitter and kindly some fellow growers gave me the following advice:

@3menandaplot – Recommended that spacing should be kept as per the seed packet.
@carrot_farmer – Advised that I should dig up and space evenly.
@plugwoodward – Said to thin out the weaker plants and thin again later.
@AllotmentAli – Had a great tip about how to space your seeds when sowing using your thumb and little finger stretched out as a guide.

So which piece of advice did I choose?

I chose to 3. To thin the smaller cabbages out and then thin again later, so thanks to Steve Woodward for that piece of advice as it has worked very well. In April, one of my cabbages bolted so that thinned out one of them and the other two I thinned out and used as very early spring greens.

In the photo for Late April and then in May, you can see the cabbages have now grown upwards and into the spare space.

The closeup in June shows the cabbages are still growing quite close together and their leaves are even touching one another. The large cabbage has been harvested first to allow more space for the others to grow into, which should see me eating cabbages right throughout June and July.

For more advice on Cabbages read my Quick Links to Cabbages.

It’s a Bugs Life in the Vegetable Garden

Tracey — Wed, 25 May 2011 07:00:43 +0000

The great thing about vegetable gardening is the interaction with nature and wildlife. If you grow vegetables in your back garden like I do, there’s not far to travel to get a sense of the wildlife around you and beneath your feet.

You’d be amazed how much you miss by just walking past a vegetable plot but its not until you get up close and personal with the vegetables you are growing, that you will find the wonder of bugs living in the habitat you’ve created in your raised bed.

Yes, you’ve created a habitat, maybe unwittingly but because you have created your own vegetable plot, the wildlife and insects have flocked to it naming it there own. The ‘if you build it they will come’ scenario. It’s best to grow organically if you are aiming to attract and keep wildlife, click here to find out more about How To Grow Vegetables Organically.

What are Bugs attracted to in the Vegetable Garden?

1. Food

The number one item flying and ground insects are looking for is food. Also looking for those insects (as food) are other wildlife such as birds and hedgehogs, it’s all part of the food chain.

2. Shelter

A raised bed environment gives insects plenty of nooks and crannies to hide or sleep in and the plants themselves like runner beans or cabbages provide stability for a web to be spun or a place to sit under. Also the area around your plot is important, if you leave it to ‘go wild’ i.e. leave the grass long or provide log piles etc to one side, this gives insects like beetles and grasshoppers further shelter which is also linked to your raised beds.

3. Water

Water whether it be by rain or watering can is very beneficial to plants but also the insects. This is why it is preferable to water the ground or soil around the plants so the water uptake will be by the roots of a plant rather than the leaves. Also watering the leaves can cause diseases and pests to attack the plant.

4. Linked Areas for Breeding

Depending on where your vegetable garden is situated this may provide a linked area for breeding, as well as shelter and feeding. My vegetable garden is at the bottom of my garden, I have a lawned area, borders and a pathway which has ‘gone wild’ with long grass down the sides, this creates linked areas for insects to breed, sleep, shelter and feed.

It has also created a habitat for our resident hedgehog who likes nothing but to chomp on the long grass. Which is handy as it saves me getting the lawn mower out.

What is the Difference between a Friendly Bug and a Pest?

A Pest is a creature that attacks the plants by eating or spreading disease which ultimately causes the plant to die.

A Friendly Bug like hoverflies, ladybirds, beetles, spiders, harvestmen, bees, parasitic wasps, earthworms, lacewings are all beneficial to your vegetable garden. They are the good guys and help to keep the pest population to a minimum and do not harm your plants.

For more details on how to encourage wildlife and friendly insects into your vegetable garden, please read the following posts:

Photos of Insects Found in my Vegetable Garden

Please click on the photos to enlarge them.

Plot Problems No 1 – Plant Spacing in Raised Beds

Tracey — Wed, 23 Feb 2011 07:00:33 +0000

One of the problems I have when growing vegetables in my raised beds is Spacing. I have kind of self taught myself and use the not so scientific way of ‘guessing’ how close I can sow or let vegetables grow together. Of course this method lends itself to the phrase ‘learning the hard way’ with a few crop failures because vegetables that are grown so close together attract pests or diseases which can spread like wildfire and wipe out my crops.

When I first started growing vegetables, I tried using the packet sowing instructions and spacings in Carol Klein’s Grow Your Own Veg book, however I have found these spacings are for larger allotment sized beds and not suitable for smaller raised beds. I could use the Square Foot Gardening Method which means dividing up the raised beds into squares however I feel this is too restrictive and regimented as I want to grow vegetables in a relaxed and natural way.

