Captain Jack's

DeadBug Garden Dust...

It was a really cloudy and dark day so for most of the morning I thought it was raining, I didn't think to actually check because I was being lazy but around 2pm I went out and it was dry but dark. I went out to check on everything and when I got to Patch I noticed that the radishes had more holes. A lot more. So I went inside to grab the powder, organic pesticide that Mr. S. had gotten along with the Diatom-Earth. It's called Captain Jack's. At first I thought you mixed the powder with water and sprayed it on because the label had liquid conversions on it. For what reason I still don't know, but you don't mix it with water you just dust the plants with it. Makes sense, considering its called Garden Dust. Once I figured that out I went back outside with the dust and started applying it to the radishes. It was difficult because a bunch was pouring out of the salt shaker-like holes and all I needed to do was dust the foliage, bottom and top, but I was dusting the leaves and the soil and myself. So I closed the shaker top and started squeezing. That worked really well. The powder still came out in thin burst with the cap completely closed. I used my fingers to get all the extra powder all over the radish leaves then used the squeeze method to lightly dust the lettuce and the strawberry leaves. It stated very specifically that it was safe for berries and since the bugs eating the radish leaves wouldn't be able to anymore I figured they'd try moving over to my prized berries. While I was dusting the berry leaves I noticed that the 5G bucket plants had shot up about 4 inches but they still don't have any berries growing. They are by far the largest and greenest of the plants but no berries. It's really weird. They don't have any runners yet so that shouldn't be the issue but they just aren't producing berries. I think I may have over planted the container. Online it said that you could fill the bucket and at Home Depot they have tiny containers with 4-5 plants that have berries but I don't know that's the only reason I can think of to explain the lack of berries. Anyway, I'll try some fertilizer (more) and see what happens. Otherwise I might just let the bucket produce runners and new plants for next year. After dusting Patch I dusted the lettuce in Potagar and the green beans. I saw some large pests today, for the first time. I very large bunny and I realized that they always bolt up the hill so I deduced that there must be a hole in the fence by the neighbors house. They aren't getting in through any other fence because we've kept them closed and check everywhere but back there. It's a little creepy dark and overgrown back there. I'll have to check tomorrow. 

After I dusted the green beans I decided to thin them out a little more. I don't want everything to be slow so I am really trying to thin everything down. Now there is about 11 plants in each plot, 2 more and we'll be good. I've been putting all the bean plants I thin in a plastic cup with a little water and the ones i thinned days ago are still green and strong. I might try planting them in a container. I also thinned the spinach. After that I filled a container with plans to plant the thinned beans but I decided to plant a cucumber plant instead. The cucumbers are the only plant that we didn't have an assigned plot for so I figured even if they don't grown fruit it'll be a nice experiment and the foliage will look great. 

Finally, I brought the greenhouse inside and watered the plants in there and the lemon balm. The rain was sure to come and it did just a few minutes after bringing the house in...

Dusted lettuce. It's finally gaining some height and is almost ready to harvest the first leaves. I'm going to go with the continuous harvest method for these and the spinach. Beautiful, I love that green color!

5G strawberry bucket. They've grown about 4 inches taller, but no berries. Dusted.

Dusted 5G bucket from the top.

Lemon Balm seeds on a paper towel. I hadn't looked at this test in awhile and did today and noticed that the lemon balm seeds germinated extremely well on the paper towel. It took them about 3 weeks to get to this stage with "grown up" leaves. 

Dusted radishes. You can see that I didn't know what I was doing here compared to the berries and lettuce. The bugs immediately moved so it works and its organic. The rain doesn't wash it right off but do use the squeeze method. It lightly dusts the entire plant, top and bottom, and looks much nicer. Saves too.

One a Penny

Baking soda...

I went out today and made sure that everything was still moist and didn't water. I've been trying to control myself when it comes to watering. Part of the reason my strawberry plant died last year was that I over watered it, burned it with garlic water "insecticide", and lacked drainage. So I am trying to control my impulse to water more and more. 

I went into Patch after checking on everything in Potagar and noticing that a bundle of weeds have grown in the empty bed. I checked on everything in Patch and then noticed that there were little holes in the radish leaves. Not all of them but some of them. Something tiny, like an insect, is eating my radish leaves. I don't know that, that means that my radishes are unhealthy but that will definitely make them unhealthy if they aren't already. All of the references have said that healthy plants mean less bugs but I don't see any unhealthy signs except for the holes caused by the bugs. So I went inside and made one of the sprays I read about. I mixed half a tsp of detergent and 3/4 a tablespoon of baking soda with a gallon of water. I mixed it up and then put it into a spray bottle. Since the radishes were getting eaten before I could test I diluted the spray with a little extra water and sprayed all over the radishes. I'm hoping that a diluted version will rid the radishes of the few bugs there are now and won't burn my plants. 

Pennies and Vinegar...

After I finished doing that I went inside and mixed up a batch of 1 tablespoon of vinegar and 1 tablespoon of detergent with a gallon of water. I grabbed the bag of pennies and mosaic glue. I put the mixture into another spray bottle and took all of the things I'd grabbed outside. I sprayed the weeds in the empty bed with the vinegar spray. I spray them liberally, hoping, that would take care of them for awhile. Then I went into Patch sat down opened the bag of pennies and glue and started gluing pennies to the side of the 8G container. I was putting glue on the back of each penny, at first, but that was taking too long so I spread the glue out in a straight line around the entire bucket and started sticking the pennies on. Before I did any of that I sanded the bucket a bit so they would stick on better. When I was done it looked festive and it'll keep the slugs/snails off my strawberries. I've read, in several places, that copper and snail/slug slime cause an electric shock for the bug, so they avoid it. I initially looked for copper tape but the hardware store and Home Depot didn't carry it, in stores or online. I looked online to buy some but I couldn't find it. I'll have to look again and more thoroughly for the Potagar beds but for my buckets pennies were just fine, better than fine, they go with my low cost theme. I moved on and completed the 5G bucket. I was going to glue a couple around the base of the Shephard hook holding the Topsy but I thought again. I'm going to wait until I find the tap for that. I don't want to add even a gram of weight to that thing. 

I gathered everything up and went inside. 

Gluing pennies on to the 8G bucket. 

Completed 8G bucket. The glue will dry clear.

Both buckets finished. I think they look decorative.