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market-farming - Re: [Market-farming] potato beetles

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  • From: robert schuler <sunnfarm AT bellatlantic.net>
  • To: waldenfarm AT sprintmail.com, Market Farming <market-farming AT lists.ibiblio.org>
  • Subject: Re: [Market-farming] potato beetles
  • Date: Mon, 29 Aug 2005 10:27:39 -0400

CPB's mostly walk to the host plants. Back in the bad old days we would see
armys of cpb moving in mass across fields and highways. I found that as I
increased the distance I moved my tomato field year to year I could delay cpb
in the crop. Tall cover crops in between further delayed the buggers. A
pesticide called Imidacloprid "Admire" in spring followed by Bt "Novodor"in
late summer has all but put an end to CPB on the east coast...Bob.
Sunny Meadow Farm
Bridgeton, NJ.

Alex McGregor wrote:

> OFRF (www.ofrf.org/) funded on-farm research on avoiding potato beetle
> damage 10 or more years ago. I sent my copy to a friend that grows a lot
> of them. I remember that the farmer used different kinds and densities of
> mulch with a no mulch/ clean cultivation control group, all planted in the
> same field.
>
> He found that plants mulched with hay or straw (long, thin mulch) did
> better than any of the others and the no-mulch control was almost
> completely eaten.
>
> He also found that density didn't matter in the hay & straw mulches. The
> rows with just enough mulch to cover the soil had as little damage as those
> with deep mulch. His conclusion was that the fibrous mulches might confuse
> the beetles.
>
> For tomato blight- I assume you're talking about early blight, a fungus
> that kills the leaves from the bottom up. I've had it on all my tomato
> plants every year, but the plants grow faster and produce ahead of the
> fungal progression. I think this is due to the relatively high soil
> organic matter I maintain (7 - 8.5%) and the balanced minerals. Also, I
> have permanent beds and don't do tillage which destroys the beneficial
> fungal communities in the soil.
>
> A friend of minr who grows Brandywines (one of the most suscetible to
> blight I've found) had really good success with hydrgen peroxide, but said
> the cost was too high. He now prunes lower limbs and keeps the plants well
> staked to improve air movement, while using the Biodynamic prep for fungus.
>
> Alex McGregor
> Walden Farm
>
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