How I Got Rid of GRUBS, the Hard Way! | Kaye's Vlog
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 17 ต.ค. 2024
- How I got rid of grubs, the hard way, in my raised beds, and what I still plan to do! Please subscribe! With music courtesy of Epidemic Sound, composer Anders Ekengren. Sound editing by Christina Horgan. Your donation of any amount makes this channel possible. www.latebloomer...
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To paraphrase Bill Mollison: You don't have a grub problem, you have a chicken deficiency problem
She needs to invite and keep skunks around.
Aha! That's what those thing are. I lost all my tomato plants to them and I was so discouraged thinking I had done something terribly wrong. Thanks for sharing Kaye.
Order some beneficial nematodes and follow the directions. That's what I am going to do. I can't dig up my whole yard and I have wood chips all over. Follow Tracy Garns advice below.
Hard work will always replace chemicals. If you want to avoid chemicals and stay organic, it will take hard work from time to time. I got beat up by slugs this year with an unusually wet summer. I feel your pain.
What did you do for them? Sluggo is considered a product for organic gardens, isn't it? When I first started the garden I was overrun with them and would go out at night with a flashlight. I grew more cabbage then, and they LOVE cabbage. Thanks for watching! I appreciate your support.
I started with mineral salts but lost ground for about 4 or 5 weeks. I killed dozens every morning. They just kept coming. I eventually used Sluggo, but i wasn't real pleased about having to do that. I couldn't find any info on that Sluggo actually was so I'm not sure if it is actually organic or not.
The Sifter is an excellent idea! I feel like a goober for not having thought of that myself. It's one of those things that seems so obvious after you see the solution and yet....It just never occurred to me. So glad you showed this. THANK YOU! And for anyone else watching this video, if you're planting Zuchinni or Squash, Grubs can wipe out gourd fast!!! Sifting the soil will be worth the effort.
The tennis racket is a great idea for June bugs! Lol!😂🎾
This was great. I have the grub problem too. In NM I called Soilutions. The gentleman shared this same info with me regarding some was to get rid of the grubs including feeding them to chickens. I really enjoyed your explanation. As a home school parent, this is a great video to share and show Students that these conditions can present themselves any where
I like the way you present your video,. So calm..
Thank you! I like to bring a little peace and inspiration to people. We only live once. Thanks for watching and please tune in to my livestream on Sunday at 10AM PST and join the conversation!
Kaye, Thank you for this informational video. I hate grub worms, and I have used Milky Spore Powder, which is organic and has helped me greatly! Houston, TX
You know, when I looked it up (someone else also suggested) it seemed like you had to do it a certain way and a certain time to be effective. Can you post a link of where to order? Perhaps they can give me specific instructions. Thank you!!
Amazon carries Milky Spore Powder, but its not cheap!
Thank goodness for Eric !!
I’ve used Neem powder for my soil . New oil for my plants . Nettle leafing , comfrey leafing works. This year my soil is free of pest . I do not use wood chip because it promotes grub infestations .
Hi! You mentioned Neem powder for the soil, did you intend to write "Neem" oil for the plants?
hahahaha you are fantastic! I found a few of those in my garden last weekend and I was literally screaming and crying x'D omg they are soooo nasty!!
Yeah, truly. I will be using beneficial nematodes to try and control them because obviously we have a lot of Figeater beetle action here and they love the wood chips. Thanks for watching!!
Thanks very much. Can I get rid of Grubs in a big veg garden using anykind of chemical, soaps, powders, sodas that are of daily uses. any such suggestion would be wonderful.
Well, there are a few suggestions in these comments, if you can take a few minutes to read them and see what you think will work for you. I know you can't even drown them in just water, they will start moving after 6 hours in a bucket of water! Someone suggested grits below, but they are EVERYWHERE in my garden, so that would just be impractical, so I'm still handpicking them away from the bases of tender plants. Thanks for watching and please let me know what you decide to do and if it works!
I'm so reluctant to try the BTEG method for a variety of reasons. As you mentioned the ANTS and the grubs. Like you, I came across beneficial nematodes!! So grateful for your information. I see that I have to get over the creepiness of it all. Ewww. Be blessed.
I just bought a packet of nematodes and look forward to using it in a couple of weeks when my schedule settles down. I have a friend who uses them and I'm going to do a video over there about it. Stay tuned! But, the grubs, though gross, are no big deal. Thank you!
Kaye, I look forward to your update video. But the grubs - I've heard so many complaining of grubs chewing on tomato plant roots, etc. When I find them, they get whacked.
