How the Pros Manage Pests

In this week's video we're getting into a general approach professional growers takes to combat and prevent pests.
This video covers: how to deal with garden pests, how to manage squash bugs, vine borers, aphids, bean beetles, thrips, cabbage moths, cabbage worms, hornworms, cucumber beetles, and basically any other common garden pest!
LINKS:
🌱Seedtime (and $5 free seed!): seedtime.us/jkmel4ukl4tonac09...
Insect Netting 🐛: www.johnnyseeds.com/search/?q...
The Living Soil Handbook 📕 👉 www.notillgrowers.com/livings...
Hats 🧢 👉 www.notillgrowers.com/livings...
Forum 💬 👉 notillgrowers.community.chat
Music 🎵 👉 "Lock Stock"" by The Big Let Down via empidemicsound.com
👕 MERCH 👉 www.notillgrowers.com/livings...
Support our work (👊) at
www.notillgrowers.com/support
or
www.Patreon.com/notillgrowers
Citations:
Blue Hubbard: ipm.missouri.edu/MEG/2017/3/T...
Black Mustard: resjournals.onlinelibrary.wil...
Bean Beetles: academic.oup.com/jee/article-...
BT fact Sheet: npic.orst.edu/factsheets/btgen...
Integrated Pest Management: www.epa.gov/safepestcontrol/i...
Interesting study on ladybugs and aphids (maybe controlling ants would help?): www.mdpi.com/2075-4450/8/2/38

[@notillgrowers]

Apologies for the occasionally wonky sound and blurry clips in this one, y'all! Guess. that's what I get for trying to do videos peak farming season 😂. Hope you enjoy, though!

[@WhyYouDoThisToMe]

those of us who come here for the incredibly helpful information don't mind the occasional blur or sound blurp, you did great!

[@KPVFarmer]

It’s all good! Thanks for the valuable info!!! 🇺🇸🦅🇺🇸

[@benvoliothefirst]

I honestly thought you were just making an "artistic choice"... film school really effed me up, lol

[@jano7126]

Love all your stuff Farmer Jesse, bluey or not. Sincerely, another market gardener 🌻

[@gardenfornutrition6373]

I am surprised you did not mention temperature suppression of insects. Many seeds will sprout in very cold temperatures and mature before insects arrive. And many plants will survive cold in the late fall when most insects have finished their cycle.

[@chrismain7472]

I'm looking forward to that 8-hour video on soil ecology. I know I'm not alone in this.

[@franklicari2595]

I second that 🙏

[@nessidoe8080]

+

[@nicholeglasser4213]

It could be great Patreon-exclusive content.....one hour long mini-series?

[@tuliplangel4624]

Bring it !!!!

[@KPVFarmer]

Same!!! Can’t wait, the suspense is killing me!

[@one_field]

Another tip for integrated pest management: grow luffa, especially wherever ants are farming aphids. Luffa has extra-floral nectaries (EFNs) that feed a different type of ants, ones which are aggressive against the farming ants as well as many moths and beetles. Once they're started, they will protect other plants within about a dozen foot radius of the luffa trellis. Essentially, luffa hires body guards and the body guards decide to patrol the neighborhood. The luffa is a great young veg that can be used like zucchini, and it's super prolific. Squash bugs aren't interested in it. The flowers make bees and humming birds very happy and you can use the trellis to create shade areas (like for parking your harvest cooler while out in the field, or coiling the hose out of the sun). We had huge populations of aphid farming ants before growing luffa. The ants that luffa attracted and fed ended up killing the aphids and farmers, and they haven't returned to that section of the garden. It's really cool to watch.

[@uhitsethan]

nice. okay doing this!!!

[@wmpx34]

Do you have fire ants in your area though? Because they seem to outcompete the native ants so much I’m curious if this still works when dealing with them. The fire ants do farm aphids, they were doing it on some of my okra recently

[@anaconaway]

Oh is that why my ant population is down. I have massive aphid issues, but weirdly, no farming ants in with them. Last year I grew luffa and they were COVERD in ants.

