Diseases from bacteria, viruses and fungi can lead to the early demise of your plants. What are some tips for minimizing diseases in vegetable gardens? Please post your ideas below.
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You'll have to do a little research, but the information is readily available online, at your library and through a magazine/publishing company called The Good Earth.
The trick is Companion Planting. For instance, plant a row of marigolds beside your spuds and you won't get grubs, plant onions beside cabbage to deter slugs (I don't know if this is exactly correct, but you get the idea).
My Mom has been doing this for years and her large, beautiful vegetable garden is not only pest free but prolific as well.
Good luck!
Cheers,
Rose Anne
Editor's Note: Here's a list of good and bad companion plantings: www.thriftyfun.com/
My husband keeps our garden almost pest free using Dipel for cabbage worms and by keeping the soil well-fed. We have cattle, so we have plenty of manure and straw to till in. We handpick potato beetles and their larvae. I hang traps in the fruit trees. I got this recipe from the first Amy Dacyzn book: In a 2-liter pop bottle, put a banana peel (torn in strips), a cup of sugar and a cup of vinegar. Add water to within 2 inches of the top. Tightly tie a double thickness of yarn around the neck and hang it in your fruit tree. It will attract and drown all kinds of pests, including codling moths. I put two out three weeks ago. One is almost full and will soon need to be replaced. When we use these, the worms are almost nonexistent in the apples. Good luck!
One great way to keep a garden growing well each year is to alternate what is planted. If you keep planting the same things in the same places, bacteria from one year will be happy to attack the same plant in the spring. :O) Plus, it's good for the soil - find out what the plant takes from the soil, then see what companion plant can add it back to the soil by planting it the next year.
For example (I'm a farmer): plant corn the first year. Plant soybeans the second year. Then it's okay to plant corn again the the third year. Then it's time to plant soybeans the year after that. Happy and successful gardening!
Marigolds planted near the vegetable garden helps rid the garden of several pests, and looks good, too! God bless you!
If you are starting your own plants from seeds use chamomile tea {either your own chamomile plants or store bought as long as it ONLY contains chamomile} to water them all with in order to help prevent "dampening off" in your seedlings.
You can also hurry your sprouting time if you cover the bottom of the containers in aluminum foil or plastic wrap and set on a heating pad on medium. I wrap the containers in plastic veggie bags and open them if moisture droplets show on the bag.
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