We have chickens and they LOVE those things! We also do BTE and will never go back! it works. As far as your grubs, if there IS a next time, maybe you can borrow some chickens and put a small chicken tractor/cover of sorts, even if it's only 2x3 feet to let the chickens go at it. Just keep moving the cover/tractor along until they're done with your bed They will get every last grub for you! Your soil is so nice and soft, they'd be done in no time! We've done it here with great success!! We made some wire "covers" out of hardware cloth, they stand alone and are really easy to use. You can also re-use them to cover your beds later on to keep birds etc off of your plants. Good luck!!
Thank you, Kathe!! I was hoping to hear from some experienced BTE gardeners! Tell me more about why you'll never go back, please. (Oh, there will be a next time, we took out another 1000 or so on Thursday, but I can't have him dig up the whole yard, chips are everywhere!)
Like you, we are in So. Calif with this awful drought. We have cut WAY down on our watering; once or twice a day, to once or twice a week IF that. The chips have seems to boost our soil like crazy. The plants are sooooo green and lush, all organic. Most things are so fertile; by that I mean we get loads of tomatoes, squash, berries, pretty much whatever we grow is doing SO much better than before. No tilling, love that. I'm wondering how thick you laid your chips? Is that why your beds are a haven for the grubs? i can see why you're frustrated, I would be too! Honestly, if you can get a hold of some chickens, they'll clean up your beds. We actually flew to Pauls in Washington to see the "real" BTE garden and that sealed the deal for us.
OMG, would love to go up there. Thanks so much for writing! The chips went down a couple of inches, then a couple more, then a couple more. I still have a big pile on the driveway and REALLY must use them, but don't know where.
African Black Beetle (curl grub) or they are a pest and eat the roots of plants, lawn, potatoes even grape vines.
A heavy infestation of curl grubs can eat the entire root system of a plant. I have read neem oil can help.
I found this - Larvae are susceptible to the entomopathogenic nematode Heterorhabditis bacteriophora.
Thank you, Daniel. It's always something, isn't it? I know at least most of these are the Fig Beetle, and I also read about beneficial nematodes and was planning to administer them, but soil conditions have to be just right to do it, so I haven't gotten around to it yet. Thanks for watching and commenting!
Bit confused. So you 'did' use beneficial nematodes? Did you put them down before the white plastic? After? Now I'm a bit leery of using woodchips. Had spoken to a landscape company yesterday to discuss them dropping some off. Are you suggesting not using woodchips? We can't have chickens where we live...but, no doubt, that would be the answer. Just more than a little spooked now.
No, I did not wind up ordering them. I put down the plastic thinking the chips would break down faster, but when standing water was on it, I realized that was not a good idea. (Mosquitos) Chickens definitely could help control the grubs. I'm not sorry I did it, but the grubs are a reality. And I don't have the faintest idea where they came from, because an adult Fig Beetle has not been seen here since the day I filmed this. Unless they each carry hundreds of eggs, I just can't comprehend it. We planted 9 tomato plants and pulled out 20 huge grubs from the 9 holes. Incredible. But, I am not convinced they are bad for plants, yet. But, just incredible. I would ask others and see if they've had the same issue. There are several things suggested in comments here to combat them, but I haven't tried anything other than drowning the ones we unearth. I probably should but since the chips are everywhere in the garden, that seems impossible. Good luck! Thanks for watching!!
It's true, but the grubs are an issue and I can't figure out - since I haven't seen an adult since the one in this video last October - where they are all coming from, unless each female lays a thousand eggs. I've almost used up all the wood chips. If you watch my new seaweed compost video, I show the wood chips and how broken down they are, like about 4" deep in a few months were almost down to dirt.
The whole time I was watching this video I only kep thinking. That is what chickens are for. They LOVE grubs. I hate grubs and when I find them I quickly feed them to my chickens and they make quick work of them. Glad you founds so lucky chickens for those grubs.
Well, the owner said she wasn't interested in any more of my grubs, so I will have to find other lucky chickens. Two neighbors nearby had three chickens each but no longer. I'll keep looking. With grubs being a growing problem in home gardens, I would think more families, especially with young children would keep hens. Thanks for watching!!
When we were kids my brother and I used to catch Junebugs and I would very carefully tie white thread around one of their back legs and then off they would fly. We had tiny self propelled helicopters to play with for hours as long as we didnt drop our end of the thread. In the afternoon he would hold them while I untied the string and we would let them go and tell my mom we fed them to the chickens lol. Now I understand why she didnt want them in the yard!
