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| Coffee Grounds - Use them Twice! 
Coffee grounds have been used and recommended as an organic fertilizer for years, but they have another important use. To control slugs, snails and pillbugs, broadcast coffee grounds around plants troubled by the little beasts. To run pests off effectively, use anywhere from 2 – 5 lbs of coffee grounds per 100 square feet. Slugs in most cases come right up to coffee grounds but wouldn't cross over. Not only is the product organic and works great, but it also replaces one of the worst toxic pesticides on the market, Metaldehyde. Diluted coffee is also an excellent organic fertilizer, especially for orchids, African violets and may have some of the same pest control powers. It's probably worth a try. Coffee contains N-P-K, trace minerals and the food stuff to stimulate the growth of beneficial microbes. The best part is that coffee grounds are basically free. Just ask your local restaurants or coffee shops to put them in a container provided by you. At the least, save and use your own coffee grounds at home. We do every day. Coffee tends to develop a green or blue-green fungus that looks like mold. Don’t worry - that’s good. The green fungus is really beneficial (Trichoderma species) while the blue-green one is reported to be moderately beneficial. In any case, moldy coffee is great to use directly in the garden, compost pile and on interior plants. Here is some research on the subject from USDA – ARS. COFFEE - Slugs and snails hate caffeine, researchers have discovered. Robert Hollingsworth of the United States Department of Agriculture's Agricultural Research Service in Hilo, Hawaii, and his colleagues discovered this secret while testing caffeine sprays against the coqui frog, an introduced species that infests potted plants. They found that a 1 to 2 percent caffeine solution killed most of the slugs and snails in two days. Concentrations as low as 0.01 percent repelled the pests. A cup of instant coffee contains about 0.05 percent caffeine, and brewed coffee has more. Coffee grounds can also be used to repel slugs and snails, but a caffeine solution is much more effective. Caffeine is more effective against slugs than metaldehyde products. The United States bans metaldehyde residues in food, but classifies caffeine as safe. It may even qualify as organic, adds Hollingsworth. Robert Hollingsworth of the United States Department of Agriculture's Agricultural Research Service in Hilo, Hawaii, and his colleagues were testing caffeine sprays. Click Here for full article. Send in the Spiders Backyard Wildlife
| | Send in the Spiders
Backyard Wildlife
By: David Mizejewski | | | | | | | | | | | | |
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| | Little Miss Muffet had it all wrong. There was no need for the famous nursery-rhyme character to be frightened by her eight-legged lunch companion. In fact, these beneficial critters are great friends to gardeners. Spiders are arachnids, not insects. They have two body segments instead of three, eight legs instead of six, and no antennae or wings. Unlike insects, spiders possess special body parts, called spinnerets, that allow them to spin webs. All spiders are predators. They immobilize their prey with venom injected through specially designed fangs. The vast majority of the roughly 3,000 species that inhabit North America, however, are completely harmless to people. In fact, most species lack mouthparts that can penetrate human skin. Of those that can, there are only three that pose any threat to people: the black widow, the brown recluse, and the hobo. The stereotypical spider spins a web in the vegetation and waits patiently for an insect to stumble or fly into the sticky threads and become trapped. Many of the most commonly seen spiders use this method. Other species don’t use webs at all to capture their prey. Wolf spiders, for example, stalk and actively hunt for their food on the ground. Jumping spiders also stalk their prey and, as their name suggests, capture food with impressive pounces many times their body length. Other spiders, such as crab spiders, lie waiting in camouflage for an unsuspecting insect to come within striking range. Some spider species even inhabit tunnels or funnel-shaped webs from which they snatch prey. One thing is true of all spiders: They’re phenomenal predators of a vast array of insect pests. Collectively, spiders consume everything from aphids and beetles to moths and mosquitoes. Anyone with a garden—indeed, anyone who spends any time outdoors—should welcome spiders. Use these tactics to attract spiders to your garden: Eliminate pesticides. Powerful chemical sprays temporarily eliminate pests, but many also kill pest predators such as spiders. It’s much more sustainable and healthy to practice organic gardening and rely on natural pest predators. Provide a diversity of plants. They attract many more spiders than a lawn alone. Build a brush pile or rock wall. They make excellent hunting grounds for spiders. If you live in an area with venomous spiders, wear gloves when moving brush or rocks, and you’ll be safe from accidental bites. Leave part of your yard a little overgrown. Spiders overwinter as adults inside or under dead vegetation, or as egg cases. They help ensure a healthy spider population next spring, ready to gobble unsuspecting garden pests.
