I believe a lot of our problems have stemmed from having overly wet soil. So much rain here and in the thick of summer it can really be a problem for plant health. I've tried to prioritize water drainage this winter/spring. I think it will make a world of difference and to be honest, it better. We need to grow A LOT of food this year!
We're in Southern Middle Tennessee -- We have the SAME EXACT problem, but didn't get to it in time, and our entire fall/winter garden was wiped out. We were told it was probably an issue with the water (too much rain + municipal water supply has bacterial problems and they decided to try to fix it by hyper-clorinating -- of course, they didn't tell us). We are hitting it hard in late winter to hopefully get this problem resolved for early planting. Thanks for your frank approach; I'll be watching closely to see how this turns out for you.
Man I feel for you guys. We went heavy on the compost and threw in some rock minerals and fertilizer for good measure. The beds have boomed. Also this may have to do with cutworms going dormant for the winter. In an ideal world we would be doing more cover cropping/crop rotation but on a small land base this is difficult to do.
We are having the same problem in Puerto Rico with fungicide and fungicide infection. But baking soda is not cost efficient to rate but you can use anti bacteria soap vel for the worm
Awh man, seeing the devastation is absolutely gut wrenching!!! Sorry that happened... To clarify though, they eat the top plant matter and not the roots? I have about 150L of composting soil that is absolutely riddled with them! I spent 4 hours mixing up the soil today and fished out about 30 huge worms! along with many more medium sized ones and a couple really small ones... It was horrendous work, especially so on my knees, never again! On the bright side they break down the hard leaves we get here pretty well, usually they don't just decompose like other plant matter but with the cutworms in the composting bed it speeds the process up 10 fold (or at least seems to be the case)... I live in the Western Cape province of South Africa, we have warm weather for a good 65% of the year and temps hardly ever drop below 5 degrees C so these things thrive! This species have a shiny white, almost transparent flesh with fine hairs, they have a darker head that looks purple to me but I'm partially color blind so who the heck knows haha. If you follow the link below you'll see that the worm I am describing is known as a "Glassy Cutworm" but the ones I'm talking about have a more purple head, probably due to the rich soil they've been living in but I am pretty sure it's the same species. i.pinimg.com/originals/e1/95/59/e19559165ba4cc5bd7846beb2dd23464.jpg
Oh yeah these things are my nemesis! Luckily it does get cold enough here to knock them back a bit but August/September is always tough. I’m going to be preventative with bt this year and hopefully with improved drainage and a proper crop rotation we can avoid the problems of the past. Good luck in your farming endeavors!
@@GreenshineFarmers where did you hear that good drainage prevents cutworms? From the looks of it they don't care for it since this compost I've made absolutely laps up water and pisses it out relatively quickly once saturated. I received a reply from another farmer suggesting that my compost likely never reached temperatures high enough to prevent cutworm larvae from thriving, since I used chicken wire as siding, placed the beds under a tree with a wall on the northern side and exposed to wind, I can only conclude that he is in fact correct. I'll be redesigning my beds to ensure that the temps are given the chance to rise and hopefully kill of or deter these pesky cutworms, how one would go about doing that in the ground is tricky, perhaps a nice thick layer of mulch will do the trick?
I just found this video searching for help with what I think is cutworms cutting my beans off about an inch above the soil line. I have never had this happen before and I, too, am devastated! I just have a small backyard garden so I have tried putting collars of foil, pop bottles, toilet paper cardboard, etc. around the survivors, and replanted the areas that have been destroyed. When they emerge I will collar them as well. Does this sound like something that might work? I surely hope so!
Just did an experiment with 3 cutworms. I put the live cutworms into a plastic lid. I mixed cayenne pepper with a little bit of water. Added this to the lid. The cutworms unrolled right away and tried to escape. I made sure there wasnt too much water so they could lift their heads out of it. Within 3 minutes, they died. I occasionally use cayenne pepper to deter armadillo.