Kaye, despite them being troublesome, their large presence is a hidden compliment on how nice your soil is. I've found that they prefer to snack on decomposing matter that is found in good soil. One other thing I've found is that they are attracted to the compost bin. With a compost bin, the majority of the grubs tend to hang out there rather than elsewhere in the garden. An added bonus is that they help break down the compost. Best, Brian.
Oh, thank you, Brian! Yes, they are definitely doing that. My concern is for my plant roots. Also, if left to metamorphose, the adults lay more eggs, complicating the problem. But, I will think on this. I have taken no further action since making the video. Thanks for watching and commenting! Happy gardening! Kaye
You're welcome. Given how many were taken out, definitely very prudent to have done so. Thanks, happy gardening.
You know, if I throw them in the compost bin, they will help to break it down, but, then them will become adults and start the whole process over again.... (so it's better to kill them, right?)
Hi Kaye, I love your channel, it's very inspiring. I wish I found you when it happened, I would love to have those grubs and feed them to my chickens 😀. Thank you for sharing your experience.
Yes, thank you! I wish you lived next door! Thanks for watching! Please share with a friend. Thanks!
OMG! My chickens would have had a feast on those grubs. Lucky lady! Since I've gotten my chickens, I haven't had as many fig eaters. They eat my roses too, lil green creeps!
YES, they ate my dahlias last year. That's another flower I had to give up on because of mildew. Thanks for watching and please tune in to my livestream on Sunday at 10AM PST and join the conversation!
Hello Kaye , I am having the exact same problem in my biggest teracotta composter , just crazy population explosion of grubs . The parent isnt green like yours, it is brown and golden . I posted my query on the organic terrace garden group and the suggestion was it is a dung beetle and thrives in moist enviroment . Well my compost pot was a bit moist and I rectified it by adding in plenty of browns and neem pellets . That hasnt really resolved the issue . Last week I harvested a much small compost pot which was bone dry and there were 30 plus grubs thriving in there . I need to use the compost from my big pot but cannot as it would spread to all my containers.
I first time I saw them was when I got leaves to make leaf mold from the garden across. I am guessing they came in with the twigs in that . Ill mark you to that post just now .
Wow, can't imagine what a pain it would be to get them in my containers! They don't go deeper that a foot, so I'm hoping they won't affect the perennials such as pineapple guavas, etc. I'll check out that post. Yes, this is a problem, and I'd like to hear from some Back to Eden folks about it, as I don't want to be creating more work by using the wood chips. Most of these beetles are brown, and all make grubs. There must have been eggs in the leaf litter.
@@Latebloomershow I had a section of my flower bed that was compacted large stones and rocks that wete preventing roots from spreading out. So I had to dig deep to remove the bulk of them. My hole was a minimum of 3x3x3 of neatly solid rocks but some patches of soil in between. I was down in the hole and three feet below the surface I found the majority of the largest grubs residing deep in my garden. True there was a lot of them under 1 foot from the surface. They were chowing down in the roots of a rosebush that was forced to grow sideways due to all the rocks.
I found grubs in my small wood chip pile. I left them in because they are breaking down the pile so fast they are turning it into soil. Some people do keep them in compost bins instead of worms. I'll just have to sift them out before using it.
Perfect.
Wow very informative,thank you for sharing
I still love the garden happenings the best!
Oh, there will be plenty of those in the mix, Dolly. Thanks! I just got a little behind with material when I was traveling. Stay tuned! Thanks for watching!
Hi Kaye, Jim from Queen Creek, AZ here..... Getting real interested in starting a wood chip garden area, have already ordered the first load of chips. Also working to eradicate a small but persistent Gopher population with traps and moderate success. Question: is it worthwhile starting a garden while Gophers are present? And would Gophers feed on Grubs, etc.?
I think some pests can be gotten rid of by using peppers. Hot peppers don't know I guess the heat from the peppers aren't a great living space. Just an idea. I think you can use it to spray too
They feed on decay similar to BSFL which are keeping my compost pile hot. I'm grateful for them.
Yeah, they are fine in the compost, but too many can damage the roots of your plants. I have them absolutely everywhere!
Well then I'm grateful that mine are gone until the weather is a steady warm. Perhaps they're underground eating where I first found one? I thought it was a Cicada. I just turned one of my piles . I added straw and boxes on top under the layers of plastic and car rugs. I'm reading about Doris Day trying to learn her relationship with her mother, Doris who ended her life being a pet spokeswoman. So many ones gone now:( George Micheal, Gary Shandling, Carrie Fisher. It must've been awful living in her mother's shadow.