[@johndoh5182]

@@wmpx34 Fire ants are a real hassle for sure. In a yard dealing with them is a lot different than a garden that needs to be organic. I go after them with a heavy dose of ant killer, but I also give them a very healthy dose of taking a heavy metal rod that I can shove into the mound and get it a bit destroyed. I like to do this in the center and off to different sides because they spread out. The result is I can usually get eggs exposed to the surface. The result is ALSO a huge mass of very upset fire ants at the surface. I then soak it will ant killer. I check a week later to see if any mounds have started to form around it and also to stir up the mound again to see if any ants are still there. Typically the main mound I treated is lifeless but there's a couple close by that started. I do the same to the new mounds. Repeat. Check a week later. Usually the 2nd treatment leaves the area free of ants. I find if I do this early in a season when the ants first start becoming active and I treat what I see in the yard, I can usually get by until about mid summer without fire ants. A mid summer treatment usually gets them out of the yard for the rest of the year and then the next year there's much less activity. In a garden I think I'd dig mounds out when they start to form, put the dirt into a wheelbarrow and go to town smushing them with something heavy and spray the ones that move away from the soil. You SURE know it's fire ants when they bite you. Luckily I'm pretty immune to their bites now and a bite spot will be clear in about a week, the initial bite barely hurts and as long as I get the ant pretty quickly so it isn't biting for more than a few moments I don't get itchy except for maybe one day.

[@one_field]

@@wmpx34 I'm just barely far enough north to not have fire ants, but luffa is tropical in origin and often grown in regions with them. There might be info to answer your question from those regions, online. It seems to me that the luffa-bribed ants will not be the same type as any aphid-farming type, given their reliance on the EFNs, so it's unlikely that the fire ants would be hired by the luffa. I don't know if fire ants will be driven away by the hired ants, though. It's worth trying! You should start to see ant activity below the flowers shortly after the first blooms open. I'd love to hear what you observe if you do try growing luffa as a remedy against the fire ants!

[@escapetheratrace4798]

"My enemy is a soft edible plastic called American cheese" that made me laugh way harder than it should of

[@GarnetReign]

Merch opportunity... imagine this on a T-shirt or a mug haha

[@tomdixon7264]

One trick we discovered by accident is that planting beans beside your potatoes keeps the Colorado Potato Beetle away. We had initially thought it was the variety of potato in that row, but I was later reading more info on companion planting and West Coast Seeds I believe was the one that had this point listed. I have since planted beans with my potatoes every year and not had a single beetle!

[@eleanoraddy4683]

I'm starting to see insects I've never seen before and so many different wasps it's crazy. Then the different birds turned up! Not just pigeons and seagulls anymore 😂

[@jimhuddleston2314]

We were very successful market gardeners in the Fairbanks, Alaska area; primarily growing many varieties of peppers. Since moving to south-central Missouri a few years ago, we have had a terrible time grappling with all the pests, both insect and fungal, and have yet to produce a serious pepper crop. This season we have begun the shift to no-till. The reasoning being that we really needed to let our new environment help us create the proper balance for our propogated plants to thrive…feed the soil-feed the plants-feed the soil. We know this is a multi-year process to develop our garden, but we are already seeing results. Your channel’s content has been crucial to getting no-till off and running right out of the gate. Thank you so, so much for sharing your experience.

[@paulmcwhorter]

We have a rabbit house with 170 rabbits, and the cages are designed where all the urine from the rabbits is automatically collected in a holding tank connected to our irrigation system. When we irrigate, a fertigator mixes the urine with the irrigation water and the dilute urine is sprayed on the crops. It is a gentle, balanced foliar fertilizer, and seems to discourage all manner of pests. When we turn the sprinklers on, you can sometimes see a cloud of bugs escaping the raised beds. We use the urine primarily as a fertilizer, but it seems to handle most pests. If that is not enough, tobacco grows on our compound almost like weeds, and mixing smashed tobacco leaves and some smashed hot peppers with the urine seems to take care of any pests not taken care of by the dilute urine alone. The cages also automatically collect the rabbit poop which is an excellent manure, and can be applied directly to raised beds without composting. We dedicate some fraction of our raised beds to growing timothy hay and alfalfa to feed the rabbits, so we have virtually no input costs in keeping the rabbits, and they provide most of our nutrient and pest controls needs for the compound. This alone justifies the keeping of the rabbit project. Now, this size of rabbit colony produces a great abundance of meat, and the meat is just a free benefit of the nutrient/pest control program. We are now investigating to expand the nutrient program by adding several tilapia tanks. Rather than recirculate and filter the fish water, we will simply use the fish water as a nutrient spray for the farm. Sort of like an open loop aquaponic system. Anyway, I am learning a whole lot from your channel, and we are finally achieving some really amazing results on this farm.

