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Austria

Please tell me, if I ask too many stupid questions. You may think "hey get yourselfs a book" or "use the search-function". I just did (Langevin) and use the search whenever possible ... now ..

I`ve discovered aphids under the leafs of my plants. I read almost everything I could find. Still the question is "is it better to just wash them off or use natural weapons eg. "stingle-nettle-tea" or soap-water or better go for them big time with insecticides?" If yes, what kind of? Anyone deleted them successfully?

Another thing is, I discovered snails. Same thing here. Anyone have Indian ducks, who go out hunting for them. special fences or again chemicals? Do snails like pumpkin plants? I discovered some snails in the compost, who looked like those red snails (without houses on their backs), but were larger and dark with kind of spots on them, looked like little anacondas, sort of scaring but beautiful somehow ...

6/1/2005 8:45:19 AM

Knopp, Germany

Hi Heino. There are literally no stupid questions when practicing our hobby, specially for a new grower.

Last year I used soap/water mixture in a spray bottle. It was very hard to keep the aphids away, but eventually doing the soap spray everyday, they finally disappeared. However, The leaves that they were attached to got powdery mildew very bad. If you are successful in fighting them, you may want to watch out for the PM.

I use "Schneckenkorn" for the snails. I only seem to need it while the plants are very small seedlings. Once they get bigger the snails seem to leave them alone.

It is good to use the books, and the search function at this website, but the answers you find do not always fit our particular situations, so please continue to ask away.

Also, my answers may not always be right, they are what I know to the best of my knowledge, if someone else out there has other ideas or can correct what I have stated that is good. I see it as a learning experience all around.

take care,
owen

6/1/2005 9:03:28 AM

Cologne Brescia Italy

Hi I use (CONFIDOR SUPRA from Bayer)it work very well for
aphids controll it's systemic I use it every 8 days
use it since 1998, and I'am happy of his work

6/1/2005 9:21:18 AM

Hilpoltstein, Bavaria, Germany

Heino,

Ich würde Dir wärmstens zur chemischen Lösung der Probleme raten.
Ich verwende Schneckenkorn mit versch. Wirkstoffen (Bayer, Compo) gegen die Schneckenplage.

Auch bei den Blattläusen kann ich nur die chemische Keule empfehlen. Die Läuse sitzen unter den Blättern oder verborgen an den Stängeln und Blattadern. Eine mechanische Entfernung oder eine Bekämpfung auf natürliche Weise ist sehr schwierig, zeitaufwendig und meist auch kostenintensiver.
Du solltest auch darauf achten, dass Du beim Kauf einen Insektizids eines mit systemischer Wirkung nimmst. Ich verwende ausschließlich Mittel mit dem Wirkstoff "Dimethoat". Solche Mittel werden von versch. Herstellern unter versch. Namen angeboten. z.B. Rogor von Compo, 1l für ca.11€. Du brauchst zwar nur 1,5ml pro l Wasser, ich würde Dir aber empfehlen, dass Du trotzdem eine Literflasche kaufst, da die Kleinpackung für Hobbygärtner mit 50ml mindestens die Hälfte von dem kostet, was die Literflasche kostet. :-)

Grüße,
Martin

6/1/2005 9:28:50 AM

Austria

Thank you so far. As most uf us I am sceptic at first using the chemical solution. Systemtic means surely, the insecticides go into the plants and effects the aphids from there. I surely do not want to poison the plant. I even plan to eat parts of the pumpkin (at least I`ll try). No problem then? In doubt I must say I would first try the natural way ...

6/1/2005 9:42:03 AM

Cologne Brescia Italy

ok, no problem

6/1/2005 11:34:04 AM

Hilpoltstein, Bavaria, Germany

Dein Gedanke ist einleuchtend. Ich habe es zuerst auch auf natürliche Weise versucht bis ich halt dann auf die schmerzliche Art erfahren habe, dass es nicht funktioniert...

Die chemischen Mittel haben eine auf der Verpackung angegebene Wartezeit, die nach der Anwendung bis zum Verzehr eingehalten werden sollte.
Danach steht dem Verzehr nichts im Wege. Wir haben immer einen Teil der Kürbisse gegessen und leben noch...lol
Außerdem spritze ich auch meine Tomaten, Gurken, etc. mit denselben Mitteln... Ich vermute, dass die Mengen an Spritzmitteln, die sich nach der Ernte in meinem Gemüse befinden bei weitem geringer sind als in allem Obst und Gemüse, das wir täglich im Supermarkt kaufen.

Also dann, viel Glück mit dem organischen Versuch. Bitte teile mir Deinen Erfolg mit!

Martin

6/1/2005 4:37:17 PM

Austria

Ok, cooked a stinging-nettle tea yesterday and sprayed the plants (espec. the undersides of the leaves) with it yesterday evening and today in the morning. It looks like it helped a bit ... yet no reason to be cheerful ...