For Example:

Plot Planning

According to my seed packet for sowing Spring Cabbages, they should be spaced 40cm away from each other, however as my beds are 152cm in width, this means I would only be able to grow 3 cabbages in 1 row and only be able to have 2 rows in my plot, a total of 6 cabbages in total.

Allowing for wastage and possible pests, I may only get 4 cabbages at most out of these sowings. I feel this is a waste of space to dedicate the whole raised bed to a maximum of 6 cabbages so I sow closer together and then always find myself having the following dilema when the spacing gets a bit tight in my raised beds.

Spring Cabbage Spacing Problem

Dilema:
This month, my spring cabbages are beginning to put on growth and the small patch where they are growing is becoming a bit overcrowded as I’ve sown them so close together.

Close Spaced Spring Cabbage

Here are my options:

Thin out the weaker plants and leave the stronger plants, but they will still be fairly close together,
Dig up and transplant some of the plants into other spaces available in my plot but will the disturbance hinder their new growth?
Leave them where they are, but run risk of small cabbages and disease problems then crop failure?

Do you have any other suggestions or advice on my dilema?

I’d love to hear your experiences with plant spacing, please leave your comments below. Thanks.

Winter Vegetable Pests: Cabbage White Fly

Tracey — Thu, 04 Nov 2010 21:05:50 +0000

What are Cabbage White Fly?
The cabbage or brassica version of white fly feed off the sap in the plant leaves and can spread to other similar plants in your plot.

How do I know if I have it on my Cabbages/Brassicas?

Lift up the lower leaves of your cabbage or brassica and see if there are white flies settled in the underside of the leaves.
Also on the underside of the leaves, you may notice green scales from the whitefly,
Carefully wobble the plant from side to side, lots of white fly will fly up and away from the plant.

Cabbage White Fly

How do I treat Cabbage White Fly?

Cabbages plants tend to survive as the white fly only inhabit the lower leaves and rarely touch the headed part of the cabbage plant. Savoy cabbages are more susceptible to attack due to the crinkly leaves make for a good breeding ground.

Kale can be severely infested leaving no leaves to pick for harvesting, which means the plant becomes useless. They can also attack brussel sprout plants although won’t harm the actual brussels.

There are whitefly organic killers in the marketplace but I still don’t like the ‘organic’ elements in these.

Dwarf Kale

I prefer to pull off lower leaves to remove the whitefly from the plant, then carefully ‘wobble’ the plant to get the white fly airborne, then quickly cover the plants under a cloche. You will need to monitor the cloche daily for a while as you will not be able to completely get rid of the whitefly with this method, but at least you will get rid of most of them.

If you want to leave the cabbages uncovered, periods of heavy rain usually make them fly off to other shelter.

Other Pest Posts:

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Summer Pests to Look Out For On Your Vegetable Plot

Tracey — Sat, 03 Jul 2010 14:39:26 +0000

Inevitably as a vegetable grower you will come across at least one pest or disease in a growing year, the trick is to arm yourself with the knowledge of how to prevent, divert or get rid of pests when they arrive, so your vegetables continue growing without too much interruption.

In this summer series of posts, I will explore the most common pests and diseases to attack vegetables in our plots, symptoms and organic methods I’ve used over the years.

Pests and diseases are more likely so strike in the summer months as this is when most of the pest lifecycles are at the adult stages and when they are on the hunt for food or to lay their eggs. Here’s two pests you’ll want to avoid this summer.

1. Aphids

Blackfly on Leaf

Otherwise known as blackfly or greenfly. Blackfly are especially troublesome once they get hold of a plant by congregating near the top around the bud, fruit or leaves tip.

Symptoms of Aphids: Curling leaves, black marks called soot appear around the flower head and stem, lots of ants running up and down the plant.

Vegetables that can be attacked by Aphids: Tomatoes, Cucumbers, Strawberries, French Beans, Runner Beans, Squashes and any vegetables with green thin leaves.

Tried and Tested Organic Control Methods: I tend to plant nasturtiums next to or near the plant you don’t want pests on as aphids like the large flat leaves to live under. I also use a hosepipe to wash off the aphids. This method I’m using at the moment on my strawberries. I’m using the squishing method to remove the black fly off my tomatoes and french beans which seems to be working.

