BUGS, FUNGUS, & OTHER STUFF
Most healthy plants can sustain bug damage with little trouble, but each has it's specific problems.
Butternut squash can attract squash bugs. The best prevention is keeping mulch and litter away from the plants as well as watering just enough and only right on the root area.
Kale, beans, and chard get a variety of pests, kale having the least trouble. To help you with this I offer NEEM OIL. It's now available in large hardware stores and it's a godsend. Neem oil is used by accredited organic gardeners and even fed to kids in India. It is totally non toxic to humans, but lethal to bugs. You can spray it on fruit trees and lettuce. Like any spray you only want to use it if you must. (With apple trees, you must.) A small bottle makes many gallons of spray. You'll want to wash your beans and leaves if you've used it as much to rid yourself of the flavor as anything.
Tomatoes are plagued by hornworms, those huge green caterpillars. You can pick them off by hand. With luck a very black wasp will find the hornworms, and she will plant her eggs on their backs. Should you see a caterpillar with white stalks growing in from the back, you're in luck. Tomatoes also are heir to a plethora of wilts and fungi. Watering only in the mornings, only around the base of the plants, picking off any yellowed or curly leaves will help. When overburdened use the Neem Oil as it's good for both bugs and fungi.
Butternut squash can attract squash bugs. The best prevention is keeping mulch and litter away from the plants as well as watering just enough and only right on the root area.
Kale, beans, and chard get a variety of pests, kale having the least trouble. To help you with this I offer NEEM OIL. It's now available in large hardware stores and it's a godsend. Neem oil is used by accredited organic gardeners and even fed to kids in India. It is totally non toxic to humans, but lethal to bugs. You can spray it on fruit trees and lettuce. Like any spray you only want to use it if you must. (With apple trees, you must.) A small bottle makes many gallons of spray. You'll want to wash your beans and leaves if you've used it as much to rid yourself of the flavor as anything.
Tomatoes are plagued by hornworms, those huge green caterpillars. You can pick them off by hand. With luck a very black wasp will find the hornworms, and she will plant her eggs on their backs. Should you see a caterpillar with white stalks growing in from the back, you're in luck. Tomatoes also are heir to a plethora of wilts and fungi. Watering only in the mornings, only around the base of the plants, picking off any yellowed or curly leaves will help. When overburdened use the Neem Oil as it's good for both bugs and fungi.
Continue to: HARVESTING YOUR CROPS