Today was a beautiful sunny day. The perfect weather for flea beetles. Grrrr.Luckily I know from last summer that they may riddle my greens with holes but, they won't kill the plant and I can still eat the crops afterwards. You might have to squint to see the little black shiny guy in the photo but, he is definitely there! One thing you can say about my collard greens -- they have character.
For the record, flea beetles hate water so if you're willing to spritz your plants pretty often you can keep them at bay. I guess I'm saying I'm not willing. I've also heard that you can catch them with sticky traps simply by brushing your hands on the edge of the leaves. The beetles hop just like fleas and they'll hop right onto the trap. These bugs aren't very smart.
The fact is, now that things have moved on from teeny tiny seedlings to adolescent plants I feel much more relaxed.
Everything seems to be coming into their own this week and I couldn't be
more excited. The kale really looks bumpy and "dinosaur" like. The coreopsis (yay I learned the name) survived the slug infestation and is starting to bloom, the eggplant that seemed on its last legs after the cutworm attack looks really healthy and the whole thing makes me very very happy. I even staked my tomatoes today! I know there will be more frustration down the road --likely one or two steps down -- but today I'm just pleased.Yellow flowers are m
y favorite!
1 comment:
yeah those dang flea beetles. i have this weird weed growing in my garden but the flea beetles love it, so i'm actually thinking about keeping the weed as a companion plant. but i too am a novice gardener and what do i know!!!!
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