I am starting to realize that in-ground gardening is much more challenging than container gardening. I knew there will be more issues just based on the greater number of vegetable plants I have in the community plot. Beyond the greater number, the in-ground garden is more accessible to insects and other garden pests (but also to beneficial creatures as well). My container garden has the added benefit of being on a balcony so not as many insects get to it. So far, in the community garden, I've had the attack of rodents and/or birds on the tomato seedlings. The little make-shift cage is working and the tomatoes are now growing well. Something is also feasting on the swiss chard. The huge black poop on the leaves indicate that it is some sort of caterpillar. I usually go to the garden after work so the caterpillars are probably hiding in the soil. I will catch them in the act one of these days!
 |
| All you can eat swiss chard for the caterpillars |
I also noticed something is attacking one of my eggplants. I am growing 3 types of eggplants: black beauty, classic italian (not sure of exact name) and ichiban. The flea beetle decided to attack the classic italian, maybe because it is the smallest plant. I read that flea beetles are one of the main pests of eggplants and they are usually a problem early in the season particularly following a mild winter. This describes the current condition perfectly. I'm not sure how to gauge how bad the damage is, but I feel like the plant will be OK. Here is how the leaves looked:
 |
| Classic sign of flea beetle damage |
 |
| A little blurry, but you can see the discoloration and holes in the leaves |
My plan of attack is to manually remove the fleas (there aren't too many yet, I only spotted like 4-5 tiny fleas) and to use caffeine (coffee). The other organic control method I read is neem oil - but I don't have this, so for now I'm going with coffee. I marched to the garden with a bottle of cooled coffee (extra strong) and a container of fresh coffee grinds in hand. I sprinkled the coffee grinds around the base of the eggplant and sprayed the leaves with coffee, making my garden smell like a cafe. I will post updates on how this goes.
 |
| Coffee sprayed on leaves and coffee grind at the base of the eggplant |
It is not all bad in the garden. Some plants are thriving...like the curly kale and collard greens. The kale is definitely doing much better in-ground than in the container. This might be because it has much more space in the community garden. I should thin out the kale in my containers. I hate thinning out plants...
 |
| Happy kale |
I planted summer vegetables like tomatoes, eggplants and cucumbers last weekend and I carried out some anti-pests measures like insect screens, aluminum foils and spraying mixture of cooking oil, kitchen detergent and water.
ReplyDeleteYour "Coffee Spray" is new and interesting to me! Please show how effective it is on your blog later!
I will keep you posted. So far, I can say that there seems to be fewer fleas but it might just be by chance.
DeleteBummer. My eggplants had the same trouble for a bit last year, the beetles seemed to dwindle though as the plant grew and either outgrew the damage or recovered from the transplant. You could also try a sticky trap of some kind, like a duct tape collar, to catch the little buggers when they hop around. Good luck!
ReplyDeletePests are the worst part of gardening.
total bummer. I hope this plant will outgrow the damage too! Fingers crossed!!
DeleteLooking forward to updates. I have totally given up on eggplants because of the flea beetles.
ReplyDeleteI read that many people have given up on eggplants. They do well in containers so I might have to do it that way...but I'll keep trying. I definitely be reporting on the progress of the eggplants.
Delete