Hi Kaye. I had an infestation of grubs in a 22 gallon pot that had cherry tomatoes growing in it. Out of 6 pots only one had grubs but the grubs did some damage to the plant. I just dug into the soil and picked them out by hand the plant made it but it didn't produce tomatoes the way the other 5 did.
Yeah, a real pain. Well, those bugs have to reproduce, but I wish they'd lay their eggs in these lawns all around me that don't produce food. Thanks for watching!! I have way too many possible places covered in wood chips that can't be dug up, so I will try with beneficial nematodes. Thanks for watching!!
Oh my gosh! Thank you for doing this video! I just discovered some in my tomato plants also! I was totally mortified. 😢
Great video! Thank you so much. I have kept raised beds and had to put cloth inside to start without the attraction of these pest but will build a compost bed just for these pests.
I collect the water from my kitchen. I use that water for ornamental plants and flowers, and that it's the only place with no grubs, and the earth worms are big and fat, apparently the soapy water only kill grubs and no worms.
Hmmmm, good to know!! Thanks for watching and commenting!
This was a great episode. Eric is the best!
Thanks! Gave you a mention in vid shot yesterday, should be up by Thursday. ❤
I use heavy woodchip mulch, and I've never gotten a grub infestation like that. But I live in Virginia. I find occasional grubs in the garden. I used to have 4 hens, so I just fed them my grubs. Then, I had to get rid of the hens, so now I keep a set of garden shears with me, and when I find a grub in my garden, I either squeeze it and kill it or snip it in half with the shears, and then I just drop it in place right into the garden, and mix it into the soil. It seems gross, but I know a lot of gardeners who add blood and bone meal to their soil as an amendment, and I think adding invertebrates back into the soil basically does the same thing, but it's free!
I agree. It is gross but I do the same thing. Always good to hear from you. I'm sitting in my friend's place in Rugby, England, and we are planning a little driving tour for the weekend. Stay tuned!
Fantastic! Enjoy a cup of tea for me! I love England. Don't be afraid to do a low-editing-style Vlog with some pictures of cottage gardens! Viewers will understand, and we LOVE videos of other places. Besides, my zone is a lot more like England than California :-)
Thank you!! I will take your suggestion and give it a try. I don't have my titles, so I'm trying to see if I can get them. I may give it a go tonight. Though, if you are right, why was it so hard to get people to watch my Sicily videos from last year, I wonder? I thought they would love it. Anyway, there are flowers EVERYWHERE.
found my first Grub ever in my life...looks like an alien
Thank you so much for this today was my very first experience with grubs in my garden I’m in north Texas
Hi Kaye I just got a plot at our local community garden and lo and behold it is full of grubs!! So it was great to see your Vlog on how you dealt with them. I hand picked mine out and got a few hundred. So far they have not killed my tomato plants. I'll keep reading your vlog and see what other solutions you come up with. I went to get milky spore and its banned in California, wouldn't you know it! I guess I could have bought it on Amazon, but too late now. I've already got the majority of the grubs out. I did buy Nematodes and they did NOTHING! Well thanks again for all the info. Nancy
Exactly! Every time a new suggestion (like milky spore and beneficial nematodes) came in and I read online about them, there conditions for use, and they didn't always work. Plus, they are everywhere I have chips, which is almost all over my garden, so, I'm basically, grabbing those that are uncovered, and keeping the area around the stems free from chips. Thank you! Hope you enjoy today's video! One of my best!
I'm still working on the problem. I did read all the comments responding to you and I think I'm going to plant some of those Marigolds, garlic, and onions around my tomatoes. I'm going to keep checking for grubs too. I think I picked out the majority of them...my back is killing me from digging deep with the shovel!!! I'm going to watch your blog right now. I've gardened a lot in the past but its been aloooong time since I've had one. So I'm checking into everything I can, including your blog! Thanks.
Oh that's wonderful, on all counts. I haven't had as much time for my blog since I've been editing my vlogs (editing can really eat up your days), but I'm sure you will find a lot of good info there. There is also a free ebook to download, but you may be more advanced than what I presented there. I know about the aching back and sympathize! My garden is so packed that if I put onions at the base, they won't get much sun pretty soon. But I'd love to! Please let me know how things go, and thanks so much for watching and writing!
Thanks for a great video. I live in Phoenix and found these in my raised beds. I put a order in for nematodes today.
