Integrated pest management for the home garden

Thought you might like to explore this link from the Texas A&M University to help identify the good/bad bugs in our gardens.

http://vegipm.tamu.edu/indexbyvegetable.html

that is a really cool site !

Yes, thanks!

Excellent source of info, thanks for sharing!

Thanks for posting the link! I've now got Bt and a couple of other controls in my shed for this spring. Now I've got a good source to turn to for info on which one to use on what bug. Watch out Tomato Hornworms! I'm ready for you this year! Mwaaaahahhhahahah! =P

Have you used Dipel or anykind of dust for pest control. What's the best way to apply to the plant. How effective is Dipel?

When I lived in South Florida, I used Bacillus Thuringiensis to kill caterpillars on tomaotes with good success. I haven't needed to use it here in NC because my garden is patrolled by wasps that feed caterpillars to their young.

That link doesn't list squash bugs or Colorado potato beetles, both of which attack my veggies - unless they're calling them something I'm not familiar with.

greenhouse_gal - Squash vine borer is listed under squash and pumpkin. I couldn't find Colorado potato beetle listed, either.

Here's what it looks like:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Colorado_potato_beetle

Honeybee, squash bugs are different from SVBs; they look like stink bugs and are probably in that family, but they suck the juice out of the leaves and kill the plant that way. I do know what Colorado potato beetles look like; they've been attacking my tomatoes this year, for some reason. I just wondered whether that site would have different ideas for dealing with them, although I just basically crush them when I see them.

greenhouse_gal - tomatoes and potatoes are in the same family (you probably already knew that :) so I'm guessing that's why the Colorado potato beetle has taken a liking to them.

I've never seen a CPB - they were not in England when I grew up. Infact there was a bounty on them! A huge amount of money was offered by the British Government for turning in one. I think they have them now, though.

Although I've gardened in Florida and Tennessee I have never grown white potatoes in America. In 2005, I gave up eating them altogether as they are a problem for Type 2 diabetics like me.

I normally don't have a problem with CPB's but they certainly seem to like my tomatoes this year. One of my Opalkas got its stem girdled by one. I pulled it out and replanted it deep enough to cover the girdled area, and it seems to be rebounding.

I am growing potatoes in barrels, but well away from the potager. They are on a bench in front of my studio by the river. Potatoes in barrels, especially raised, don't seem to attract CPBs so far. The only time I tried growing them in the ground in the garden it was as though I'd put in an order for CPBs; they were all over the other veggies and were a scourge for years, even when I no longer planted potatoes. This is my second year trying them again; I had the barrel sitting on the compost bin by the poultry yard last year and that was fine, too.

greenhouse_gal - that's weird that CPB's don't bother your potatoes in barrels.

I did some reading about CPB's and here's a link to a natural preditor:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lebia_grandis

Honeybee, I think it's because the barrels are raised. CPB's seem to attack from the ground. I can grow eggplant without flea beetles if I put it in containers on my balcony, too.

greenhouse_gal -

Right, that's what worked for me, too! But last year I don't think my pots were deep enough, and I didn't get many eggplants.