Claud The Backyard Farmer (self proclaimed)

[ChileanTaco]

Thank you for your update

What goes on here on the other continent:
So, my succulents grow like crazy, beautiful healthy succulents - just some photos attached with a small fraction of those. Hassle-free, and I already propagated many of those. I also have tree succulents, more than 1 meter high. They grow so easily that what gets too big, will be donated to my workplace. (The area around my workplace is currently more or less a construction site; once it is done, cacti will be planted.)

On the other hand: Herbs, I try using up the remaining seeds I bought, but it's just not growing. The attached photo shows 3 month old (!) basil; photo taken some weeks ago, by now it has died off completely. (If it appears very wet: I don't overwater; photo was taken directly after watering.) Always, just a tiny fraction germinates, and then they first seem ding fine, until having more than 2 - 4 leaves - then they just don't grow anymore. Tried: indoors, outdoors, foil, tap water, drinking water (those are separate here). It's the same with all kinds of seeds I tried, I tried all the herbs. When I buy potted herbs from the hardware store (they sell some, shipped from other regions of the country), they die off within days to, in the best case, weeks.
With this, I use up the seeds... and otherwise stick to plants that I see also growing in gardens and on balconies of other people, or from small plant nurseries where I can be sure they grow them here and not get them shipped from other regions. No surprise: The small nurseries (which is more like: computer repair shop, aquarium store, hairdresser... also grows and sells plants as a side business; here we still have a lot of those "mom and pop stores" with first one type of business but then trying if something else works too) have cacti, generally succulents, but I've never seen such as a basil or oregano there - and also not on the balconies of neighbors. Surprise, surprise...
The reason for the problem is likely missing soil microbes, which most plants require but these succulents can go without; and then high UV levels (despite I tried herbs indoors and under foil and the success rate was just a tiny bit better, but still not within a range where I could grow herbs until I can harvest them).

 

[Claudiusx]

Cucumbers did not make it. Planted them too young and my raised beds definitely have a snail and rollie-pollie issue. They eat all my new sprouts. The only way to get my plants to survive is if I over seed and too many pop up at once to be eaten, or if I transplant more mature plants.

So because of this, I'm restarting from seed some cucumber plants, and will hold off on planting them in the bed until a bit more mature.

My peas that were direct seeded have started to pop up too, but a few I saw yesterday are eaten today.

This means war.

I've seen a trick to catch slugs and snails, burying a cup full of beer. The snails and slugs are supposed to be attracted to it, will fall in and drown. I will try this and see how it goes.

For the rollie-pollies, best trick I've seen is placing a bunch of orange peels out into the beds, which they are attracted to and will hide under. Then just toss them all once they are clinging to the peels. We will try that one too and see how it goes.

All of my tomato seeds have sprouted, with 100% germination to boot.

And I have started my pumpkins for the year in seed trays, again, to hopefully avoid loosing any directly seeded plants to my pests.

If anyone has any suggestions or things that have worked for them, feel free to advise.

-Brandon

 

[Sue E.]

Cucumbers did not make it. Planted them too young and my raised beds definitely have a snail and rollie-pollie issue. They eat all my new sprouts. The only way to get my plants to survive is if I over seed and too many pop up at once to be eaten, or if I transplant more mature plants.

So because of this, I'm restarting from seed some cucumber plants, and will hold off on planting them in the bed until a bit more mature.

My peas that were direct seeded have started to pop up too, but a few I saw yesterday are eaten today.

This means war.

I've seen a trick to catch slugs and snails, burying a cup full of beer. The snails and slugs are supposed to be attracted to it, will fall in and drown. I will try this and see how it goes.

For the rollie-pollies, best trick I've seen is placing a bunch of orange peels out into the beds, which they are attracted to and will hide under. Then just toss them all once they are clinging to the peels. We will try that one too and see how it goes.

All of my tomato seeds have sprouted, with 100% germination to boot.

And I have started my pumpkins for the year in seed trays, again, to hopefully avoid loosing any directly seeded plants to my pests.

If anyone has any suggestions or things that have worked for them, feel free to advise.

-Brandon

Coffee grounds deter and eventually kill slugs and snails. Caffeine is toxic to them. (Organic coffee is best to avoid pesticides leaching into your plants, but the coffee grounds wont harm your plants).

 

[Claudiusx]

Ooh that's good to know, thanks. I will have to try that too!

-Brandon

 

[ChileanTaco]

On rollie-pollies: Can't say; did most of my gardening in Germany and there they aren't an issue.

Snails: I know the beer trap (my parents tried it in Germany). Big downside: As it attracts slugs, you get now ways more slugs - and can only hope most end up in the beer.
What can work better: The kind of snail corn (pesticide) that is (indeed) harmless to all other animals despite slugs and snails. Check what is available where you live! I would not use the other one that harms e.g. birds, toads and hedgehogs who eat snails having eaten the conventional snail corn! If using, put it into shallow dishes.

I always started all of my seeds indoors and transplanted the plants to outdoors only if about 5 - 10 cm high.

 

[AHBD]

I've seen a trick to catch slugs and snails, burying a cup full of beer. The snails and slugs are supposed to be attracted to it, will fall in and drown. I will try this and see how it goes.

Hey Brandon, they don't really drown.....they just have a big bug bash that lasts a little too long.

 

[xp29]

Ooh that's good to know, thanks. I will have to try that too!

-Brandon

@BPSabelhaus his girl Alex loves eat to snails, I say get her on contract as a snail hit-woman. She can be a snail assassin (I know that isn't helpful but I couldn't resist )

 

[AHBD]

Ooh that's good to know, thanks. I will have to try that too!

-Brandon

I've read that you can use a little hot sauce around plants, some say diatomaceous earth and others say that eggshells may keep slugs away because they don't like to crawl over jagged things.

 

[Claudiusx]

Hey Brandon, they don't really drown.....they just have a big bug bash that lasts a little too long.

LMAO. Well, I guess we will see.

After further thought on it, I don't really see very many rollie polies and snails/slugs. I did see a few snails and slugs a few weeks back when I was moving some stuff around, but I just can't find where they would be hiding during the day.

I'm starting to think I don't have an insect problem, I have a bird problem. I got some reflective streamer tape that I attached to poles and placed behind each blueberry bush. That has 100% completely eliminated the birds from getting my blueberries. I am thinking the birds have also been seeing the sprouts and pulling them up. I will often see a small divot or indentation where the sprout was once.

So I just put some bird netting over my bed with peas that have been popping up. This will be a good experiment to see if its insects, which obviously won't be affected by the net, or if it's the birds.

I'm still going to try the beer thing though just for fun lol.

-Brandon

 

[AHBD]

That sounds like a good idea, I thought of some type of screening/netting to keep the birds out.

 

[Claudiusx]

I woke up with the same amount of pea sprouts that were there when I went to sleep, so I'm gonna say the bird net was the key.

I did go on the "hunt" last night though. I really didn't find many snails, but I did find quite a few small little slugs on my garlic plants of all things... But it doesn't look like they are able to actually eat it, and I don't know if they would if they could. Maybe just using the garlic stalk layers to hide during the day?

-Brandon