Hey man I feel your pain I have the same kind of soil you have and some of my dirt was so hard I couldn't even hit it with a small tiller so I raise rabbits quails and chickens and I work at a sawmill and I take saw dust from The Sawmill and I put it in the floor of my chicken coops and after spent I take it and spread it on that hard ground with the rabbit poop and I use that and plant on top of that with Mulch and it does wonders if you can find rabbit poop you will be so much better off and you won't have to tell
That’s a good point. Rabbit manure makes a great fertilizer especially since it won’t burn your plants. Chicken manure can be ‘hot’ before being composted and can result in nitrogen burn. Btw, check out the meadow creature broadfork fork breaking up tough ground. It’s a great a tool and virtually indestructible.
Thank you for this! located in Richmond, Virginia first year market gardeners and experiencing the EXACT same problems had no idea where to start to begin to fix so really thank you for sharing fingers crossed in hopes it helps also for better weather !! 🙏
If you want to survive you will make good contacts with a chemist and get on a program that he sets for you or fungus and insects will close your doors one day. Some people hate to hear that but if you are in a wet climate you don't have many options. Good soil is great but when you have problems you have to deal with it by any means. Now is not the time to build soil to solve this issue. Good luck i wish you the best.
I think this has happened to some lettuce I planted in a pot. It was fine in the evening the next morning every young shoot was gone disappeared. I am new to gardening but this seems likely. :-(
Please try and get in contact with Richard Perkins via TH-cam. He lives in Sweden but has farmed in several places. He is very practical and very down to earth. DONT GIVE UP. 👍✅
Hi there. What did u say to sprinkle on the soil that the cut worms would eat then die??? I'd like to purchase a bag or two. Thank you... Stacey from Canada
do you have something like this product TRIFENDER WP preparation belongs to a group of soil breeder, biological protection of habitats and plants. Preventively used for the biological protection of soil from the most dangerous pathogenic fungi: Pythium, Phytophthora, Rizocotonia, Verticillum, Fusarium, Sclerotinia, Botrytis ?I'm from Croatia :).in Eastern Europe we have it on that name.
I think it starts with getting back to basics. Crops rotation, cover crops, beneficial microbes like nematodes, also compost tea is great! Thankfully we didn’t see too much cutworm damage last year. Best of luck! If I could suggest one thing it would be compost tea.
On beds that are not totally ready to plant due to compaction and so forth augment your planting like double row space double space double row in your 30" + or minus runs that will reduce the fungal problem . I found even if your planing no till your better off deep digging and incorporating lots of organic matter and compost in the early planing stages of your runs also raising your runs up like hilling your rows help with the water problems and fungal .slot of your fungus comes from insect damage then the fungus moves in and finishes you off ! Lol.....not funny ! My bad !good air circulation is paramount for optimum results ! Remember space equals quality ! Concentrate on quality and your numbers will grow as you go you'll find additional space for more plants one way or another !
How much research have you done on Permaculture and Holistic management? The principles are driven by using nature to your advantage. Monoculture crops are known to perform poorly without pesticides. These practices combat that by incorporating a variety of plants and animals into the process much like nature would do on its own, both of which deter pests with considerable effect. The animals consume them and the diversity of the other plants either confuse pests or attract them to the more favorable food. That's how I'd go about rectifying this issue. Mimic nature. There are some tobacco plants that will in fact completely change the type of flower they produce when (and only if) over burned with a larvae which I've forgotten the name of, this flower in turn attracts predatory animals such as humming birds that then effectively disturb the larvae to a degree whereby they're unable to fully mature and destroy the plant. Do not assume we know best, we don't, we misunderstand and underestimate nature and its abilities entirely! All this and still people want to tell me plants are stupid....
Yes I’m familiar and always learning more. Honor thy crop rotation is a good lesson to learn. Also making sure beds are adequately draining. Permaculture concepts ring true but when trying to farm commercially certain aspects are hard to scale. I think bridging that gap is the true test of a farmers skill!