Thanks, Timothy!! I need to order as well, still haven't done that. Tracy Garns writes below: "If you use beneficial nematodes, make sure you water them in very gently. They have to be able to burrow down within 7 minutes or the UV rays from the sunlight will make them sterile and you want them to be able to multiply." BTW, are you connected with the fruit growing group in Phoenix? Did you catch my Phoenix vlogs from June? Jacq Davis who I stayed with and created 3 vlogs of her garden and cooking, was visiting my garden today! I can't wait to cut this vlog together and share. Lots of fun! AND I plan to be back to Phoenix in November, God willing. So, keep in touch!
Kaye Kittrell | Late Bloomer Urban Organic Garden Show I enjoyed the vlogs from Phoenix they were great.
Thank you, Timothy! Stay tuned for Jacq's cooking coming this week.
Hens and chicken love to eat grubs I think. I looked on the net for Natural grub treatment. I found Neem oil mixed with water and sprayed , Beneficial Nematodes in liquid form mixed with water and sprayed on affected areas. Also Milky spore is a disease that effectively gets rid of lawn grubs.. Hope you are well Kaye. Best wishes Patrick
Thanks, Patrick! Someone else mentioned MilkySpore, which I knew nothing about. Seems like a "disease" would throw something else off in the garden, but I may have to try it. With more emphasis on perennials, which have deeper roots, I'm hoping that even if I have grubs they won't be too destructive. Thanks for your support! I'm determined to come to England this summer. I need to submit to a web fest and if I get in, I'll be sure to come.
I wonder if you could grind the peppers and mix it in the soil
Thanks for this! I built a couple of compost bins out of pallets many years ago. The compost was producing beautiful black gold however it had a whole bunch of grubs. I threw them over into the field for the birds. Then I put the compost in my raised beds and when I looked months later it now had grubs. Between the powdery mildew, grubs, the hated pincer bugs, the gophers, the possums that ended up with family in my worm bins along with a swarm of african bees, it just wore me out. I'm in Anaheim so I can relate. I think all this drought business makes it even worse. You know I have a lot of those green flying bugs and I never associated them with the grubs. They also live in my grass. Well they did before the grass died. lol The land wants to go back to being sand.
Yeah, that may be true, but we can't let it if we want to eat. I feel your pain. I hope you don't give up. I should have mentioned they love to be in the lawn. However, we don't need to be growing grass here. I haven't had gophers, knock on wood, and my husband saw a possum and a skunk (at different times) in the garden over the last year, and of course, raccoons. Yes, it's a challenge, but Tom Jones wrote a really beautiful comment here. I encourage you to scroll down till you find it. Thanks for your support of this channel, Freida!!
To help attract beneficial nematodes while repelling a lot of grubs grow French Marigolds, Garlic and Basil alongside the tomatoes. The oils secreted will annoy the pests and drive them away without using harmful chemicals. Also, the Basil and Garlic help reduce the acidity of tomato fruit and inject them with more flavor. Personally, I really dislike Marigolds because they're quite pungent and do not make for a great cut flower but if it helps keep the cruel insects away then "why not?"
Well, that's interesting. I grew both last year near my tomatoes, along with borage to ward off hornworms. I will def. try this this year. Have already planted out 9 tomato plants and only one basil and my marigolds are just getting seeded, so I guess I should pick up a pack of plants at the nursery. Thanks so much. The grubs are everywhere, btw.
Does it have to be French marigolds? I have so much marigold seed but it's not French. What do you think about transplanting garlic? Is that possible? I have 2 small beds of garlic and I could transplant one to the side of each tomato, but these have been in ground since early November. I have the HARDEST time growing basil. Can't get it started, and even a healthy plant I bought to go beside a tomato plant didn't survive transplant.
Kaye Kittrell | Late Bloomer Urban Organic Garden Show just
RNG NV you my friend have just proven how bio diversity is the key outdoors. Certain plants in nature release attractants for certain predator bugs when they are invaded by caterpillars so your def on to something.
BT powder sprinkled around the garden works well for grubs / beetle larvae. Takes about a year here but may work faster in your climate.
I'll have to check that out, thanks! Thanks for watching, Ward!!
What is BT powder?
Can I sprinkle on top of mulch around my plants ( flowers)?
Did you ever order the beneficial nematodes or did the milky spore work for your grubs?
To be honest, I've done neither. It seems I spend way more time on the computer editing videos than in the garden. That has to change in July. Hopefully then I can put my focus to it. It's just that the chips are everywhere, and I would have to put those everywhere, and both have stipulations or conditions for them being successful and just haven't had the brain cells free to focus on it. Are you using chips and finding grubs?
