Today I rebel against structure, organization, and flow. Today I will pass along totally random tidbits of information I've learned and have been reminded of in the past couple of weeks. Hope you enjoy!
- Insects have been around for 350 million years and share 80% of our genes.
- If bees get sick, they won't go back to the colony (isn't this moving?).
- Certain wasps are an example of parasitoids. They will lay an egg in an insect. The larva will feed on the host essentially making a mummy out of it. Here's what you do in the garden. If you see tons of aphids for example, look for the mummies. If you see 10% mummies, check back in a week. If you see 20% mummies, just leave it alone. The beneficial parasitoids are taking care of the problem for you.
- Beneficials are good...they're insect pest predators in the immature stage and pollinators in the adult stage. Lure them to your garden!
- Lacewings are wacky but beneficial creatures. They'll gather tiny pieces of bark and lichen on top of themselves and hide under it, waiting for aphids to approach. But the ant, a friend of the aphids (aphids give them honeydew), will go right over and knock the disguise off of the lacewing.
- Be a detective in the garden. If you have pest problems, look for evidence of beneficials. Look at the damage. Do you see chewing damage (like random holes, bites, shoot dieback) or sucking damage (yellowing leaves, distorted leaves, branches, etc.)? This will help you determine what do to about it. Chewing insects can be controlled by applying a substance to the leaf. Sucking insects can be controlled by something systemic that will be taken up by the plant and deter or poison bugs.
- Reminder: as the snow defrosts, and it starts to warm up, do not start digging around while the soil is wet (I do this every spring when I'm overly eager to get outside). You'll compact the soil and literally turn it to bricks. It's possible to ruin years and years of good built up soil in 5 minutes by pulling stunts like this. Anyone else guilty of this? This is one habit I really don't plan on doing anymore.
- Don't use cat or dog poop in your compost. We've all heard this, but here's one very good reason why: dogs and cats have intestinal parasites that like people. They get in the soil, and get into our food. It's a very big human health risk. Yuck.
- Fun fact: it's not cow farts, but cow burps that give off the methane gas we blame cows (among other things) for.
- Plant viruses are big time. Really really big time. I thought I would have nightmares about insects after my entomology class. nuh-uh. I'm still afraid to close my eyes after the plant pathology class. All I can say is this...I am going to seriously consider cleaning my pruners with alcohol after each cut just like we always read about. I'm surprised fungi haven't taken over the world. Do you gardeners clean your pruners after each cut? I'm going to be OCD about this now.
- Finally, I will just ask this: why does there always have to be that one person in every class who thinks it's a personal class just for him/her? You know the one - who blurts out questions while others have their hands raised? Who will piggyback off of someone else's question, turning it into his/her question before the instructor even gets to answer the original question? The one who has so much to add to the class you wonder why he/she is even taking the class if he/she thinks he/she is so smart? It's making it hard for me to fully geek out when I'm spending increasing amounts of time annoyed by this...