Organic Pest & Weed Control Lecture

I am speaking at the Mason Spring Round-Up which includes a variety of organic gardening and farming and sustainable living topics.  For those that attended, I promised to post the notes from the lecture.  Here they are.  Enjoy!

Reasons for Use of Organic Treatments

• Marketing/Certification
• Environmental
• Safety – Pets & Grandkids

• Works Best as Part of Total Organic/Natural Program

Myths of Conventional Agriculture

• Myth #1: Insects are “Out There” just waiting to Eat your Plants
• Insects are Designed to Seek Out Weak/Stressed Plants
• Myth #2: The Only Purpose of the Soil is to Hold the Plant Down
• There is More Life Under the Soil Than on Earth.  This Life Has a Symbiotic Relationship with Plants to Mutual Benefit.  Any Disruption of this Relationship Causes a Decline in Plant Performance

Treatment Considerations

• Even Organic Treatments Have Some Risk - Evaluating Level of “Safety”
• Selectively Targets Species Type/Non-Toxic – BT, Soap
• Non-Selective/Non-Toxic – Orange Oil, EPA GRAS list
• Non-Selective/Toxic - Pyrethrum

• Know What You’re Trying to Get Rid Of
• Texas Bug Book
• Make Sure You Need to Get Rid of It!
• Yes, you have bugs but are they eating anything?
• Understand Cause of Infestation
• Will Your Plant Grow Here?
• Well Adapted Species 
• Correct Amount of Water 
• Sun or Shade
• Soil Drainage
• Planted in the Correct Season
• If Yes to Above, Is There Environmental Stress (e.g., drought, excessive rain, etc.)?
• EX: Drought brings on stink bugs to tomatoes
• EX: Rainy season causes increase in fungal diseases or nutrient leaching resulting in discoloration
• Seasonal Change (e.g., increase/decrease in temperature, etc.)?
• EX: Early summer causes cool season veggie stress attracting harlequin beatles
• Plant Stress (e.g., heavy feeders or bloomers needing additional nutrition)?
• EX: Roses bloom themselves into exhaustion
• EX: Heavy feeders such as tomatoes exhaust soil nutrient supply
• If All of the Above Are NO, Then Soil Needs Attention
• Choosing the Best Treatment for The Job
• Insects
• Worms – BT or Dipel – Tomato Hornworm. Cabbage Loopers
• Aphids, Spider Mites, Whiteflies, and Lacebugs
• Mild Infestations “normal” for many Crops
• Large Infestations Sign of Soil Issue
• Treat with Water Blast, Soap, Fish Emulsion/Seaweed, Garlic-Pepper Spray
• Orange Oil – Non-Selective; Will Kill Beneficials as Well
• Prevention - Longhorn Farms story...
• Squash Bugs/Hard Shell Bugs
• Treat with Pyrethrin
• Give Bugs Weakest Plant to Eat
• Squash - Keep mulch away from plant
• Are Plants Out of Season?
• Stink Bugs
• Vacuum/Drop in Bucket of Water
• Are Plants Out of Season?  Stressed?
• Fire Ants
• Mound Treatment - Auntie Fuego Mound Drench
• Bait Treatment - G/L Fire Ant Control w/ Spinosad
• Orange Oil, Aspartame, other home-made treatments
• Diatomaceous Earth (DE) as a Barrier
• Grubworms
• Beneficial Nematodes or Sugar – 
• Indicates Need to Improve Soil
• Mosquitoes
• Eliminate Water Sources - Empty Standing Water
• BT Dunks or Granules for Water Troughs, etc.
• Slugs, Snails, Land-Bound Critters
• Hot Pepper, cedar flakes, DE
• Fleas
• In lawn, beneficial nematodes
• In home, boric acid in powder
• Citrus Oil in shampoo or area spray
• Cedar oil as barrier
• Grasshoppers
• Battery Acid or Flame Thrower
• Healthy Plants Will Still Resist!

Choosing the Best Treatment for The Job

• Fungal Diseases such as Black Spot, Powdery Mildew for Ornamentals & Vegetables
• Horticultural (Whole Ground) Corn Meal
• An Aggie Invention...
• For Vegetables and Ornamentals, Generously Sprinkle On Ground Under and Around Plants
• Won’t Remove Existing Spots
• Neem Oil
• India’s Medicine Tree
• Insecticide, Miticide, Fungicide
• Indoor/Outdoor
• All plants, herbs, shrubs, fruits, etc.
• Sulphur Dust
• Used extensively in grape production
• Watch sulphur content in soil
• Baking Soda/Potassium Bicarbonate