@@GreenshineFarmers you have a valid point in terms of scaling permacultire to a degree whereby it becomes profitable in a commercial sense. However, once established and once diverse enough, if you have a loyal customer base you'll have similar if not better results in terms of profits since you wont need to rely on a single large harvest of one or two crops as you'll have access to a variety of crops to sell throughout the year. This profit then is aided even further since you'll have less pests in turn providing more fruitful harvests with less input. It's said that a square foot / meter of a mature Permaculture food forest is 3-5 times more productive than a monoculture crop. Obviously this won't ring true for the entire duration of the year but when speaking in averages it certainly makes sense since you are utilizing multiple canopies instead of just a ground level crop. Also there is some controversy in terms of tilling your soil during rotation, please look into the benefits of "no till" practices. Although primarily used in raised beds, this can certainly be incorporated on a larger scale as some farmers have already done. To add, where general agricultural practices / education propose that animals are the cause of desertification, the opposite in fact true, more animals does not mean barren land, more animals in fact means more fertile land, they do not plunder a landscape as we do, they merely consume, fertilize, till, and then move on. Allan Savory has some fatalistic knowledge regarding that! Please see his talks. With all that said, I am unfortunately not in a position whereby I am able to practice my acquired knowledge but this is a passion that will never leave my heart and I'll aspire to continue learning to one day make use of this knowledge, primarily to help commercial farmers escape the clutches that corporate entities have forced into them! What's happening in that regard is absolutely devastating and borders very closely to conspiracy, however, not the case.
Thank you for sharing so helpful. Best to you.
I've truly had problems with the darn cut worms as well and using egg shell and oyster shell works perfectly for me
In Arkansas and have similar problems. Thank you so much for making this video. It really helps to see the problems and what you're trying to do
I believe a lot of our problems have stemmed from having overly wet soil. So much rain here and in the thick of summer it can really be a problem for plant health. I've tried to prioritize water drainage this winter/spring. I think it will make a world of difference and to be honest, it better. We need to grow A LOT of food this year!
Y'all got this! Rooting for ya from the other side of the mountains in S.W. Virginia!
We're in Southern Middle Tennessee -- We have the SAME EXACT problem, but didn't get to it in time, and our entire fall/winter garden was wiped out. We were told it was probably an issue with the water (too much rain + municipal water supply has bacterial problems and they decided to try to fix it by hyper-clorinating -- of course, they didn't tell us). We are hitting it hard in late winter to hopefully get this problem resolved for early planting. Thanks for your frank approach; I'll be watching closely to see how this turns out for you.
Man I feel for you guys. We went heavy on the compost and threw in some rock minerals and fertilizer for good measure. The beds have boomed. Also this may have to do with cutworms going dormant for the winter. In an ideal world we would be doing more cover cropping/crop rotation but on a small land base this is difficult to do.
our farm just like our children when either is sick we worry keep up the good work you'll get
We are having the same problem in Puerto Rico with fungicide and fungicide infection. But baking soda is not cost efficient to rate but you can use anti bacteria soap vel for the worm
dude. you feel me. i have all your problems. i really hate cutworm. i still havent figured out the solution for them.
Awh man, seeing the devastation is absolutely gut wrenching!!! Sorry that happened... To clarify though, they eat the top plant matter and not the roots? I have about 150L of composting soil that is absolutely riddled with them! I spent 4 hours mixing up the soil today and fished out about 30 huge worms! along with many more medium sized ones and a couple really small ones... It was horrendous work, especially so on my knees, never again! On the bright side they break down the hard leaves we get here pretty well, usually they don't just decompose like other plant matter but with the cutworms in the composting bed it speeds the process up 10 fold (or at least seems to be the case)... I live in the Western Cape province of South Africa, we have warm weather for a good 65% of the year and temps hardly ever drop below 5 degrees C so these things thrive! This species have a shiny white, almost transparent flesh with fine hairs, they have a darker head that looks purple to me but I'm partially color blind so who the heck knows haha. If you follow the link below you'll see that the worm I am describing is known as a "Glassy Cutworm" but the ones I'm talking about have a more purple head, probably due to the rich soil they've been living in but I am pretty sure it's the same species. i.pinimg.com/originals/e1/95/59/e19559165ba4cc5bd7846beb2dd23464.jpg
Oh yeah these things are my nemesis! Luckily it does get cold enough here to knock them back a bit but August/September is always tough. I’m going to be preventative with bt this year and hopefully with improved drainage and a proper crop rotation we can avoid the problems of the past. Good luck in your farming endeavors!