Blackfly Cluster on Strawberry Stem

Alternative Methods:
Get rid of the ants by using Vinegar, buying ladybirds or trying to introduce them into your garden with ‘bug’ houses, rub the aphids with your fingers to kill them, plant flowers nearby to bring in hoverflies that like eating aphids or try spraying very very diluted washing up liquid on the affected area.

Need More Info?

2. Cabbage White Butterfly

Cabbage White Butterfly

If you are growing cabbages which aren’t covered with netting, you may be unwittingly attracting the cabbage white butterfly to lay bright yellow eggs on the underside of your cabbage leaves. These eggs will soon hatch into caterpillars which will devastate your brassica crop.

Symptoms of Caterpillars: Chewed and leaves with holes in them, some leaves will be eaten down the the leaf veins, tiny green or brown curled caterpillars under the soil of your cabbages, stunned growth, leaves turning brown or yellow and dropping off, brown and grey deposits on the leaves from eating caterpillars.

Vegetables Affected by Caterpillars: Any member of the brassica family like cabbages, brussel sprouts, cauliflower, kale.

Tried and Tested Organic Control Methods: I cover my cabbages all year round with an enviromesh cloche, although take care not to let butterflies into your plot when weeding or mulching as they become trapped to lay all the eggs they want! This year I have also grown nasturtiums in pots on my decking and already this has been a diversionary tactic as I’ve seen the butterflies over them.

Cabbage White Caterpillar Eggs

Alternative Methods: It is better to find the eggs under the leaves and remove them before they get to the caterpillar stage so check regularly under the leaves, picking off caterpillars by hand or trowel, watering them off the leaves with a hose and then removing them, Avoid planting colourful flowers next to a cabbage plot as this encourages the butterflies, birds eat caterpillars so try to encourage them to eat the free food!

Need More Info?

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Pests or Not? Ants on Broad Beans

Tracey — Wed, 19 May 2010 08:00:32 +0000

During May when broad beans are flowering you may find ants running up and down the stems feeding from small dark black spots. These dark black spots are clusters of tiny blackfly (or black bean aphids) and the ants will be farming them and eating their honey dew secretions.

If you have ants, you usually will have black fly, check at the tip of the plant, under leaves or where the leaf meets the stem for clusters of black insects, these are black fly.

Are ants harming the plants?
No but if they are farming blackfly, your plants may be at risk from disease especially if the blackfly spread to other plants.

Blackfly on Broad Beans

How do I get rid of the ants?

If you get rid of the blackfly population, the ants will move elsewhere,
Try planting lavender or curry plants nearby to deter the ants,
A hosepipe will spray most of the ants off the plant, but they may return,
I leave the ants alone, check the plant regularly for black fly clusters, then squish them.

Are black fly harming the plants?
Yes, they drink the sap out the plant, if the black fly population is large this could lead to loss of nutrients which stunts the growth of the plant. In severe circumstances the plant could die. Black fly can also transmit diseases which can spread to other plants in the area.

Methods to remove black fly from broad beans

Broad Bean Tip

Try growing nasturtiums or poached egg plants nearby as black fly love them,
Homemade solution of very diluted washing up liquid to spray on the black fly,
Introduce ladybirds and lacewings to the area by buying them or putting up a nest box,
Remove the broad bean tips (and any black fly) by pinching out the cluster of leaves together at the top of the plant as soon as your first beans at the base of the stem start growing,
Squish any further black fly between your fingers (wearing gloves).

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How to Fix Your Potato Chitting Problems

Tracey — Thu, 18 Mar 2010 11:52:23 +0000

Anyone who’s grown potatoes from tubers will have experienced one or more of these chitting disasters. However most potato chitting problems can be solved so never fear you will still get a good crop of potatoes in the end!

Strong Healthy Chitting Potatoes

What is Chitting?
Chitting (or pre-sprouting in America) is a way of forcing the potato tuber to produce healthy new shoots so it has a kick start of growth before it is placed into the soil or compost for its growing period.

Why do we need to Chit?
The aim of chitting is to encourage growth of healthy shoots which should be thick green or purple. Chitting can be done on 1st and 2nd early potatoes as it brings forward your harvesting time by up to 2 weeks. Maincrop potatoes do not need to be chitted as they require a longer growing period.

How do I Chit?