• Lawn Fungal Diseases such as Brown Patch, etc.
• Corn Meal at 20 lbs. per 1000 sq. ft.
• Compost - The Magic Elixer
• Alfalfa Meal or Alfalfa Meal Mixes
• Back to Nature - Nature’s Blend
• Chlorosis (Mineral Deficiencies) – 
• Texas Greensand
• History of Over-application of Phosphorous
• Medina 5-3-4 + Greensand
• Weed Control
• Non-Selective Pre-Emergent Horticultural Corn Gluten
• Must be 9-0-0 - Blends Do Not Work
• Apply at 1 lb. per 100 sq. ft.
• High Nitrogen Provides Timed-Released Greening
• Granular Much Easier to Apply
• Excellent for Grassburrs - Apply by March 1st
• TOO EXPENSIVE!
• Horticultural Vinegar – Natural Round-Up
• Should be 20% acid to work well
• Add surfactant – squirt of soap
• Apply on sunny/warm day
• Mechanical Weed Control
• Hoe & Mow
• Plastic Row Cover, Recycled Old Carpet, Newspapers, etc.

Prevention vs. Treatment

• Frequent Inspection - Key is to Catch Problem Early

• Best Defense is Good Great Soil
• Richard Polk’s Garden Story...

• Organic Soil Testing
• Texas Plant & Soil
• Use CO2 Acids that mimic plant’s action - increase accuracy
• Use Comprehensive Soil Chemistry Analysis (Albrecht System) to make recommendations/calculations
• Pages of personalized recommendations for your crop/soil profile

• Creating Biologically Active Soils
• Compost & Manures
• Actively Aerated Compost Tea

References

• Understanding how Plants Literally Signal Insects to Come Devour Them: Tuning Into Nature by Phil Callahan
• Identifying Pests and Organic Solutions: Texas Bug Book by C.Malcolm Beck and John Howard Garrett
• Soil Food Web and Compost Tea: Teaming with Microbes: A Gardener’s Guide to the Soil Food Web by Jeff Lowenfels & Wayne Lewis
• Organic Soil Testing: Texas Plant & Soil at www.TexasPlantAndSoil.com or call at 956-383-0739.
• For a copy of these notes, compost tea recipes and many links to natural and organic resources, visit my blog at www.NaturalGardener.blogspot.com

Potassium, Phosphorous Levels Declining in the US

I am constantly reminded that food and health are tightly linked...and this link shows up in funny ways.  I was just researching for our natural health newsletter and came across an article on the declining availability of agricultural phosphorous and potash (the P and K in N-P-K on your fertilizer bags).

The article, entitled "Falling Potash: Stop the Impending Agricultural Collapse", was printed on a national natural health website.  According to the article, readily available potash (mined from the earth) is rapidly declining and fertilizers producers are having to transport the mineral longer distances using much more fuel.  My Dad, who runs the local feed and fertilizer store, mentioned that much of our fertilizers components are being exported to China which has been driving up prices.  Neal Kinsey, a well-known agricultural consultant whom I've trained with, told us during class (about 5 years ago) that a dozen of the largest families in the US have been quietly buying up mineral rights and mines across the country...cornering the market.  He expected then that prices would rise.

The same article mentioned that phosphorous stocks have been on the decline since the 1970s.  I've experienced this first-hand when Lonfosco, the manufacturer of Malcolm Beck's Soft Rock Phosphate, ran out of material a couple of years ago.  While there is other soft rock phosphate, it is harder and less available to the plants.  http://www.NaturalNews.com/028495_agriculture_potash.html


Impact on Organic Gardening/Farming
For organic farmers and growers, it is less of a problem.  Potassium is relatively abundant in manures and composts.  For those needing to build their soil,  Texas Greensand, mined here in Mason county, is loaded with potassium as well as iron and many other trace minerals.  I recently learned from a Master Gardener friend that greensand is actually fossilized trilobite poop...dinosaur poop?

Phosphorous is a little more interesting.  Malcolm Beck is the guy that discovered that the best way to apply phosphorous is by dusting the hole or row directly beneath the roots with soft rock phosphate (SRP) would increase yields by 20%.  Phosphorous is about the only mineral that doesn't move through the soil and has a nasty habit of locking up essential trace minerals.  By placing the SRP near the roots, the plants take it up before it has a chance to bind with other minerals and become unavailable.  If you use this technique, it may be worthwhile to stock up on SRP while it is still available.  Garden-Ville's Rock Fuel is a transplant fertilizer loaded with SRP and is an excellent alternative to straight SRP.

Chicken manures and composts are loaded with phosphorous and there probably is adequate phosphorous in most good composts.  Bone meal also has 12% phosphorous if you can find it.

Soil Biology and the Soil Food Web
Dr. Elaine Ingham has been researching the soil food web and all the microscopic creatures that inhabit this underworld.  She has learned that these guys live in symbiosis with plants and produce many, if not all, of the nutrients a plant needs.  Actively aerated compost tea is a method she came up with to inoculate soil with these guys to help provide plant nutrition and protection against disease and pests too.  This is an inexpensive method requiring little inputs (molasses and a shovel of good compost) and may be the future of agriculture.