I haven't found a supplier for chips yet and my 85 year old dad has just returned home from a week in the hospital fighting off pneumonia. I will probably try both of those methods and hopefully wonder which worked. I was finding big grubs in the soil but not as big as your grubs. You need a turkey to gobble those grubs!
True!! No turkeys allowed here, haha. I hope your dad recovers from his illness soon! Good luck and keep me posted how things go. - K
Thanks! Dad is improving each day! I used to see nematodes listed for slugs, too but none recently. What a tangled web of life we weave!
It's a web, all right! Glad to hear he is improving!! Best wishes, and thanks for your support!! - K
Kay, love your video, and how is your woodchips doing? Are you still using them?
What did your plants look like ? I had horrible time with my garden this year. NEVER before was it this bad!
If you added up all the issues this year, I would say it was one of my worst, too. Still, it was worth the effort. I'd do it again, just not plant so much and so close together.
Add a ammonia to a bucket, a cup or so , in a 3-4 days it become a stinky fertilizer, pour back into holes into soil. One of the best soil addition! Grubs are very nitrogen rich, by the way!
You mean, just ammonia alone? I haven't had such a problem since that summer. I would like to know more about the ammonia, or did you mean add to a bucket of water?
yes add 10-15 ml of plain ammonia into large bucket of water more then 2 gal of it. When you pick up grabs , snail, slugs just collect them into that bucket. After 1 week it becomes fertilizer , Ammonia plus grabs by then get become humic acids
Call the local bait shop. Maybe they will buy them from you.
Hmmmm, bait shop around here? I don't know one. But, I'm going to find out if they have chickens at the middle school.
Really gross Kaye! Loved it! LOL! Ahh……the challenge of gardening & wonders of nature! I just pulled a pepper plant today that I had grown last year. Average size plant that produced big, beautiful 10-12 cm. red peppers-(about 50-60 peppers p/plant). This year, this plant grew to about 2.5M high x 2M wide! It's been covered with hundreds of flowers since August; but didn't produce a single pepper! Go figure! LOL! But like I always try to think in these situations; "Well, it could be worse" !
Yes, it could be worse. It could be snowing on us like in North Dakota this week! Good to hear from you. I don't have a clue as to why that plant didn't produce but they don't last more than 2-3 years, so I've found it's not worth the effort and water to over winter them.
When I was a kid we used the grubs for fish bait. Give your grubs to any boy with a fishing pole and you'll have a friend for life!
Great video it was very informative. I have the same problem with the grubs eating my greens. Th birds have been very helpful with this problem. The moment I turn over the soil a Robin Red Breast usually joins me. Side by side I dig and Robin eats. I was planning to add mulch to the beds this year but now I'm a little skeptical. Many different birds visit the yard in search of a good meal. BQ..
I like your video
Thank you for your information
Thanks for watching and please tune in to my livestream on Sunday at 10AM PST and join the conversation!
Omg just stumbled on your channel and LOVE IT!!
Whew~ those grubs make my skin crawl..
YEAH, me too! The things you can get used to when you garden.....
New subscriber here- you are the sweetest! I love watching your videos.
I know this is an old video- I am curious if you continued doing back to eden gardening??
This is my first year doing wood chips and I’m wondering if I am asking for pest trouble...
Milky Spore is another way to control them. They are likely Green June Bug larva.
Not sure about your kind of ants, but cinnamon works well with many kinds
Yes, that was suggested in the comments, but when I read about it, I wasn't sure I could make it work as I have wood chips everywhere. I'm definitely going to try cinnamon!! Thanks for sharing and watching!
So hopfuly you have lernt some thing
I always compost my wood chips first in a big pile before puting on my bets I have much larger grubs in my wood chips they get to like 6inches long 3/4 thick these are from a verylarge beetle but they speed up the compost time and I never have problems with them eat my plants or the roots normly in my climate the wood chips are brocken down to soil in 1 1/2 to two years and I put that on my beds works well for me and my garden
Interesting. I have quite a big pile left of wood chips on the driveway. Just don't have any place yet to put them. It's covered in plastic so we have not seen grubs in there. I thought it would break down faster if covered but that keeps out the beetles from laying. I never heard anything about this issue before I got my chips.
One thing that is good for dealing with ants and delivers nutrients to your soil at the same time... Chickens! Plus eggs!
So that's what they are!! I have some too. Very gross 😱. Thanks for sharing!
You are welcome! There are 1000's of beetles. The larger the beetle, the larger the grub. Thanks for watching!!
😱 that's a lot! Like in my backyard garden! Omg😱😫time to get few chickens and plant magnolia too.