[@alextodd5487]

I'd love to see a video on how you deal with wild life - deer, squirrels, groundhogs, chipmunks, mice/rats, etc.

[@rdraffkorn3184]

deer control = eight foot fence... that's what i've resorted to because nothing else works.

[@suewagoner3615]

And bunnies!!!

[@timothytherrien3624]

@@rdraffkorn3184 the deer up north here can jump over an 8 ft fence

[@notaregistereduser3446]

50 lb monofilament fishing line every 12 inches up to 6 feet. The deer feel it but can't really see it, especially at night and won't jump it.

[@loganozarks4102]

​@@notaregistereduser3446interesting, thanks

[@natefox1496]

Your overhead shots of your beds is absolutely stunning. Thank you for inspiration

[@zztopwater8568]

It does look awesome. I get amped up and motivated looking at those drone shots.

[@deanlain1295]

Please do the 8hr soil health video. I will watch it twice.

[@midwestribeye7820]

Thank you for showing pictures of different 'good' and 'bad' bugs. I see bugs all the time when i check my plants and I'm usually too afraid to kill them because I don't know what they are.

[@notillgrowers]

Super important to know your bugs!

[@anaconaway]

I found out this year what a hover fly larvae looks like and all my garden groups were convinced they were cut worms until I found a picture while looking for something else. So important to know what all they life stages look like.

[@spiritranger9202]

Yes! I was disgusted at first and then found out they were the good guys 😂 Rat tailed maggots are their name.

[@jvin248]

A big strip of buckwheat and tillage radishes (daikon) really brought in the beneficial insects last year so I planted them in a ring around the fields this year. Spiders as big as my thumb, ladybugs galore, praying mantis, and insect eating birds. The insects were super noisy at night! ... A secondary or perhaps primary consideration is Lofthouse's Landrace Gardening: higher brix plants from good genetics for your own microclimate can more easily ward off pests and diseases.

[@notillgrowers]

Love the buckwheat strip. I almost mentioned the brix thing, actually. The science is not super friendly towards this idea, unfortunately. Studies don't seem to find much if any correlation, and refractometers are rather unreliable with leaf measurements (as opposed to fruit). Anecdotally that's been my experience as well (low brix on healthy plants and vica versa).

[@mar1video]

I would suggest to get a good book about bugs in the garden, to be able properly identify the insects. I highly recommend the Garden Insects of North America by Whitney Cranshaw and David Shetlar. Arbico Organics has a great selection of organic pesticides with adequate documentation. Do your research first ! Great video ! Thanks for sharing !

[@tofinh]

I've felt the same way about earthworms, I'd much rather encourage the worms that are already in my soil, rather than releasing worms that were imported.

[@tedb5937]

thank you FJ I always enjoy sunday mornings with you!

[@rosehavenfarm2969]

The shot of the ladybug chowing down on the aphid was fascinating. Thanks for showing that.

[@willc4922]

Love your content... Your humor cracks me up... Keep the good stuff up

[@manolopapas]

I have been waiting for this one for a long time. Very interesting. Thank you very much.

[@NaturallyUnbridled]

Just found this channel. Pure gold! Thanks!

[@sarahlovesdonuts9601]

As always, you and the No-till team have provided great info!🌸

[@theresakelly3747]

You are awesome, I love all the information you give.

[@mckdi1377]

Always good information! Thank you!

[@thepeopleplaceandnaturepod8344]

Thanks for sharing these tips. Keep up the great work! 💖

[@bruceallen6377]

Really surprised there was no mention of nematodes! I purchased some at my local Agway and use them to kill the army worms/cutworms and Japanese beetle grubs and it worked extremely well! It did take about two weeks and I will definitely be doing it next spring before planting! Thanks for your channel!

[@notillgrowers]

Oh yeah, I have used nematodes in the past. I'd have to look at the studies in terms of long term risks but they can be effective for sure!

[@billiebruv]

Beneficial nematodes are essential for the sfw

[@nancyhjort5348]

Awesome source of information, F.J., I have your book and love it!