Charlotte Potatoes Chitting

Place 1st Earlies or 2nd Early tubers rose end or the end with the most eyes upwards in a egg box, shallow dish or container,
Put in a frost-free, light but cool place like a windowsill,
Potato Chits can be seen in about 2 weeks, leave on the windowsill for approx 6 weeks before planting,
Plant out 1st Earlies and 2nd Earlies in Mid to late March and April.

Please see my How To Plant Potatoes in Pots or How To Plant Potatoes in Raised Beds for details.

Top Tips on How To Avoid or Fix a Potato Chitting Disaster

My Chitting Disasters

1. I have forgotten to unpack my tubers and long white shoots have appeared.

How To Avoid: Unpack potatoes as soon as you receive them and lay out to chit.
How To Fix: Remove the white shoots with your fingers or scissors and place in chitting conditions to form new shoots. The shoots are white because they have been in the dark. This causes no harm to your tuber and new shoots will show in 1-2 weeks.

2. I have forgotten to chit my potato tubers.

How To Avoid: Some people chit potatoes to get an early crop of potatoes and to check that their tubers are showing signs of growth before planting them. Other people like commercial growers don’t chit potatoes because they don’t have the time.
How To Fix: If you haven’t chitted your seed potatoes, don’t worry, if its the right month to plant them, just plant them straight into soil or compost. When it comes down to it, it is not a disaster if you don’t chit.

Black Tip Chitting Problem

3. My shoots have black tips. Is this ok?

How To Avoid: Check that they are definitely black and not very dark purple. Black tips mean the area you are storing them in is too cold and your shoots are dying off. Chit Potatoes in a light, frost free, cool place, the kitchen windowsill is ideal.
How To Fix: Rub off the black tips with your fingers (wash your hands afterwards) then place them eyes upwards into cardboard egg boxes as this provides the insulation and protects them from the cold. Place them on a kitchen windowsill. If you haven’t got 6 weeks to chit them before planting, it doesn’t matter, you can still plant without chitting.

Other Chitting Problems you may encounter with solutions:-

4. I have left my tubers to chit and found a green, mouldy tuber.

How To Avoid: There is nothing you can do to prevent this, it is just a bad tuber from the supplier. Some suppliers offer replacements, if you notify them within 7 days.
How To Fix: Discard any tubers which are rotten, mouldy, very soft or have green patches as soon as you spot them, as they may infect your other tubers.

5. I have a few tiny and some bigger tubers, which do I plant first?

Bamboo Chitting Potatoes

How To Avoid: The supplier is the only one who has control over the number of smaller and larger tubers packed and sent to you, there should be a good mixture of both. If you have size concerns, please contact your supplier.
How To Fix: The medium to large tubers should be planted first. Smaller tubers contain less stored starch to feed the new plant so are weaker and should be planted last and after the frosts. The medium to large tubers have a bigger storage of starch which helps them recover from frost damage and recover more quickly.

6. Help! My shoots have stopped growing and I think I may have exposed them to frost.

How To Avoid: When chitting your potato tubers, store them in a light, cool place. Try to avoid placing them outside when frost can still strike or near a drafty window or cold outside wall.
How To Fix: Cover your tubers with straw, dry newspaper strips or move to a frost free location and monitor the shoots.

Other Potato Posts you may be interested in:

iGrowVeg Potato Help Guides

Want more information on Potato Growing, Planning Your own Vegetable Garden and What to Sow Next? Then why not sign up for my iGrowVeg Monthly Newsletter – Sign Up Here.

Whilst your waiting for March’s newsletter to be released Check Out February’s Newsletter.

Frost Bitten Broad Beans – Symptoms and Solutions

Tracey — Thu, 11 Mar 2010 19:49:05 +0000

Frost is one the things that gardeners always have to look out for when growing tender plants during the winter and early spring months.

Unfortunately even though my broad beans had a cloche over them, the outer rows have succumbed to the effects of frost. Please see my February Growing Update for more about my Broad Beans.

How does Frost Form?
On clear cold nights, heat loss from surfaces occurs and makes the surrounding areas colder than the air. In these conditions ice crystals form and although transparent appear to be white on soil and plants.

Black Broad Beans Leaves

What affect does Frost have on Plants?
Hardy plants have a tolerance to cold temperatures and others like tender vegetables do not. Tender vegetables include any vegetables that have to be sown in a greenhouse or under cloches during the months of the year when frost is still present. In the South of the UK, frost is present during the months of October to the end of April.

Tender Vegetables include: Tomato’s, potatoes, cucumbers, lettuce, usually any vegetables with a high water content and leafy vegetables.

