Posted by oakandsage on April 19, 2013 at 04:05 and edited at May 27, 2019 at 23:44
PermalinkSomething's skeletonizing my carrots and dill. It did a number on the sweet basil I planted, and is taking out the kale plants one by one. I haven't caught it in the act yet, though I've seen a couple big fat grasshoppers around; they're pretty likely culprits.
My blueberry (southern highbush) hasn't leafed out. Nearly all the other perennials have, with the sole exception of the pomegranate. I suspect the blueberry has either too little organic matter or too high soil pH. perhaps I ought to try a container next time.
Speaking of containers I got a huge one at the garden center last weekend. I have to get some soil to put in it, and it's going to house my sweet potato crop this year, for ease of harvesting.
I found some tiny red things in the soil of last year's sweet potato patch. No idea where they came from, or if they're sweet potatoes or potato potatoes. They sure are cute though! First round of slips is in the ground, second round is sitting in my vermicompost bin, which is where the first round came from (first round was an accident!)
Beans are … still alive. Certainly not time to get excited.
Cauliflower didn't do so well. It kind of fizzled.
There should be peas soon. At least, the plants are blooming. I really expected to be getting peas before now. Next year I'll plant earlier.
3 comments
Are you sure the thing demolishing your dill and carrots isn't a parsley worm (caterpillar of the black swallowtail butterfly)? They LOVE dill, carrots and parsley so I imagine they'd love kale too. I don't remember them going for my basil but then I had an abundance of parsley so I was willing to share as long as their grown counterparts kept my cucumbers coming. On the other hand, if it IS them, it'd be easy to catch them since they're pretty noticeable? I don't know. Something to keep in mind.
Pretty sure :( No caterpillars on the plants, and I've never seen a big butterfly like a monarch or swallowtail in this area. Whatever it is seems to eat about one plant per day, leaving the stems and larger veins. Not slugs, because they tend to leave pretty noticeable slime trails. I recall that I've had a problem like this some springs in the past, and it usually disappeared on its own by june.
My blueberry plant hasn't put forth anything either. I was starting to think I'd done something wrong until I read that about the pH/organic matter.