[@ruthannecoro6198]

Love all things nerdy and geeky 😊 I get so much from your videos’s! Thank you for sharing your wisdom, knowledge and experience with us all! I was mostly a perennial flower Gardner. Over the past 4 years, I’ve added about 400sq of raised beds.. a few green stalks and many fabric containers.. I have an abundance bugs and birds. A couple years ago I grew corn, the tassels got absolutely and disgustingly covered in aphids. I left it to them.. as the crop was a fail anyways.. come early fall, I went to collect them for fall decoration and they were filled with ladybugs.. the next spring, I discovered a whole new “wormlike” critter everywhere.. a wee bit of searching and discovered they were ladybug larvae.. I still find dozens of them! They are currently working loving my lettuce filled greenstalk!

[@erikunger2297]

Great job Jesse!

[@midwestribeye7820]

You put out really great content! Thank you!

[@chrisrobb8456]

Great job! Really impressed thanks so much for this video.

[@dustinabc]

Just subscribed after watching at least a dozen of your videos over the last couple months. Your American cheese joke was the straw that broke the camel's back.

[@vaniafarmar5281]

Had been waiting for this video!

[@thaifreeburma]

Thanks, I really appreciate this video-post - it's just about the final piece of the jigsaw I need to get going and scale up what I've done up to present time.

[@ohmyet2173]

I’ve been using mint tea, cyan pepper and soap with a little neem oil on my garden. Has helped with some of the aphids but it has to be applied often because of rain.

[@ljgerken]

Great information! I am using Dr. Bronner's Peppermint castille soap in water, sometimes garlic or alcohol or vinegar in water as a pest spray. I do use neem for leaf miners.

[@dxn0001]

Getting the book. Love the videos, only a few in so plenty more to go.

[@tjinnes]

Very helpful. Thanks.

[@kannmann97]

We used to grow baby brassicas (Arugula, baby kale, tatsoi, Tokyo bekana, hakurei etc) spring and also fall but the proteknet was such a headache and only was so effective when we had to remove the covering frequently to cultivate. We realized the best option was to just grow them more in the fall and we dont have to cover anything. Our main issue was flea beetles and timing it worked a lot better for us. Also we just gave up on curcubits because of our horrible cucumber beetle and squash bug issues. We have a horrible ant problem still and im not sure how to handle them. Lastly, for aphids we only use one spray sparingly and it is purecrop1 since it wont effect beneficials…. It’s Omri listed, raises the brix of the plants and also protects plants from molds since its a surfactant. It only works by disrupting the sap-sucking insects enzyme that is in their guts. We don’t use BT because we are concerned about how it may effect beneficials, but that may just be due to my lack of knowledge about it.

[@notillgrowers]

I've looked through several studies on BT and I can't really find much about negative effects on beneficials. I saw a couple from England that said it could have an effect on ladybugs but it seemed inconclusive (though this was a few years back so I should look at it again). I think using it (and any other spray) sparingly is always a good approach though!

[@kannmann97]

@notillgrowers great to know!

[@TheWafflesalsa]

I have been using protek net for the first time this season so far it has been great. The problem I had is when I tried to keep a broody turkey from her nest that she decided to make in a raised bed; she scratched a few small holes in it that look like cigarette burns. Fortunately the holes don't appear to be tearing like they would with a lot of covers.

[@EDLaw-wo5it]

Great info for this new gardener. Havagudun Jesse.

[@tommybreen9677]

This holistic management is starting to take off ❤

[@j.b.4340]

Yellowjackets, and wasps, do a lot for me. I used to destroy them all, but then I watched a yellow jacket hunting pests in my strawberries.

[@WilliamFarwell]

HI jess !!! you my brother are awesome !!! i use daddy long legs that i relocate from out side of house to my garden seems to work great !!!!! and they seem to stay until pests are gone ....... for a large farm obviously would be difficult .. but small scale works amazing !!!! ever hear of that ????? morning dew 802 Deano

[@notillgrowers]

Spiders FTW!

[@KyleKjorsvik]

I want the 8 hour video!