Once frost has formed on a plant stems, the ice crystals can pierce the stem cells, freeze the water in the cells and cause damage and/or death. The morning sunshine often causes more problems when the plant cells are warmed up quickly which cause them to expand at a fast rate sometimes bursting the already fractured plant cells. The damaged plant cells are unable to pull up the water from the soil, therefore the plant collapses and dies.

How do I know when plants have been damaged by frost?

Frost Symptoms:

Plant stems become distorted or twisted,
Plants stems and leaves turn black,
Plants become weak and collapse,
Some plants turn brown and leaves turn translucent

Is there anything I can do to stop my plants getting frost bitten?

Here are a few tips for covering your plants:

When Buying look for:

Horticultural Fleece covering Plot

Horticultural Fleece – this is a thick weave white material that doesn’t allow frost to penetrate through its material.

Water and light cannot go through the tight weave material so it is only a temporary measure for covering when frost is due, it needs to be removed during the day. It can be re-used and hand washed.
Fleece Plant Jackets – these are pre-formed different sized jackets to cover a range of plants.

For Borrowing & Recycling:

Plastic Fizzy Drinks Bottles – carefully cut the bottom off, screw on the lid and you have a homemade emergency cloche to protect your smaller seedlings.
Plastic Milk Cartons – make sure the cartons are cleaned and dried then cut off the bottom and place over plants.
Tupperwear Boxes or Plant Pots – These can both be used to temporarily cover your seedlings to protect from frost overnight.

For more tips on recycling in your garden – please visit Make It And Mend It.

Other Posts you may by interested in:

The affects of Snow, Ice and the Cold on your Vegetable Garden

Tracey — Thu, 14 Jan 2010 09:30:52 +0000

With the cold snap of snow lasting for a little while longer, I have enjoyed seeing snowy vegetables on other peoples blogs like Kale and Brussels Sprouts on Nip It In The Bud’s Winter Wonderland Post and Leeks on Eight by Six’s blog and I was interested to find out how the snow is affecting my vegetables on my plot.

Snow and cold temperatures can provide advantages as well as disadvantages in your vegetable garden.

Advantages of Snow and Ice include:

It can provide a cover to protect vegetables against frost and ice,
The dip in temperature can make vegetables like Brussels sprouts and parsnips have better flavour and sweetness,
Pest populations are hit hard and many pests communities like aphids will not survive to the spring,

Disadvantages of Snow and Ice include:

Frozen Soil - this doesn’t help if you want to harvest your leeks!
Freezing, thawing and re-freezing water – This can be bad for plant cells especially if this is happening in the crevasses of vegetables or their leaves. It could also cause some diseases like rust or rot if the water its in contact with the leaves for a period of time.
Heavy weight – the weight of the snow could break or make plants collapse under its weight and some may not recover.
No Harvesting – access to your plot, frozen soil or frozen leaves are some reasons why harvesting may be delayed. You may need to wait for a break in the weather to be able to start harvesting again.
No Sowing Seeds either – Not that’s there’s much that can be sowed in early January however definitely nothing can be sown into frozen soil and germination rates are extremely slow in cold temperatures even on covered ground.

Pest Watch – Spot the Caterpillars

Tracey — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 21:36:47 +0000

I would have thought all the caterpillars would have gone by now off into hibernation for winter but no, the tiny green and brown caterpillars on my Plot 1 have been tucking into their last supper of my winter seedlings of Japanese kale, mustard greens and for afters a few bites of my pointed spring cabbage leaves.

See if you can spot the little blighters.

5 Ways to Remove Caterpillars from your Vegetable Plot

The easiest way is to squish them with your fingers in gloves.
If they have decimated your seedlings, leaving no leaves, it might be worth pulling out the plants from the soil,
Cover the plot with mesh or fleece or barrier protection like a cloche.
Check your plants often, look underneath the leaves and shake the plants gently to unhinge the caterpillars so you can remove them.
For big populations of caterpillars attacking brassicas, there is an organic solution in the form of nematodes from Nemasys called Caterpillar Killer which can be applied mixed with water in a spray bottle directly onto the caterpillars between July and September.

Unfortunately my seedlings have been decimated and they will no longer survive, so I pulled them out and planted an extra row of overwintering onions instead.

Other Posts you may be interested in:

Pests and Diseases Summary including blight, blackfly, slugs, caterpillars, mildew and more.
Vegetable Crop Failure is the Path to Growing Success.

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