Yeah, it's not possible to have chickens in the front yard in Los Angeles, and the back yard is tiled.
Hello Kaye: I don't if it works on grubs but Acidopholice might work(That might not be the correct spelling). Cheep to make and plants love it. I make my own. Gets ride of ants and all kinds of bugs that eat up plants.
Sorry for the delay in responding. I'm recovering from an accident, as you will see in recent videos. Thanks for watching! Can you tell me more about how you make it?
Do you still like to use wood chips ?
Yes, I'm committed. They suppress weeds and hold in moisture, important in drought-plagued SoCal. Sorry for the delay in responding. I'm recovering from an accident.
i am speechless! i can remember when you had the woodchips brought in. holy moly. this is only a suggestion but i have read grits(real,not instant) don't know why it has to be real. lol. it's suppose to implode them. and i'm not sure if the grits would invite other troubles for you, but you have my heart felt sympathy.😢
Sorry I'm just getting to this comment. Been a busy month. Grits, you mean like a couple of cups mixed into soil around stem of each plant? I'll be happy to give that a try. I've been drowning them recently, but it's very labor intensive to dig them up. Thanks! And thanks for watching!!
Kaye Kittrell | Late Bloomer Urban Organic Garden Show you are one busy lady. lol! as far as the grits i read to just spread the grits on top of the soil. they eat the grits. the grits are suppose to swell in their tummy and you can guess the rest. lol! hope you got to enjoy the holidays!!
Aw! Okay! (Yes, been working harder this past year than any in my life...) So, I'm getting some grits, except I have several inches on wood chips, so I'm thinking I need to push them back and sprinkle it.... Did I enjoy the holidays? Hmmm, can't remember. LOL. Thanks for contributing! I hope you enjoy my special California Desert Super Bloom Late Bloomer uploaded today. :)
Beneficial nematodes hasn't done that well for me over the years although, I still put them down yearly, and they are expensive IMO. Orange oil and dawn soap in water works best for me with fire ants (mound drench). I think it should take care of harvester ants as well.
We use a lot of wood chips at the community garden. I think that is how our garden became infested with bind weed (wild morning glories). So watch out for that. In my own garden I think the wood chips promote snails. It's always something, isn't it?
I keep my back porch light on at night and a large pan of water under it in the summer. In the morning there's usually 10-30 June bugs in the pan. I don't truly know, but I think it helps control them.
I'm glad you didn't waste those grubs and some local chickens got a nice treat!
YES, always something. I use Sluggo for snails and slugs, which really helped and knocked down the population three years ago. That's supposed to be okay for organic gardening. I'll try the soap drench for the ants next time I uncover a colony. They are under the wood chips, so unless you turn it up, you don't really notice. Thanks for your support. I responded to this before, but don't see my comment here.
I throw my grubs in the bird bath. The birds LOVE them. They're always gone the next day if the birds don't find them the day I dig them up.
wow, i feed those guys to my chickens, i will sift soil just like you before planting but dont have nearly the probs you have !
Yeah, the whole point of no-till gardening with wood chips is to do less work, so I'm going to order beneficial nematodes to try and control the problem, cause no doubt it's an ongoing thing. The ants are another matter, with no foreseeable solution. Thanks for watching!!!
feed them to the chickens..great protein source for them n they love the treat
Oh, I know! My garden is in front yard and no space for chickens, otherwise I would have three. If you watched till the end, I fed them to those chickens but the owner of the garden did not welcome me to come back with more grubs. I wish I had a source close by. Two neighbors kept chickens when kids were young, but no longer.
Hi Kaye, I know your video was mostly about grubs, but I thought I'd share the "all natural" three pronged attack I used on ants in my garden this summer since you seem to have a problem with them too.
I had a terrible infestation of ants and aphids living in perfect harmony all over my melon and squash plants this summer so I used the following:
1st - Dr. Bonner's peppermint soap and water - sprayed on the underside of the leaves to kill the aphids and used to clean up the honeydew that they secrete off of the rocks and fence around the plants - I read somewhere that ants don't like the smell of peppermint.
2nd - diatomaceous earth (DE) - I used a plastic catsup bottle to puff it along the ant trails and all over the mass of ants that came out of hills when I dug. I was careful not to get it on plants because I wasn't sure if it would hurt bees or other beneficials, but it's otherwise considered organic and actually helps the soil.
3rd - a mix of corn syrup or honey with borax - This is poison, but it was used in a controlled way as to not get into the soil or on the plants. I put the mixture in old plastic yogurt tubs with lids that seal and poked tiny holes around the sides. It's said that the ants eat it and take it back to the nest where they share it with the queen and they all die.
