First Outdoor Garden (LOS)-- things to look out for..

I wont get into details of how I am now apart of the LEGAL Garden Community, but my sorry ass has 348 days till I can touch some ganga (thank you rolling stop..), to make use of my ready LOS batch I made myself a 4x8 garden bed with:

-Red, Yellow, and Green Bell Peppers
-Cucumbers
-Celarie
-Broccoli
-Strawberries (everbearing)
-Sweet Banana Peppers
-Jalapeños

I am stoked, I take pride in what I do and love gardening in general- This is my life.

That said, the first signs of strain always concerns me, especially insects as im an indoor gardener (at least most of/all of my exp is dedicated inside)

I noticed some bites on my leaves, flies, aphids, whatever they are- How do I stop it? Should I even be alarmed?

I do notice a collection of ants up the side of my bed, but what I've read they can be pests and predators (bad and good)

I have also read on what I should do about deer, rabbits, and squirrels, since they are thick in these parts. (eggs in water and foliar sprayed)

My questions for the community- what should I do? I will be around for some time (in this section, used to be an LED guy, still am... but not for another year. SO)

Ill throw up some pics in the next post, they are on my phone, take care everyone! and thank you in advance

The celarie looks more like heat stress (tip burnt) and others, most, have yellowing lower leaves like they have been overwatered.

I am looking to build a cover/canopy to fix this and the intense light, but with this it could create a "sauna effect," suggestions are all welcome.

If you do have bugs, look into safer soap, non toxic and made out of harmless soaps, so you can eat your veggies still .

Been using it for my outdoor grows for years only problem is you gotta spray weekly for a good while or they come back.

No idea what to doabout heat stress outside except sometype of shade as you mentioned?

When it comes to insect pests it's good to practice something called IPM. or Integrated Pest Management. It's a system that employes management solutions rather than elimination techniques. Even indoors a few bugs are not going to have an effect on a crop. But there is a tipping point and that's what IPM is all about so we use Organic methods, predatory insects, insecticides and sometimes nothing at all. It's an intelligent approach. Rather than blanket spraying petro chemicals all over your plants and your garden, and killing everything in site. The first thing we do is to know what insect we're trying to avoid, knowing the best time to do something about it and then using the least toxic chemical available to take care of the problem. Insects have life cycles starting with the egg, which isn't easy to spray for, and then the larvae or nymphal stage which is very easy to kill and then the adult which is much harder to kill. So if you can eliminate pests when they're babies and use something like dish soap you won't have to use use Permithrin when they're adults. That's the thinking. I hope you'll think twice before you spray anything.

dannyboy602 said:

When it comes to insect pests it's good to practice something called IPM. or Integrated Pest Management. It's a system that employes management solutions rather than elimination techniques. Even indoors a few bugs are not going to have an effect on a crop. But there is a tipping point and that's what IPM is all about so we use Organic methods, predatory insects, insecticides and sometimes nothing at all. It's an intelligent approach. Rather than blanket spraying petro chemicals all over your plants and your garden, and killing everything in site. The first thing we do is to know what insect we're trying to avoid, knowing the best time to do something about it and then using the least toxic chemical available to take care of the problem. Insects have life cycles starting with the egg, which isn't easy to spray for, and then the larvae or nymphal stage which is very easy to kill and then the adult which is much harder to kill. So if you can eliminate pests when they're babies and use something like dish soap you won't have to use use Permithrin when they're adults. That's the thinking. I hope you'll think twice before you spray anything.

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so you don't think safer soap is safe? because it's about as natural and non toxic as it gets for pest control aside from predatory insects and companion plants.

ErieR33FER said:

so you don't think safer soap is safe? because it's about as natural and non toxic as it gets for pest control aside from predatory insects and companion plants.

Click to expand...

Safer's active ingredient is Potassium Salts of Fatty Acids. It is pretty benign stuff if you're a human. I like knowing the insects life cycle that you're trying to eliminate and spraying when they are at their weakest. Usually babies right out of the egg and for that you can use something as simple as soapy water, or oil sprays and I've even used a strong spray of water to knock them off. Of course this is great for outdoors, if indoors you really want to kill them not just knock them off. But as youngsters it's easier to do than if you wait. IPM requires a little research, but even google is a wealth of information. Your local county extension service also is a good resource. Once you know who your enemy is the rest is simple.

Yup i agree with dannyb.
Look into them ipms. Rosemary/lavender/horsetail/stinging nettle/ garlic, list goes on and on

But hoenstly scotch i wouldnt worry too much, start off with a light ipm, let the enviroment take care of them little suckers. Mother nature will due the work!

Look into low growing companion crops. Get to know them so u can get ready for your next year indoor garden lol

Thank you for the replies everyone, today's been hectic but I'll be on later on,

I did notice flies on the leaves this morning, and smaller "baby" gnat like flies. I am thinking these are the culprits- and the damage is significantly worse today.

I don't know if humidity has anything to do with upping the population/activity of them but it has been raining all week and very muggy

Edit: AND ironically I do have a Lavender starter I bought with my starter plants that I just haven't put down- I originally bought it for around the patio and mosquitoes, would this help? I'll look into those cover crops fly, thank you

^ plant that lavender [mint family] or take cuts and plant it, in different spots. I plant a lot of mint around my garden and everything but the slugs leave it alone.

Dill, garlic also get planted as repellant plants. You can use trap plants too, like basil for tomato and squash. Summer savory, hyssop, parsley, cilantro, etc. I even have had good luck with Chard.

Rock dust seemed to help too, both with insects and overall garden health, which go hand in hand .

Good luck!