[@chadwickbradbury8390]

❤😂you’re fairly funny 😁 😊keep it growing boss thanks much love 💗

[@marielefebvre5891]

I used a homemade spray made with a few drops of peppermint oil, soap & cool pressed neem oil and sprayed the garden after every rain and the smell covered & repelled most of the moths from the Brassies.

[@jannekewittebol5911]

Great video!

[@OwlMoovement]

Thanks kindly for another awesome video, fella. I recently discovered the concept of beetle banks, similar to JM Fortier's beneficial rows. I am considering it for my urban sites for next year and may be doing some consulting for someone's 8 acre site. Would love to hear from you on that topic.

[@jeffclayton1397]

Great job

[@stonemountaincreations3459]

Thank you

[@luvelyjay]

Just got my book! Can’t wait to devour its content😁

[@TheRooflesstoofless]

I’m really enjoying using pyrethrin spray to spot spray for pests. I wait until dusk when all my bees are in bed then I go to town on Japanese beetles, stink bugs, and leaf footed bugs

[@roxannem.wallrn3873]

I wish you would put out a tshirt that says “I am a dirt Nerd” .. with your logo… I would buy that!

[@kindhempco.6126]

Any tips for managing corn borer worm on a half acre? Always awesome !! Thank you for your amazing work and sharing so much great knowledge.

[@notillgrowers]

Nothing specific for corn borer beyond what's in the video, but I would check the arbico organics website for tips. They've got a lot of info there

[@majmat]

I've been using a tobacco based spray. I don't smoke, but a mix of tobacco, ground black pepper soaked in hot water strained so there are no bits floating about to block the spray nozzle, add i drop or to of dish soap and that pretty much gets rid of all pests.

[@0ctatr0n]

I've found a spray bottle with about two tablespoons of dish soap and a third of white vinegar and the rest water, shaken up and sprayed directly on squash beetles (or Aphids as we call them) will kill the beetles pretty effectively without having to touch them.

[@thenumerousfew1205]

“Water is the beer of the soil” Iam gonna need that on a shirt

[@BRWfilms]

Great video

[@brettd.cotten9987]

Thanks!

[@notillgrowers]

Amazing, thank you!

[@ToddAdams-kr3jb]

Great episode, enjoy the dad jokes. So far this year I have not had a pest problem. Besides deer eating my beans, using Irish Spring soap to deter them.

[@redhen689]

Last summer I visited my brother in upstate NY. He showed us around property and deep into the forest we found a bar of Irish spring soap. His wife had used it to deter animals from the garden, but apparently, something liked it enough to drag it into the forest.

[@ToddAdams-kr3jb]

The wildlife need to clean up also. Yeah I had dad jokes

[@dantheman9135]

ThankQ

[@ThatBritishHomestead]

I like that you are so informative your Video

[@Robert-gn1xk]

Hello from Florida

[@ThatBritishHomestead]

@@Robert-gn1xk hello from London

[@Robert-gn1xk]

@@ThatBritishHomestead how are you doing today over there it's morning here my time

[@ryanreedy]

I went to a local farmers market last Wednesday picked out some organic grown kale then when I got home I inspected the kale and found lots of live APHIDS

[@notillgrowers]

Oof, that does happen. Aphids can be sneaky and find their way into little folds that get missed at harvest. Bummer!

[@ajb.822]

Important ! Note on cucumber beetles, in my experience. I found something that appears to be what's working FANTASTICALLY to prevent their being an issue for me, in my last 4 or so gardens ( have moved often). Based on something I read in the back of the book "Carrots love Tomatoes" years ago, can't recall what exactly now but due to whatever it was, I tried this. About a small palm/hand-full of tobacco ( my hubby found me plain stuff, dry & chopped, sold as pipe tobacco) in the soil when seeding or transplanting ( or working it in slightly later if couldn't b4, has worked too). I'm currently experimenting using my homegrown and simply dried tobacco grown from seeds I got from Pinetree Seeds ( I got the "Native" heirloom variety). Seems to be working, too :) ! I had been to the point where I was, having very limited experience and not good, using row covers, going to build a screened in structure to grow my cukes in. I'm only growing for my own family I should mention.. . I LOVE cucumbers to snack on all summer, fresh picked & with peanut butter most often (the pickling types tho, taste best imo). So, I was at my wit's end trying to battle my (increasing yearly) cuke beetle problems either OG or, in desperation... not ( also in not great soil, newer garden, probably truly compacted and just learning about no-till). They'd started bothering my squashes too, starting with the zucchini, to the point I was hardly getting any zukes ... & who HAS that problem ?!?! This was like flipping a switch ! I still saw a few of those lil striped, yellow cuke beetles around, but not so much on these plants anymore, and they stayed healthy ! Apparently they also like tomotillas, as my SIL had them all over her plant in our shared, new garden there that yr. . Otherwise, I've not had any more issues w them & I just continue to use the tobacco as I've continued to have to move and start new, sub-par gardens with limited resources ( although I now have a great, Treadlight brand deepest, toughest broadfork) & in my experience b4, the cuke beetles found me no matter where or what sort of ( ecologically) neighborhood/property I'd moved to or gardened in). Obviously, this approach my not be appropriate for OG certified growers. I'm personally not worried about traces of nicotine in my cukes, IF that's even happening, idk. Would be something to research !