@@GreenshineFarmers where did you hear that good drainage prevents cutworms? From the looks of it they don't care for it since this compost I've made absolutely laps up water and pisses it out relatively quickly once saturated. I received a reply from another farmer suggesting that my compost likely never reached temperatures high enough to prevent cutworm larvae from thriving, since I used chicken wire as siding, placed the beds under a tree with a wall on the northern side and exposed to wind, I can only conclude that he is in fact correct. I'll be redesigning my beds to ensure that the temps are given the chance to rise and hopefully kill of or deter these pesky cutworms, how one would go about doing that in the ground is tricky, perhaps a nice thick layer of mulch will do the trick?
I just found this video searching for help with what I think is cutworms cutting my beans off about an inch above the soil line. I have never had this happen before and I, too, am devastated! I just have a small backyard garden so I have tried putting collars of foil, pop bottles, toilet paper cardboard, etc. around the survivors, and replanted the areas that have been destroyed. When they emerge I will collar them as well. Does this sound like something that might work? I surely hope so!
Just did an experiment with 3 cutworms. I put the live cutworms into a plastic lid. I mixed cayenne pepper with a little bit of water. Added this to the lid. The cutworms unrolled right away and tried to escape. I made sure there wasnt too much water so they could lift their heads out of it. Within 3 minutes, they died. I occasionally use cayenne pepper to deter armadillo.
Hey man I feel your pain I have the same kind of soil you have and some of my dirt was so hard I couldn't even hit it with a small tiller so I raise rabbits quails and chickens and I work at a sawmill and I take saw dust from The Sawmill and I put it in the floor of my chicken coops and after spent I take it and spread it on that hard ground with the rabbit poop and I use that and plant on top of that with Mulch and it does wonders if you can find rabbit poop you will be so much better off and you won't have to tell
That’s a good point. Rabbit manure makes a great fertilizer especially since it won’t burn your plants. Chicken manure can be ‘hot’ before being composted and can result in nitrogen burn.
Btw, check out the meadow creature broadfork fork breaking up tough ground. It’s a great a tool and virtually indestructible.
Thank you for this! located in Richmond, Virginia first year market gardeners and experiencing the EXACT same problems had no idea where to start to begin to fix so really thank you for sharing fingers crossed in hopes it helps also for better weather !! 🙏
Thanks Mike. I figured a lot of other growers in this region were experiencing similar problems. We’ll definitely keep you posted on how things go.
If you want to survive you will make good contacts with a chemist and get on a program that he sets for you or fungus and insects will close your doors one day. Some people hate to hear that but if you are in a wet climate you don't have many options. Good soil is great but when you have problems you have to deal with it by any means. Now is not the time to build soil to solve this issue. Good luck i wish you the best.
I think this has happened to some lettuce I planted in a pot. It was fine in the evening the next morning every young shoot was gone disappeared. I am new to gardening but this seems likely. :-(
We’ve had good results with mycorrhizae fungi. Also over watering can be a problem..
Where to get gem
I planted avocado trees but the leaves have disease lack of nutrients but how can I make my soil healthier?
Please try and get in contact with Richard Perkins via TH-cam. He lives in Sweden but has farmed in several places. He is very practical and very down to earth.
DONT GIVE UP. 👍✅
Hi there. What did u say to sprinkle on the soil that the cut worms would eat then die??? I'd like to purchase a bag or two. Thank you... Stacey from Canada
You can try Sluggo. Works well but needs to be reapplied after it rains. It’s little iron phosphate pellets that are non toxic to humans and pets.
@@GreenshineFarmers where do u purchase this...I live in Ontario
cover cropping may be an option.
