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Kevinstinindians@yahoo.com

I'm ordering some Merit and Talstar One this weekend, but it won't be here until late next week. I've never used insecticides before but learned what to do with those two from posts here. I have a feeling some of us would be lost without Steve, aka Tremor.

Some thing is eating my leaves at night, not a whole leaf just small pieces. Two different plants, last night one and a different plant the night before. I couldn't find any bugs that were actually doing the damage so, I don't know what it is. I'm sure its not an animal. The plants are fully enclosed and the amount being eatin is too small. Anyway, I ran to Lowes and bought all the low percentage insecticides. I have 0.3% Bifenthrin, 1.47% Imidacloprid, 0.5% Lambda-Cyhalothrin and Sevin liquid. What would be the safest to use until I get the good stuff in? Are these low percentage products safer to use, from a leaf burn stand point?

5/28/2006 9:51:47 AM

Chippewa Falls, WI

use the lamba-cyhalothrin...same ingredient as Warrior T.

5/28/2006 10:45:39 AM

Chippewa Falls, WI

DO NOT SPRAY new leaf growth with anything.

5/28/2006 10:46:38 AM

Ctpumpkin@optonline.net

"Some thing is eating my leaves at night, not a whole leaf just small pieces."

Sounds like slugs. Set a shallow saucer of stale beer in the ground so the edge is about level with the soil. Do it near the plant tonight. Let us know what you find drowned in the beer tomorrow morning.

5/28/2006 3:10:33 PM

Topsfield, Ma.

You didn't say whether they were eating the edges or making small holes. Though I haven't seen them yet this year, flea beetles make tiny holes in the leaves. They look like a spec of pepper, but jump away when you touch the leaf. An insecticidal soap is safe for new plants I think, if that's what you've got? Good luck! Duff

5/28/2006 7:19:34 PM

Kevinstinindians@yahoo.com

Whatever it is its eating the whole leaf not just holes. They haven't actually ate a whole leaf yet just say 1/5 of a leaf from the outside edge in.

5/28/2006 7:25:31 PM

Chico, Ca

WE get a fair amount of late nite munching from Earwigs....

turn a dark 1 gal plastic pot over in the patch nearby and wait over night.. a quick turn over will sometimes show what is working in the dark.... I covered a small pumpkin plant last year overnight with a pot to protect from heavy winds and the next morning took it off to discover hundreds
of earwigs munhing on the poor seedling.... thats how we found out....the came out only at night.......poison accordingly

5/28/2006 8:14:52 PM

Kevinstinindians@yahoo.com

The good news is nothing got ate last night and I didn't spray any insecticide. The bad news is I didn't catch anything, but there were alot of ants lined up taking drinks of beer. I hadn't seen ants in the patch before that I recall. But they're all around the saucer filled with beer. Nothing under the piece of black plastic either. I put the "traps" in the house that had the plant ate off of the night before.

5/29/2006 8:18:19 AM

Ctpumpkin@optonline.net

Smart ants...next time charge a cover.

Try again until we do know.

5/29/2006 10:27:17 AM

Kevinstinindians@yahoo.com

Nothing but ants again this morning. But the plant that was ate off of first was attacked again, but much worse than the first two times. I'm gonna start a diary and post some pics. The plant that was attacked was my weakest plant, the 1201.5 LaRue '05, that I put in my number one spot. One leaf was chewed all the way off, but not eaten. I also found some of the houses to be covered, on the outside, with what I believe are black aphids this morning. I've had the white ones in the past. I'm gonna put something on tonight after dark, its way too sunny and hot to try now. Our cold and wet has been replaced with HOT and humid, we have set record highs the last couple days. I forgot I also have Sevin dust, what would be safer? The Sevin dust or one of the liquids I mentioned in the first post? I have a leaf issue on a couple of the plants too I need some help diagnosing. Thanks for all the help guys.

5/30/2006 8:50:13 AM

Kevinstinindians@yahoo.com

I got pictues posted in my diary, I think it may be calcium defeciency, but I'm unsure. Another question about the insecticides, since my plants are still so small how do I apply insecticide without getting it on the new growth? With the recent hot temps the bugs are hatching like crazy.

5/30/2006 9:57:08 AM

Kevinstinindians@yahoo.com

I caught the culprit in the act when I got home at 9:30 tonight, but it was too late he'd already chewed the 1201 LaRue completely off at the base. When I got there it looked like the plant was being yanked underground. I started digging and found a huge dark grey grub worm like thing. It was almost two inches long. I'll try to get pics of him. I dug around some more but couldn't find any more of them. I sprayed all around the plant with Bifenthrin, then very lightly sprayed the plants themselves. I'm not sure if this will do any good or harm, I guess I'll find out. Will the Merit take care of these things, whatever they are?

5/30/2006 10:36:25 PM

Garden State Pumpkins

Picture is really fuzzy...do you have tall trees around? looks like a pretty mature "tent catepillar" seems way to early for those..but since the cukes are out early maybe...On the plant issue...did you apply a bark or wood mulch around the plants? Looks like plenty of wood chips around the plant site...the wood could be draining off all you nitrogen...just guessing...wait till you hear from the experts here....Good Luck GrowEmBig!

5/31/2006 7:40:08 AM

Kevinstinindians@yahoo.com

I got a new pic up you can see a little clearer. It was about the size of a tent catepillar, but no fuzz or hair on it. Its a dark grey with a brownish head and brownish stripes. Rocky suggested its some type of cutworm, I think he is right. I read that cutworms climb the plants at night and eat. I suppose thats why I couldn't find anything during the day. Will the Merit kill these things? I hope it gets here soon.

The bark is from the potting soil I used to mound up around the plants. With all the rain we were getting I wanted to use something that would drain quickly but support the plants. The plants may be lacking more than one nutrient. I applied fish and kelp sunday night, then 10-8-8 foliar monday night, the bifenthrin last night, I'm gonna give them a shot of calcium tonight. The Bifenthrin didn't seem to hurt the plants at all so far, I sprayed it last night at about 10PM. I only sprayed half the plants in case there was gonna be a problem, the others will get a shot tonight. I found a few dead bugs laying around the ones I sprayed, including a spider, so it must have worked.

5/31/2006 10:39:22 AM

Long Island,New York

Cutworm.

5/31/2006 4:21:47 PM