[@Howwerelivingfishing]

This year I found ants acting strange on my strawberries. They were basically building a mound of dirt that covered the plants stem leading up to the berries, and every time I’d remove it they’d put it right back by the next day. They did this for the whole season! Someone told me in a comment that they were farming aphids

[@user-iy3kz4ur6h]

6:47 "Or the lady bugs can just fly off - if you've never seen $100 just fly away, that's one really great way to do it." You are always funny, but... I'm in tears of laughter!

[@davidjoly1363]

We could also add selecting cultivars that resist your local pest and disease (and the need for breeding such cultivars). This may be harder for market gardener with customers asking for specific and uniform look of their vegetables. As a backyard gardener, I can plant various cultivars of maxima squash, I don't protect them with netting or any pesticide (even organic ones) and I can afford to lose even most of my plants some years to select for the resistant ones that will tolerate more efficiently pests next years and let them cross-pollinate. I can't find the resistant ones if I prevent insects from "showing me" which one are resistant (even worse, in absence of selection, I can dilute resistance traits / genes). We may need breeders developing cultivars / helping market gardener develop cultivars locally adapted, so they can grow their vegetables with less work.

[@parksnikki]

I say make that 8 hr soil video! Sounds amazing to me.

[@idabergmann5270]

thanks for this awesome video (i'm here for the dead jokes too ;) and i have a question: do you have recommendations for (against) potatoe beetles and also wireworms??

[@shiyardiagariepy]

I would watch the 8 hour dissertation!!!!

[@user-od8qj3be8m]

Another great video, Thank You! We purchased a Broadfork and we have VERY heavy clay soil. Shall I say it is a Beeeeccchh to breaking the soil. Time and effort we will get what we seek. We don't seem to have as many pest issues as many in your climate. Was 109 here yesterday and dry as dry can be. Our biggest nemesis is the squash bug. It just shows up and well it is here. In regards to the Seedtime, we have looked at the program. Then the weather has been so out of control here and such would not have worked for us. A lot of stuff that we are planting is like 30-45 days late. Then triple digits everyday. The transplants are not doing good at all. As always we have the pleasure and watching and learning from this video again!

[@karenpage9383]

I have a similar problem with Seedtime. I am a home gardener, and my property is heavily wooded. I have removed some trees, but most of the ones shading my garden are on a neighboring property that I do not own. As a result my garden gets only 5-6 hours of sunlight and everything matures much slower. Harvest times never line up with what any software predicts.

[@notillgrowers]

I believe with any program like that you will have to adjust the numbers a little bit to your specific context. I always tell people that my two last farms couldn't be any more different in terms of production, speed to maturity, exposure and so on. Those two farms? They're 15 minutes away from each other! So always take notes and refine as you go.

[@user-od8qj3be8m]

@@karenpage9383 We are in the dessert and only trees are the few that we planted. The hottest that it got in May was 92 once. Where we usually have at least six days of over 100. We planted our corn four weeks late because of the ground temperature. It will be 111 today and 112 tomorrow. So it is water water water. So how is Seedtime going to tell us that?