Tell us more please
do you have something like this product TRIFENDER WP preparation belongs to a group of soil breeder, biological protection of habitats and plants. Preventively used for the biological protection of soil from the most dangerous pathogenic fungi: Pythium, Phytophthora, Rizocotonia, Verticillum, Fusarium, Sclerotinia, Botrytis ?I'm from Croatia :).in Eastern Europe we have it on that name.
I’ve never heard of it but will do some research. Thanks for mentioning it.
i'm wandering how did things turn out eventually... I'm starting to see cutworm damage in my market garden..
I think it starts with getting back to basics. Crops rotation, cover crops, beneficial microbes like nematodes, also compost tea is great!
Thankfully we didn’t see too much cutworm damage last year. Best of luck! If I could suggest one thing it would be compost tea.
You need higher molds Hills for Health
On beds that are not totally ready to plant due to compaction and so forth augment your planting like double row space double space double row in your 30" + or minus runs that will reduce the fungal problem . I found even if your planing no till your better off deep digging and incorporating lots of organic matter and compost in the early planing stages of your runs also raising your runs up like hilling your rows help with the water problems and fungal .slot of your fungus comes from insect damage then the fungus moves in and finishes you off ! Lol.....not funny ! My bad !good air circulation is paramount for optimum results ! Remember space equals quality ! Concentrate on quality and your numbers will grow as you go you'll find additional space for more plants one way or another !
Keep on learning bud!
😍👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻good
fing right medicine ti kill all my cutworms,, i hated,, i am very angry
How much research have you done on Permaculture and Holistic management? The principles are driven by using nature to your advantage. Monoculture crops are known to perform poorly without pesticides. These practices combat that by incorporating a variety of plants and animals into the process much like nature would do on its own, both of which deter pests with considerable effect. The animals consume them and the diversity of the other plants either confuse pests or attract them to the more favorable food. That's how I'd go about rectifying this issue. Mimic nature. There are some tobacco plants that will in fact completely change the type of flower they produce when (and only if) over burned with a larvae which I've forgotten the name of, this flower in turn attracts predatory animals such as humming birds that then effectively disturb the larvae to a degree whereby they're unable to fully mature and destroy the plant. Do not assume we know best, we don't, we misunderstand and underestimate nature and its abilities entirely! All this and still people want to tell me plants are stupid....
Yes I’m familiar and always learning more. Honor thy crop rotation is a good lesson to learn. Also making sure beds are adequately draining. Permaculture concepts ring true but when trying to farm commercially certain aspects are hard to scale. I think bridging that gap is the true test of a farmers skill!
@@GreenshineFarmers you have a valid point in terms of scaling permacultire to a degree whereby it becomes profitable in a commercial sense. However, once established and once diverse enough, if you have a loyal customer base you'll have similar if not better results in terms of profits since you wont need to rely on a single large harvest of one or two crops as you'll have access to a variety of crops to sell throughout the year. This profit then is aided even further since you'll have less pests in turn providing more fruitful harvests with less input. It's said that a square foot / meter of a mature Permaculture food forest is 3-5 times more productive than a monoculture crop. Obviously this won't ring true for the entire duration of the year but when speaking in averages it certainly makes sense since you are utilizing multiple canopies instead of just a ground level crop. Also there is some controversy in terms of tilling your soil during rotation, please look into the benefits of "no till" practices. Although primarily used in raised beds, this can certainly be incorporated on a larger scale as some farmers have already done. To add, where general agricultural practices / education propose that animals are the cause of desertification, the opposite in fact true, more animals does not mean barren land, more animals in fact means more fertile land, they do not plunder a landscape as we do, they merely consume, fertilize, till, and then move on. Allan Savory has some fatalistic knowledge regarding that! Please see his talks. With all that said, I am unfortunately not in a position whereby I am able to practice my acquired knowledge but this is a passion that will never leave my heart and I'll aspire to continue learning to one day make use of this knowledge, primarily to help commercial farmers escape the clutches that corporate entities have forced into them! What's happening in that regard is absolutely devastating and borders very closely to conspiracy, however, not the case.
check out richard perkins channel. you it will help you a lot.
Dude get some chickens in there!