6/2/2005 2:34:40 AM

Atlanta, Georgia

Hi everyone!

I usually have a lot of snails in my main patch because
there is a ditch with running water right next to it, but the snails don't ever bother the pumpkins once the true leaves come. I still use bio-schnecken korn but I don't place it next to my plants because it attracts the snails and even if one snail makes it past the korn then the cots will get eaten...but as I said before, it doesn't matter once the plants are taking off.

As far as blattlauesen or other leaf pests I would go easy on the soap or insecticide solutions. Last year I did nothing against them but my leaves ended up drying out with PM as Owen said in his post.

Sergio, You said you applied the soap every 8 days. How did your leaves look at the end of the season? I read that the soap should only be used twice...that is to spray one time and wait two weeks to spray the second time. I have also seen that on rose plants the blattlauesen are destroyed with two applications of soap solution of 3 tablespoons of dish soap to 5 liters of water but then the growing tips of the rose plants are damaged.

I just wanted to throw in my own observations and wish us all happy leaves this fall....and big pumpkins!

Martin, If you are reading this, your 495 plant is growing healthy now but is still very small. I don't expect to be able to PROVE the seed but it will be important for my crosses this year and I am anxious to see what the pumpkins look like from it.
Later All!
Michel

6/3/2005 1:31:22 AM

Cologne Brescia Italy

Michel,I never used the soap, I use Confidor, it's sistemic
but I use it (ONLY FOR CONTROLL APHIDS ON MY GIANT PUMPKINS AND ROSE)for the other vegetables, I use nettle macerated in water for 3 days, after I use the solution spray on the my vegetable this solution don't burn the leaves, this method, work don't bad, but it kill only the aphids adults, and don't have effect on the aphids eggs
Sergio

6/3/2005 5:47:55 AM

Atlanta, Georgia

Thanks Sergio!
I'm still testing the nettle and soap solutions on my other plants and haven't needed anything yet for the pumpkins since they are growing perfectly right now. My pumpkin leaves are a bit too dark green so I am only watering with rain water and hope that I don't have too much nitrogen in my soil to prevent the plants from setting a pumpkin. I am considering really drenching the soil to leach out the nitrogen a bit but I'm afraid it might cause the stem to split if there is too much water.

Martin,
Sorry to hear about your leaf problem! It looks to me like some kind of reaction to spraying and not something from the ground or lack of water. I wish you luck figuring it out! I have a hops plant in the greenhouse and its leaves look similar to the pics you posted after I sprayed early in the season against ants and flying pests. Luckily I covered the pumpkin plant before spraying at it wasn't affected.
Michel

6/6/2005 1:11:30 AM

Austria

The results of my nettle-tea-try were disappointing. I^m considering chemical measures now, but ... as I moved my little self-made green house (wooden frame) to my most aphid infected plant (628 Olsen) half a dozen earwigs fell out of the frame. Obviously they live in that wooden frame. I imagine them feasting like kings on those aphids in the night. Now, that would be a real natural solution too. I^ll wait and see. Only thing that concerns me, is that there are quite a few growers here on bp who think it is better to kill the earwigs too, because they might not only eat the aphids but also parts of the plants ... any suggestion?

6/7/2005 3:31:50 AM

Austria

Due to low temperatures and growth stop in the last days, I put up little hoop houses for all the plants. I don`t know if they get enough fresh air under them. It may stay to humid in there so I bought and used a fungicide just in case. Doing that I also purchased an insecticide with dimethoat in it ... I will use both only decent and stop them when the fruits start to grow (if they will ever do!) ...

6/10/2005 1:44:09 AM

Atlanta, Georgia

Steel,
Remay hoop houses are working the best for me here in Merklingen. They get plenty of air and require less checking than plastic covers that might get too hot in full sunlight. I also have two plastic greenhouses but the doors are always left open.
Just my two pfennigs...
Michel

6/10/2005 2:09:36 AM

Hilpoltstein, Bavaria, Germany

we now have cents, too, Michel! LOL

6/10/2005 4:37:36 PM

Atlanta, Georgia

Maybe you have cents Martin, but I'm pretty broke! LOL

6/14/2005 1:42:45 AM

Ljubljana, Slovenia

Aphids transmit viruses! Get rid of them if you do not a disaster like I had in 2003 season.

6/14/2005 11:06:29 AM

Atlanta, Georgia

The bad news for me with aphids is that they destroyed the leaves on my 582 Hester and the good news is that it didn't matter anyway because the Hester flatvined on me and ended up producing nothing and got pulled out...oh boy!

This year my plants are beautiful with no aphids at all. I have only been spraying with diluted burning nettle tea so far about twice a week.

I strongly agree to never underestimate aphid damage!

6/15/2005 1:17:20 AM