[@seedtimeplanner]

Great note here! It's true, with so many variables that span beyond even weather (think soil conditions/fertility etc.) it is almost impossible for any software to accurately predict exact harvest dates. That being said, one of the powers of Seedtime is that you can easily and visually make a record of exactly what happened throughout your year. Seeding dates can be recorded down to the day they happened, transplanting dates, etc. And you can also drag the edge of your harvest window forward and backward to mark when your harvest actually started and when it actually finished. This info can be gold when it comes to planning next season. Imagine being able to at a glance look back and see exactly what happened last year laid out visually and plan next year accordingly. In this way Seedtime is not merely just a crop planning tool - but an easy records keeping tool as well. And of course, we may be a little biased. :) All of that being said, as a user we want to hear from you! Please let us know how it could work better/fit your needs more. That's how we improve and truly create something amazing for the growing community!

[@karenpage9383]

@@user-od8qj3be8m I think for folks like us dealing with less than ideal conditions, we have to look at any software as just a record keeper of what was planted and when, vs a guide or planner for harvesting and bed availability. Usually the cost of software isn't worth it to me, especially since I'm just a home gardener with limited space. It would be different if we were a high production or income dependent farm.

[@DJ-lp6bh]

JESSIE: Hot sauce, Garlic and Soap sounds like a great pest control channel or series. Can you say why that would take away your organic license? What if you used all organic HG&S? Anyway love the channel!

[@Ok-Mardy]

I seen the exact type of wasp 2 weeks ago fly down and devour a green caterpillar just like at the end of your video not all big wasps are to be afraid of i learned

[@nancynice9574]

Ready for the 8 hour video

[@tkin5265]

Any tips for wireworm control?

[@danrooney7914]

Subscribed. I love your asides. The knowledge is good too I guess. I'm here for the jokes though.

[@FantailValleyHomestead]

Come for the information, stay for the Dad jokes. Keep up the good work Jesse! - Dana

[@charliefoxtrot6017]

I used to get flea beetle infestations in my mints and sage. Haven’t seen a single beetle (for years) since planting nasturtium with these plants. Nasturtium is also a great trap crop for cabbage butterfly larvae. We get swarms of butterflies and they have totally stripped my nasturtiums at times. For transplant shock we now use epsom salts (1 teaspoon per litre) at transplant time. Epsom salt acceptable for organic gardening? 2-3cm self sown lettuce seedlings didn’t wilt when transplanted on a 36C day. We also use a lot of charcoal to increase soil biome. Trialled five eggplant seedlings with, one without, and those with charcoal grew to double size with twice the fruit.

[@notillgrowers]

Love nasturtium! Great flower (and great in a salad).

[@anissaferringer4965]

I disagree with "boring" too.

[@wilbertcr]

Thanks! Let us know if you’re ever headed to Costa Rica and would like to stay at our property/see our garden!

[@RawsomeFood]

What's your take on electrooulture?

[@IntegratedPestManagement]

ProtekNet..we've heard good things 😎

[@kiranero471]

First of all I love Your video's keep it up. Secondly That wasp is that a close up or real size? Thats the biggest thing ive ever seen.

[@Marie-yx5ie]

Well done Heather, for all your hard work 👏👏👏I know it's to late now, but Brady should you have been wearing a mask to protect your lungs?? Love you guy's. You are all a wonderful inspiration to us folks 👍😉🇮🇪☘️Eire

[@heyhey8554]

That lettuce in the thumbnail was an amazing shot. When did yo plant that salad mixture? Also where are you growing? I have trouble growing lettuce in the ground, what tips do you have for a fellow lettuce head? Thank you for your time

[@notillgrowers]

We grow lettuce year round, summer included. Kentucky 6b. A good video on summer lettuce for tips! 👉 studio.kzbin.info0_kG14pFPpw/edit

[@marklloyd6433]

you put out an absolute ton of experience backed information man. Recently discovered your podcast aswell... interesting that you don't mention sap brix or specific minerals, usually foliar applied, as a potential solution to make plants intolerable to pests. This take is very popular now in regenerative AG... I don't doubt there is a lot to it though. I assume it is just not reliable enough and simply too risky to rely on without a lot of skill. It also isn't allowed in organic systems where you have to prove that you have a deficiency in something before spraying as i understand? Just wondering if you ever have a spare minute to comment whether you have any experience with this yourself?