Fun Facts About Spiders
• Despite their fearsome appearance, tarantulas do not have venom that’s deadly to humans, and they bite only if severely threatened. They’re the largest spiders in North America. Several species inhabit southern and desert areas.
• The black widow is aptly named; females of this species eat males after mating. • Many spider species have eight eyes. If you go out on a summer night with a flashlight and shine it on the ground, you may be greeted by the eye-shine of wolf spiders hunting in your yard. • Argiope spiders weave a thick zigzag pattern in the center of their otherwise hard-to-see webs. It provides a visual cue to birds and larger animals to avoid the web so spiders don’t have to waste energy rebuilding torn webs.
David Mizejewski is the author of Attracting Birds, Butterflies, and Other Backyard Wildlife (Creative Homeowner, 2004), the host of Animal Planet’s “Backyard Habitat,” and a naturalist with the National Wildlife Federation.
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Slime Mold 
| | It’s scary looking, but slime mold sounds and looks much worse than it is. It is mostly a cosmetic issue. Slime molds grow on top of soil, on and in mulch and sometimes on plants with a dusty-gray, black, dirty white, red or yellow mass. Sometimes it looks like tiny round balls scattered over the ground or in organic material. If you rub these balls between your fingers, a sooty-like powder will be released. It often appears in mulched areas and looks like some animal threw up. In turf, slime mold spore masses coat the grass in spots and look like cigarette ash on the surface of the blades. Slime molds tend to develop during wetter weather and feed on decaying organic matter. These fungi rarely hurt plants unless they grow up onto or over small seedlings. Slime mold spore masses coat the grass and look like cigarette ash on the surface of the blades. The spores can be easily wiped off. Remove the mold spores from the grass by rinsing with water during dry weather, or mowing and raking at any time. Baking soda spray, potassium bicarbonate will kill it. So will cornmeal. These molds can cover the above ground parts of the plant with a dusty dark gray mass. While slime molds are not too common, it is not uncommon to find them growing on Bermuda grass seed heads. There is no chemical control and they usually disappear when the weather becomes drier. They tend to develop during wetter weather.
Slime mold feeds on decaying organic matter found in the soil. As the powdery covering becomes thicker, it reduces the light reaching the plant cells, and they begin to turn yellow.
To kill it, spray with baking soda or potassium bicarbonate and water. Cornmeal and water will also do the job. It can also be done in by just roughing it up with a cultivating tool or turning fork. It won't hurt anything but small seedlings that are engulfed by the fungus
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Beneficial Insects and Biological Controls
Gardeners and homeowners today are more cognizant of the need to protect our planet and care for our environment. Gone are the days of dusting and spraying everything that moved, or drenching herbicides on plants that sprouted where they didn't belong. Organic and biological controls are the wave of today and the future, and they are as close as your Internet connection. |
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Most garden pests have natural predators, but those aggressors don't always come to our gardens when we need them. Sometimes we can tailor our gardens and landscapes to attract the beneficial insects, but not always. That's when mail-order comes into play. A number of companies advertise the sale of beneficial insects and nematodes, as well as organic control methods for invasive weeds or plants. An Internet search on "buy beneficial insects" will bring up a good list of places to research.
The following list covers most of the common pests we see in our landscapes.
Pests & Method of Control - Alfalfa weevils: Ladybird beetles (ladybugs), Praying Mantids (Tenodera aridifolia sinensis)
- Ants: nematodes to kill; diatomaceous earth or spray containing d-Limonene (orange peel oil) to repel; non-toxic traps
- Aphids: Ladybird beetles (ladybugs), Aphid Parasitic Wasp (Aphidius colemani), Green Lacewing or "aphid lions" (Chrysoperla spp.), Praying Mantids (Tenodera aridifolia sinensis), Whitefly Predator (Delphastus catalinae), Mealybug Destroyer (Cryptolaemus montrouzieri), Beauveria bassiana GHA strain fungus; Neem oil organic insecticide; non-toxic repellent
- Armyworms: nematodes, moth egg parasites (Trichogramma spp.)
- Asiatic garden beetles: nematodes
- Asparagus beetle larvae: Ladybird beetles (ladybugs)
- Bean thrips: Ladybird beetles (ladybugs) , Praying Mantids (Tenodera aridifolia sinensis)
- Black flies: bacteria Bti (Bacillus thuringiensis var. israelensis)
- Black vine weevil: nematodes
- Bollworms: moth egg parasites (Trichogramma spp.)
- Borers: nematodes, moth egg parasites (Trichogramma spp.)
