RE: What Keeps Cutting My Seedlings Down !?
Those little cutworms can devour so much for their size! I have a small scale heirloom tomato farm and battle them usually late in our season here (zone 7).
Toothpicks do work pretty well, but they can also be confused by sticks! I take sticks and plug them into the soil around the plants to confuse them. They will crawl up a stick and realize there's no food. After they do that a few times they tend to find their way out of the garden.
Crunching up some egg shells and sprinkling around the base of plants being attacked can also deter them. They tend to dislike scratchy surfaces and I see you use mulch - that also works pretty nicely.
Another little secret from some local farmers here: learn about soil testing and BRIX levels in plants. High BRIX ( basically sugars/carbs ) in plants really helps deter pests of all kinds. I have found that pests prefer weak plants - they are easy targets. Plants with high brix levels are usually the last plants to get eaten.
I grew a little more than a hundred tomato plants last year and experimented with several different beds and soils. I found plants with thick stem/herd were attacked less often and in many cases not at all.
I plant decoys - sunflowers! They attract everything..lol Like the pest community center, it gives them all a place to gather. Then I release the mantis and they get to work! I swear by ladybugs and praying mantis - they two most underpaid garden helpers 😋
You seem to have preventative measures in place, so keep up that good fight! Happy growing, Happy Harvest!
Thanks for sharing your experience! I am also in zone 7. You gave me a lot of different options to think about. How do you test BRIX level in plants in a backyard garden? I always do a happy dance when I see a lot of ladybugs and praying mantis. They are definitely hardworking garden helpers!
My pleasure! Gardening is a constant learning process, so experimenting is what I love most about it. Testing brix levels can be tricky and costly if you get the proper tools. You'll need a refractometer to actually test the levels, however, there are some ways to enhance your soil that will not require expensive tools.
One thing to note is testing soil can give you some idea of what nutrients are deficient and which are excessive. Too much nitrogen can cause many issues that make plants vulnerable to pests. N-P-K are the three main ones to test for. If you have too much nitrogen/nitrates then try to increase the potassium levels.
It can be overwhelming, I know. Start small and build up. There's so much reading and experimenting that you'll never get bored in the garden again..lol
Here are some articles I bookmarked that really helped me start to understand all this:
• http://npk-industries.com/resources_BULDING_up_the_Brix.html
• https://www.highbrixgardens.com/victory-gardens/the-path-to-high-brix.html
• https://www.maximumyield.com/building-up-the-brix-for-healthier-nutrient-dense-crops/2/1282
These were three articles that really piqued my interest and I tried several techniques last year. I was really astonished at the results I was able to accomplish. The prior year I had pest issues and my highest yield on a single indeterminate tomato plant was 22lbs or so. Last year I was able to pull 53 lb of tomatoes from a single indeterminate tomato plant. Less pest damage and nearly doubled my max yield per plant by experimenting. At this time last year I already 6wk old plants outside, but this year the weather has not been as cooperative 😆
Momma Nature is the Boss, we are just the garden accountants and labor force 😋
Wow, thank you so much for taking the time to write! You gave me so much great info. I will be spending some time reading. 53 lbs of tomatoes from one single indeterminate tomato plant is absolutely amazing! I still have a lot to learn for sure.