Jeanne Nolan Talks Garden Pests, Problems
With powdery mildew and some pests taking their toll, The Organic Gardener Jeanne Nolan is back with help and advice for our garden and yours.
Read about some of the problems and pests that have affected the WTTW Garden.
Over the past month, the zucchini plant has deteriorated. Problems began with the onset of powdery mildew, and then a few of the plant’s stems began to wilt. A few weeks later, most of the stems were wilting, and the once monstrous plant shrank in size. Read an article and view a slideshow of the damaged zucchini plant.
On a handful of occasions, birds have been spotted in the WTTW garden. Naturally, we thought birds didn’t belong in the garden and shooed them away. But birds in a garden may not always be a bad thing. Read more about the impact of birds in a garden.
Approximately two weeks ago, the zucchini plant began developing powdery mildew, which according to The Organic Gardener crew was normal due to the weather conditions. Despite the disease, the plant continued to produce sizable zucchini, and it continues to even though the plant itself is looking a little beat up. Read an article.
While the tomato plants in our garden have fared quite well in comparison to others, they aren’t looking as healthy as they could be. The plants have experienced disease and more recently the infestation of aphids and white flies. Did the disease lead to the insect infestation, or vice versa? Read an article and view a slideshow.
Earlier in the gardening season, cabbage worms, cabbage loopers and Japanese beetles attacked our crops. Shortly after the Japanese beetles disappeared from the garden, another insect infestation arose. Read an article and view a slideshow.
Despite our best efforts to keep the leaves of our plants dry, the zucchini plant has developed powdery mildew. The fungal disease occurs in a variety of plants, and a powdery white mildew covers the surface of the leaves, causing the leaves to yellow and dry out. Read an article.
Insects in a garden are unavoidable, and when we began this project, we expected to see them in the garden. Seeing a grasshopper in the garden wasn’t expected, and it turns out seeing a grasshopper in a garden isn’t a good thing. Read an article about grasshoppers in gardens.
In early August, a handful of mushrooms were spotted in our garden. We didn’t plant mushrooms. How did they get in the garden? Read an article.
The nasturtiums we planted in our garden have been the most prolific plant, requiring lots of pruning. Recently the nasturtiums in the south bed of our garden started looking unhealthy, but the ones planted in the north bed continued to flourish. What happened? Read an article and view a slideshow.
As the crops in our garden thrived, insects moved in and began causing damage to various vegetables. Battling bugs in an organic garden is quite labor intensive since pesticides aren’t used to get rid of insects. Read an article and view a slideshow.
Plants need water to grow, but too much water can be a problem. We regulate the amount of water our plants receive via an irrigation system. While we can control our watering of crops, we can’t control how much it rains, and by July it had rained a lot. Read an article and view a slideshow.
In late June, the Chicago area was pummeled with torrential rains and strong winds as severe storms swept through the area. The powerful storms brought down trees and power lines in some areas. The storms also caused substantial damage to our garden. Read an article and view a slideshow.
