The Central American landrace and heirloom thread

I dont think they eat cannabis, make sure yoiu dont have cucumber beetles. Those things carry a bacteria that cause wilt that will kill plants.

The beetle eggs you dont want to see. The eggs can be under or on top of leave in shadow.

images

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Thats what they are. They go after squash, cukes and cannabis, 100% sure. They stab and suck the juice out of the pot leaves.



I never had them kill a plant, but leaf sets have been irreparably damaged. They hammered a couple of my squash plants this year. I could see them killing a young one that hadnā€™t had a chance to take off yet

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I havenā€™t seen caterpillars yet, but when I did a couple sprays of BT really knocked them out.

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DE works too. :muscle: I havenā€™t tried BT yet but I like the idea.

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Iā€™ve also been struggling with them boys and ze slugs.

I know BT is very popular ouchyeh so at the risk of being an outcast I will throw a word of caution to consider going forward.

Hereā€™s an excerpt (from a study published in 2020)
" Enteropathogenic Potential of Bacillus thuringiensis Isolates from Soil, Animals, Food and Biopesticides"

Despite its benefits as biological insecticide, Bacillus thuringiensis bears enterotoxins, which can be responsible for a diarrhoeal type of food poisoning. Thus, all 24 isolates from foodstuffs, animals, soil and commercially used biopesticides tested in this study showed the genetic prerequisites necessary to provoke the disease. Moreover, though highly strain-specific, various isolates were able to germinate and also to actively move, which are further requirements for the onset of the disease. Most importantly, all isolates could grow under simulated intestinal conditions and produce significant amounts of enterotoxins. Cytotoxicity assays classified 14 isolates as highly, eight as medium and only two as low toxic. Additionally, growth inhibition by essential oils (EOs) was investigated as preventive measure against putatively enteropathogenic B. thuringiensis. Cinnamon Chinese cassia showed the highest antimicrobial activity, followed by citral, oregano and winter savory. In all tests, high strain-specific variations appeared and must be taken into account when evaluating the hazardous potential of B. thuringiensis and using EOs as antimicrobials. Altogether, the present study shows a non-negligible pathogenic potential of B. thuringiensis, independently from the origin of isolation. Generally, biopesticide strains were indistinguishable from other isolates. Thus, the use of these pesticides might indeed increase the risk for consumersā€™ health. Until complete information about the safety of the applied strains and formulations is available, consumers or manufacturers might benefit from the antimicrobial activity of EOs to reduce the level of contamination.

source: Foods | Free Full-Text | Enteropathogenic Potential of Bacillus thuringiensis Isolates from Soil, Animals, Food and Biopesticides

Obviously itā€™s safer than RoundUp but anything carrying a degree of toxicity raises a flag in my considerations. I heard from other farmers anecdotally who were selling edible food about these risks but I had to look it up myself to see what the details were about.

Thatā€™s why I typically stick to essential oil foliar spray(rosemary) if itā€™s cool enough or employ beneficial insects. DE also sounds like a great way to avoid any potential toxicity.

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Good to know. I would avoid spraying in flower for sure and generally take the claims of any pesticide company with a grain of salt when it comes to safety claims.

What I do Know is I sprayed the plants and came back the next day and saw the carnage - a bunch of shriveled up caterpillars dead on the ground.

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@Upstate,

You arenā€™t telling us that you *believe tv news are you? As a former mariner, when you check on the weather use the service the government provides-NOAA. weather.gov

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No, i donā€™t believe the Propaganda channels. i went online to see the stats at the site you mentioned. :grin:

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Here is another way of looking at it. Weather.com HAS to be accurate. LIVES depend on it.

Tv news? Everyone knows they lie almost as much as someone else famous.

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I stand with @Grayeyes on weather channels to believe, they have all the weather satellites, technology etc. paid for with our tax dollars and you have to believe what they say, as lives depend on their forecasts, especially for mariners out at sea. As far as news stations, Associated Press is the only one that tries to be neutral, and tries like hell to stay out of the Rep/Dem battles going on.

And here is the best insecticide, honor your mother and boycott monsato!

lady bug|281x500

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Donā€™t kid yourself, associated press is part of the main stream press.

Love the beneficials, lady bugs can be great when they stick around

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I knowā€¦but all I know and as perhaps as close as I can get! If you know of anything different I am all ears, respectfully and thank you for keeping it honest!

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Hello Gang, hereā€™s the Dragon Blood Hash Plant that was topped a couple of weeks ago.

Sheā€™s loving the change


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nice happy looking plant, enjoy!

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I have never seen them on a pot plant, but those little fuckers are always on my squash and cucumber vines. This year I got a way early start and enjoyed some zukes already. But this past week the beetles showed up finally and I have killed dozens already.

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@TexasTea They are hammering a couple plants so badly i sacrificed them to the bugs. I may even pick off all male flowers and bring the worst damaged plant next to my zucchini and cukes as bait. They are not only attacking the plants but seem to enjoy having orgies on them too lol.
I donā€™t know if I can recall a time Iā€™ve seen so many of them.
I should have done like you and planted early this year. This is the one year everything would have survived. I was wiped out the last couple times I took a chance so I didnā€™t do it this time and now I regret it. Plant early and have reserves is my advice. Enjoy those cucumbers!

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I donā€™t know if any of you have chickens at home but I just saw an interesting video about a guy that uses pheromone Japanese beetle traps to catch Japanese beetles. They eat what they want of the fresh beetles and he puts the extra in his refrigerator for his chickens during the winter. The guy fills up several bags a day off of his 45 Acres. Iā€™m paying $50 for a 5lb bag of mealy worms for the chickens, and this guy is catching 5 lb a day! Neat!

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I had problems with those fuckers for years with my cukes and squash. When I quit putting them out until after June 15, the problem was solved for the most part. Something about their life cycle.

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My favorite Michoacan male

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Get yourself a copper collar for your plants. I cut strips about 4 in long and 2 in wide or so and make a circle out of them around the base of your plant and stick it in the soil slightly. It gets an electric charge from the soil and acts as an electric fence for the Slugs. As long as there is no debris making a bridge for the slugs or snails to cross and get to your plant itā€™s bomb proof.
Garden supply catalogs also carry a copper mesh that does the same thing and is cheaper then buying sheet metal. Iā€™ve done a lot of roofing so over the years I saved the copper I took out and I use that.

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