What Does All This Mean?

Well, for conventional agriculture farmers who use copious amounts of these minerals, productions prices will increase meaning food prices will increase.  Eventually farming practices will change and the old wasteful methods will disappear.

In the short term, it most likely means food prices will continue to increase and food quality will continue to decline.  

Another good reason to grow your own food!

Losing Access to Seeds

On the way to speaking to the Llano Master Gardeners, I found out that Parks Seed, a major retail consumer seed company, filed bankruptcy.  It's another example of the loss of access to many varieties of seeds we are encountering.

At the Master's Gardeners meeting, my talk was on heirloom tomatoes.  One of my main reasons for planting heirloom and open-pollinated varieties is that I can save my own seeds and not be held hostage of the seed companies.  One of the challenges we face is find open-pollinated varieties that do well in our hot summers.  This year, I am trying Rutgers, an old time favorite before the introduction of Celebrities.  I am also trying F2 varieties (saved seeds from hybrids) to see how they will do.

Heaven forbid, if there ever comes  a time when we have to grow at least some of our own food, we will need seeds that we can save and share without the need for mega-seed companies and genetically-modified foods.

Stay tuned this summer for a visual lesson on how to save tomato seeds.  It is easy and produces highly viable seeds.  In the meantime, happy gardening!

A Visit with the Extension Vegetable Specialist

Anyone who knows me knows that I don't have much respect for the agricultural programs at Texas A&M.  However, I find it interesting that one of their most popular spokesmen (and the only exception to my "I have all A&M agricultural experts") is Dr. Jerry Parsons.  I listened to him speak at the Llano Master Gardeners last week and what amazed me is that he has been listening to the complaints of many gardeners on a range of topics and has responded with some good advice and solutions.  Here's some examples:

Saving the Lost Hybrid Varieties.  We have been losing our best hybrid tomato seeds for several years including Bingo, Merced, Heatwave and many others.  The consolidation of the seed companies has resulted in the loss of many hybrid varieties as well as expensive hybrid seeds.  Solar Fire and 444 seeds cost 20 cents a seed - to the wholesale grower!  Jerry's response has been to trial saving F2 seeds (the offspring of the hybrids).  Apparently we've been told that you can't save seed from hybrids because you lose the positive characteristics in the children.  However, Jerry knows that tomatoes are 85-90% self-pollinated.  He is collecting old seed stocks from across the state and is saving and testing seeds of these old hybrid varieties.

The Value of Manures.  Another funny story from Dr. Parsons was his (and all Aggies) that they could grow any tomato as well or better with conventional methods; specifically chemical fertilizer.  Apparently, they tried for years but gardeners kept growing huge tomatoes with manures and composts and they couldn't compete.  Not to be wrong, Dr. Parsons now recommends manures and composts as one of the best soil amendments to growing vegetables.

Heirlooms.  As much grief as I receive from Dr. Parsons and other Aggies over the years, I can't believe that he would even be talking about heirlooms much less putting them on his website.  But, low and behold, heirlooms are a topic.  He shared something that I had not put into clear words yet about heirlooms.   Most of the heirlooms we get are varieties from the north.  This is why I can plant them early and get good results but they do not work when planted later - no heat tolerance!  However, there are some old southern heirloom varieties that he talks about on his website and I will begin growing this year.  One is Rutgers, probably the most popular tomato variety before Celebrity was introduced.

Seed Bank.  The extension service has developed some really interesting and vigorous producing varieties of peppers and other veggies that never made it to market.  These, along with other open-pollinated and F2 hybrid varieties are available to the public through his seed bank.

Plant Answers.  On a final note, Dr. Parsons is funny and interesting speaking (if not a little annoying sometimes...) AND he knows his stuff.  He tests everything so if he says it, its because he's actually done it or seen it himself.  No "theoretical stuff" here!

If you are interested in his website, it has a lot of great stuff and a huge database of answers to typical gardener questions...definitely worth a look.  www.plantanswers.com

Spiffing Up Your Store-Bought Veggies

This post is for those of us whose can't grow everything they eat.  Or, how to clean and freshen your store-bought veggies...

I learned this trick from my wife who learned it from someone in the restaurant business.  It is an old restaurant trick that gets the limp out of your veggies but it also helps remove harmful bacteria and other toxins.  So enough talk, here is the trick:

Fill the sink with water (about half full leaving room for your veggies) and a half cap of bleach.  Place your veggies in the sink and let them soak for 20 minutes.  Drain and fill with pure water and let the veggies sit another 20 minutes.  Repeat.  Let your veggies drain and dry for a few minutes and put them in the fridge.

You will be amazed at how freshness and crispness will be restored to lettuce!