Thursday, May 22, 2014

Row Covers Keeping Bugs Under Control

row cover at work in the field

In the battle again bugs, on the road to providing you with aesthetically pleasing vegetables I myself very satisfied and a huge supporter of the row cover.

Flea beetles...a tiny all black bug that's a fast jumper and leaves young plants looking like a Dalmatian puppy minus cuteness...

flea beetle damage on some young Asian greens
Their snack items of choice are things with a peppery-ness to them like arugula, radishes and other spring items like bok choi, Napa cabbage, regular cabbage, kales, and broccoli.  However flea beetles are the biggest problem with things we seed directly in the field.

The like young plants and early spring the best.  Things they hate...shade and rain.

Flea beetles come up from the ground so with row covers you still have some damage but you're containing the problem...you're not letting every flea beetle with in the field in...just a few, which is something I'm ok with.

happy radishes under row cover

bok choi under row cover

3 comments:

  1. Wow, that's some gravelly soil those radishes are growing in, crazy. I would trade some of that soil texture and minerals for some of the extra water I have from growing in a low lying area. Cool post Rose. I've been reading up on extending lettuce harvest through use of row covers and shade cloths. I stumbled into a study done at purdue on 30 cultivars and it turns out that neither extend harvest like picking the right cultivar. Pretty cool. Similar topic different use, rows DEFINITELY keep the bugs out though. I think we could use that thunderstorm tonight, right?!! Thanks again for an interesting post with detailed pics that really show us what's goin on at the farm.

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    1. Thanks for writing! The back piece of the farm is very sandy...which has both it's plus's and minus's. Only hoping for a light rain tonight. We have too much stuff to get planted and a lot of rain will keep us out of the field for a few days.

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