a simple tip

I got the book 'Seed Sowing and Saving' by Carole Turner today. It was on sale at Charley's Greenhouse 1/2 price ($10). It's back up to $14 now, but still not bad for a $20 book (probably could get it cheaper at one of the cheapy internet book sites, though).

anyway, I was paging thru it and found this quick tip. Either use a yellow plastic plant marker, or paint a wooden one yellow. when you set out your plants in the garden, write your plant name on one side and coat the other side with vaseline. then you can tell by what kind of bugs are stuck in the vaseline what bugs are attracted to that plant.

gram ~a girl~ who still hasn't sown a seed (but I think about it a lot...and I bought a book!LOL)

What a great idea. However, wouldn't critters just lick the vaseline off?

Marie, I don't know. It doesn't have any taste.

tastes like chicken.

The inventor of Vaseline claimed to eat a spoonful everyday, and he lived to be 96.
http://www.freeenterpriseland.com/BOOK/VASELINE.html

That's a neat idea, I'll try that this spring. (The yellow markers with vaseline, not tasting it) LOL

vaseline tastes like chicken? I am wondering about your source for both vaseline and chicken. I think I might want to change either or both. And I am also not sure I would rec'd eating a spoonful of it - isn't it a pure petroleum product? Yikes. Best left to the bugs.

You can use yellow plastic knives as the plant stakes. Might not be the cheapest, but it sure is the easiest.

Suzy

sorry. not British humor. LOL

Yup......I'm betting my cats would think it tastes like chicken! (Nope, not Britsh humor.) My cats would probably like just about anything......just in case it was edible. As for me......don't think I'm going to eat it. And as this thread wobbles off topic.....did you ever wonder how much you have already eaten from what you've put on your lips in your life time. Lip balm, lip stick, lip gloss......you have to keep re-applying when it's gone. So where did it go? In your tummy.

"wondering about your source for both vaseline and chicken" ROFLOL!

I like the idea of using plastic knives as plant markers, but I hadn't thought of using yellow ones...

That's a good idea... If you want to get professional about it, you could probably use the "tanglefoot" stuff that orchard folks spray on yellow cards (or yellow plastic can lids) and hang in their fruit trees to attract and eliminate various pests.

Yeah, vaseline petroleum product....so I won't be eating it either. But that is a good idea about the stakes. Why are the insects attracted to yellow? Just curious....

Steve

I've always heard that bees are attracted to yellow. Maybe other insects as well. I first heard of it when I was researching to find the best hummingbird feeders. One particular source mentioned that the yellow plastic flowers that are on the openings of some feeders attracted the bees and suggested removing them. Maybe someone else can give us a better reason. I'd like to know too.
Deborah♥

guessing, but probably because the centers (stamens?) of most flowers are yellow. I have some little flying insect 'catchers' for my house plants. they're just little yellow sticky strips with a stick holder. gets the white flies & friends. same principle as tanglefoot. it's catching a lot of them. can't figure where they come from in the house.

I also heard that yellow attracts the fungus gnats. I hung up a yellow sticky trap a few weeks ago and haven't seen one fungus gnat attached. They are, however, everywhere else on my indoor plants! Time to try a new approach.

Are fungus gnats the same bugs that live on fruit and are sometimes called fruitflys?

Nope... fungus gnats look similar, but they're smaller... They eat dead leaves, dead roots, and other detritus, and they don't generally do damage to living plant tissue, although I've heard they can actually be a problem that way in really large numbers. Mostly, they're an unattractive nuissance.

Fungus gnats do damage living plant tissue their larva feed on the tender young roots. Especially bad for seedlings or new cuttings.
http://ohioline.osu.edu/hyg-fact/2000/2114.html

Thanks, I've heard you can put a peice of potato on the surface of the soil and all the larva come up to eat it. Then you simply toss the potato. Has anyone tried this before?

I'm about to try the potatoe trick now. We'll see what happens.
Deborah♥

I've never had fungus gnats kill cuttings or seedlings, but maybe I've just been lucky.

Some folks use diatomaceous earth sprinkled on the soil surface (or set out in small trays moistened with water to serve as traps?) to deter fungus gnats. DE is made up of silicon "skeletons" of diatoms (tiny plankton critters), so it feels like talcum to me but more like powdered sharp glass to little pests.

You can get DE at the garden center, but if you need it in quantity or more cheaply, try a pool supply store (it's used in filters).

If they get too numberous in and around my african violets, I find I can knock them back pretty well by watering the plants with a solution of Murphy's Oil Soap (1 capful per gallon of water).

critterologist, How do you interpret kill for "damage? Taken form the link in my previous post."Larvae not only feed on fungi and decaying organic matter, but on living plant tissue, particularly root hairs and small feeder roots. Brown scars may appear on the chewed roots. The underground parts of the stem may be injured and root hairs eaten off. Damage occurs most often in greenhouses or plant beds. Correct me if I am wrong but aren't all roots on seedlings and new cuttings basicaly small feeder roots and root hairs?

UT, I'm not trying to argue with you. All I'm saying is that in my experience fungus gnats have been nuissance pests but have caused no discernable damage to my seedlings. And I did say that perhaps in higher numbers they could be a problem.

I read this post and was more fascinated by the fellow eating the vaseline everyday than the bugs that adhered to it when smeared on stick. Perhaps the fellow lived so long because his "system" worked so well. No doubt, toxins didn't remain in his bod for too long.

Hmmm.

Yet another use for petroleum, I wonder if a renewable energy source could be used instead? Any ideas?

lard

Lard might attract larger crtitters, and that isn't good. If I smeared lard on a stick my dog would be at it in a hot second. Or, if not the bed, then the lard would attract raccoons or possums here and the dog would be on them in a hot second too ;-( Not a good thing in either case.

I'm finding chick grit (ground granite) from the feedstore to have the same effect as diatomaseous earth, and is cheap and easy to find. I had a terrible time last year with gnats; landing in my drink or plate! This year with all the exposed growing medium spread with a layer of chick grit, I'm having no problems :)

lard would work very well to help the "system"
In Germany there is smultz (I think that is the spelling), Bacon fat on bread for breakfast.

A product named Vegelatum is sold as a substitute for vaseline. The literature claims that it's a mix of vegetable oil and beeswax.

No first-hand experience...

Have you ever used Vaseline as a quick substitute for chapstick or lipgloss -- and then made the mistake of licking your lips? Yuck!

Corseledawg,

Did you ever do the potato trick, and did it work?

Suzy

I did put chunks of potatoes in my seeding trays. I didn't see any bugs on the potatoes but they could have wiggled their way inside the potatoe. I tossed out the potatoe on Jan 31st, the day I transplanted the seedlings into clear plastic cups. You know, it may have worked because I had the gnats pre-potatoe but not post-potatoe. Who woulda thunk it.