[@notillgrowers]

Funny enough, thought about mentioning brix but honestly the science and research is at best inconclusive, but mostly negative towards the relationship between brix and pests. Anecdotally, we've tested beautiful, pest free plants and they've had low brix (like 4s and 5s). And we've tested high brix on tomato plants being hammered by army worms shrug 🤷 . As for foliar sprays, they are helpful for nutrient deficiencies which can indeed be helpful for pest management. Could have added that one in there as well

[@marklloyd6433]

@@notillgrowers Wow that's not what I would have expected so that's very interesting. Those that argue it's all about high brix or luxury levels of mineral A, B ,C etc. are absolutely adamant they got it all figured out. It's an interesting space, for sure, but I do wish there was better research. Thanks for taking time to respond. hugely appreciated

[@darknectarcooperative7242]

@@notillgrowers we have very easily controlled caterpillars (ie cabbage moth), aphids and mites, with sap analysis and good nitrogen management...no more BT or any other interventions. If you're organic, the sap analysis will provide documentation to apply molybdenum which is deficient in most crops, and necessary to convert your nitrates to COMPLETE proteins. Sap analysis also gives you a clear idea if you are over applying nitrogen, which you probably are if you have caterpillars, aphids and mites. Sap analysis will also give you documentation to identify an iron deficiency which most farms have also. With proper iron, you get better photosynthesis and more lipid production which will also protect the plant from pests and disease... The list goes on and on about how to manage pests and disease with sap analysis and nutrient management. ...it's worth talking about. In our experience, sap analysis has been the most economical method to manage pests and disease, and we only have 1/4 farm.

[@WAYNESVILLE]

2 years ago I had aphids really bad like my entire tree like was covered if I walked back there I got covered in black aphids so I overwintered a bunch of carrots and let them flower the next year and got so many hoverflies they were annoying but I only found aphids on one plant so it worked out

[@brandonhorwath6351]

I can't stand the Canada thistle that grows around here. However, I've noticed that aphids love it. I left some for them. Now, I have more ladybugs, this year, than I have seen in my entire life...

[@shibibi1]

Flowers I will always grow around food gardens, marigolds, nasturtiums, sunflowers, chives, borage, amaranth, lavender, pansies, sweet peas and snap dragons. Every one of these are in some form, edible too. No reason a vege patch can't be swimming with colour

[@FRAGGARED]

Hi. I'm pretty sure it was in one of ur videos where u recommend a bird identification app. I will try and find the specific video but if someone could let me know if they know which I'm talking about, it records and identifies the bird song. Thank u very much I love ur videos no till people. I will be showing this video to my uncle because the way he manages our land is depleting the soil and irresponsible to the native wildlife

[@chridtinechan9046]

Out in CA battling with slugs and whiteflies here. Any suggestion?

[@TinganHamada86]

Salam sukses Salam jumpa dan jumpa Video ini bagus sekali Terima kasih ilmu telah berbagi 👍

[@ronnniehazeus]

Do you think if someone is interested in raising some kind of bird ducks could be a viable pest control? Also Matt Powers hand sows amaranth as a way to attract birds, deer, etc and keep them from eating his crop and to get them to deal with bugs

[@melodybarry3127]

If I could give this a like for every low flex joke, I would. 😂Great job!!!

[@tolbaszy8067]

Saw a "wasp" on a summer squash that looked like the head and forelegs of a praying mantis glommed onto the thorax of a wasp. I have never noticed this before. Is my compost too radioactive? Maybe it's the water, which is from Lake Champlain, piped from a conventional water treatment facility. Maybe it's just one of those wonderful adaptations of Nature. Great video, as expected! (No pressure). Thanks!

[@notillgrowers]

Honestly, the better your soil the more "alien" the bugs should be--diversity follows health! So I don't know about radioactivity, but I know that new and interesting things pop up every year on our farm so 🤷

[@2quick4u84]

Hi i live in a very humide climate in Spain as i live in an island, so i'd like to ask how you manage fungus in lettuces, because it is very hard for me to grow them at this time of the year as it is very hot but humid at the same time.. thanks

[@billybudz]

Great content🦚Can fluoridated city tap water inhibit photosynthesis? If so how does one effectively irrigate an urban farm?

[@giannablack5770]

That was a fun word to listen to. LOL

[@viqtahkorir7622]

another way is by using pheromone and sticky traps. I've used them and they work well, ony that they're costly