- Cabbage & onion maggots: nematodes
- Carrot weevils: nematodes
- Caterpillars: nematodes, larval specific bacteria (Btk), Spined Soldier Bug (Podisus maculiventris); Neem oil organic insecticide;
- Chinch bugs: Ladybird beetles (ladybugs), Praying Mantids (Tenodera aridifolia sinensis)
- Citrus weevils: nematodes
- Cockroaches: nematodes, powdered boric acid with cockroach pheromone to kill; spray containing d-Limonene (orange peel oil) to repel; non-toxic traps
- Colorado potato beetle larvae: Ladybird beetles (ladybugs), Spined Soldier Bug (Podisus maculiventris)
- Cucumber beetles: nematodes
- Cutworms: nematodes, moth egg parasites (Trichogramma spp.)
- Euopean chafers: nematodes
- Fall webworms: nematodes, moth egg parasites (Trichogramma spp.); Neem oil organic insecticide;
- Flea beetles: nematodes
- Fleas: nematodes
- Fly larvae: nematodes, fly parasites
- Fruitworms: moth egg parasites (Trichogramma spp.)
- Fungus gnats: nematodes
- Grape root worm: Ladybird beetles (ladybugs)
- Grasshoppers: grasshopper pathogen Nosema locustae
- Grubs: nematodes
- Gypsy moths: Neem oil organic insecticide;
- Japanese beetles: milky spore powder (Bacillus popillae), nematodes, Neem oil organic insecticide
- June beetles: nematodes
- Leafhoppers: Beauveria bassiana GHA strain fungus
- Leafminers: leafminer parasitic wasp (Diglyphus isaea, Dacnusa siberica)
- Leafworms: moth egg parasites (Trichogramma spp.)
- Loopers: nematodes, moth egg parasites (Trichogramma spp.), larval specific bacteria (Bt var. kurstaki), Spined Soldier Bug (Podisus maculiventris)
- Masked Chafers: nematodes
- Mealybugs: Mealybug Destroyer (Cryptolaemus montrouzieri), Beauveria bassiana GHA strain fungus; Neem oil organic insecticide;
- Mites: Ladybird beetles (ladybugs) , Praying Mantids (Tenodera aridifolia sinensis), beneficial mites (Phytoseiulus persimilis, Mesoseiulus longipes, or Galendromus occidentalis), Mealybug Destroyer (Cryptolaemus montrouzieri)
- Mole Crickets: grasshopper pathogen Nosema locustae
- Mormon/black field crickets: grasshopper pathogen Nosema locustae
- Mosquitoes: bacteria Bti (Bacillus thuringiensis var. israelensis)
- Oriental beetles: nematodes
- Palmetto bugs: nematodes, powdered boric acid with cockroach pheromone to kill; spray containing d-Limonene (orange peel oil) to repel
- Plant bugs: Beauveria bassiana GHA strain fungus
- Psyllids: Beauveria bassiana GHA strain fungus
- Rose chafers: nematodes
- Scale: Whitefly Predator (Delphastus catalinae or Eretmocerus eremicus), Ladybird beetles (ladybugs), Red Scale Parasitic wasps (Aphytis melinus); Neem oil organic insecticide; non-toxic traps
- Scarab beetles: Beauveria bassiana GHA strain fungus
- Silverfish: nematodes, powdered boric acid with cockroach pheromone to kill; spray containing d-Limonene (orange peel oil) to repel
- Slugs: non-toxic traps
- Snails: Decollate Snails (Rumina decollata); non-toxic bait
- Sod webworm: nematodes
- Spider Mites: Spider Mite Destroyer (Stethorus punctillum or Neoseiulus californicus)
- Strawberry root weevils: nematodes
- Termites: nematodes
- Thrips: Ladybird beetles (ladybugs), Praying Mantids (Tenodera aridifolia sinensis), Whitefly Predator (Delphastus catalinae), Thrips Mite (Neoseiulus cucumeris or Hypoaspis sp.), Minute Pirate Bugs (Orius sp.), Mealybug Destroyer (Cryptolaemus montrouzieri), Beauveria bassiana GHA strain fungus; Neem oil insecticide; non-toxic traps
- Weevils: Beauveria bassiana GHA strain fungus
- Whitefly: Ladybird beetles (ladybugs) , Praying Mantids (Tenodera aridifolia sinensis), Whitefly Parasitic Wasp (Encarsia formosa or Eretmocerus eremicus), Whitefly Predator (Delphastus catalinae), Beauveria bassiana GHA strain fungus
- Wireworms: nematodes
Information gathered from mail-order companies on the Internet, and catalog for ARBICO Organics, 2008 edition
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