It did take about a month to get the situation under control (I lost my watermelon plant in the process) and I'm not sure which one actually worked, or if it was the combination, but I haven't had any problems since.
Thanks for sharing your garden adventures!
Shannon
You are welcome and thanks for contributing all that. I have tried all of the above at various times. I tried the 3rd mixture for ants (can't remember exactly what was in it but definitely borax, but my proportions must have been off as I watched the ants and they would not go into it, they would avoid it. But, I used it in an open plastic plate. I see what you did is make it thick and it would ooze out the sides and they "lick" it off. Right? I did use a big blast of DE on the worst of the ants, and it seemed to slow the activity. Yes I've read that about Peppermint. I need to get some more Dr. Bonners, I think I may be out. Thanks for your support!!
Try beneficial nematodes for grubs. If you happen to have grass near your garden put some milky spore on the grass otherwise they will travel from the grass to your garden.
For the ants I might recommend diatomaceous earth. Or an anteater LOL😎😎😎
No grass, just hard mud after the immense rains we've had (for us). I looked into nematodes and still have them in my frig. Had forgotten about them and wonder if they could still be viable. I don't really understand how to use them. Could you tune into my livestream on Sunday and write a comment about it, and let's see what folks respond. Yes, an anteater... hahahahah
I had that too. Grubs went to my friends chickens.
Can't keep or control chickens/animals in small Los Angeles front yard, wish I could. Sorry for the delay in responding. I'm recovering from an accident, as you will see in recent videos. Thanks for watching!
Get yourself more bugs that eat grubs, like praying mantises, lady bugs those sort of things. Gribs are actually beetle larvae like your Japanese beetles. Hope this is somewhat helpful!
Is there alcohol is that cup Kaye?
Don't yell at the crows! They are good friends to gardeners because of all the insects, grubs, and pests that they eat.
Oh, don't worry, crows rule this neighborhood and are not intimidated by me. One almost made a dive at my cat, but I intervened. I've seen four of them pin a huge hawk on top of a tree by swooping and diving at it. It finally escaped. Thanks for watching!
Maybe try planting tagetes? I read they're against harmful nermatodes.. They're all over my garden😊
Hmmm. Just looked that up. I have Mexican Marigold, a big bush. But that doesn't help in my raised beds. Are you saying you have bushes of them all around? I don't know anything about harmful nematodes, but I am going to try beneficial nematodes. Thanks for watching!!
***** I'm from germany and maybe we have different varieties🙈 We just sow the seeds and its pretty good against grubs.. We plant them between potato rows and also next to tomatoes:)
en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tagetes_patula
Thats the one we have.. French marigold.. :)
I have heard of that too... helpful for root worms as well . I will offer some seeds for them and plant lots more
Do you have the French marigold, Sharon? Is that a perennial in temperate climes?
I till my garden soil. When I find a grub I cut it in half then return it to my garden to decompose. If this is a bad idea please comment.
Not a bad idea. Sorry for delay, I've had a serious accident and recovering. But you might consider not tilling unless you have a big operation. Tilling disrupts soil microbes, mycellium networks, etc., needed for soil health. Thanks for watching!
You don't need fortification to as much as you need a pesticide developed especially for grubs! Believe me, it works!
good informative video.. ty kaye
Thank YOU, Juan! Please share and help me make this channel sustainable. Many thanks!
Grubs and worms 😣 eh yuck and ants 😕 a rollins pollie on wheels lol...the buzzing sound would freak me out 😳 you found the chickens a feast excellent idea
Loving you wonderful channel:)
I know this is nothing to do with gardening, but you’re so pretty p, I can’t but help a 1940s hairstyle would be fabulous on you!
I know. I recently got a haircut but he didn't get it quite 40's looking which is what I want. I've got that shape face for it. Thanks so much for watching, and hope you will check out more of my videos!
Kaye Kittrell | Late Bloomer Urban Organic Garden Show you would definitely rock some victory rolls!
Greetings from Yorkshire by the way 👋 Our climate is just a tad colder than yours I think (!) so we have rather different growing conditions. Just sown my first seeds of the year though (sweet peas) so spring is definitely on its way :)
lol. She wasn’t sure what a worm looks like ? Lol I guess it’s good that her gardener does.
Birds love Grubs, bring in the Blue Jays.
We took out another load, about half that, and they are in the bucket by the sidewalk available for any birds. Thanks for watching!
What sort of wood?
Liked your video. Beautiful garden!. I agree with Zachary, I don't like them either.
Thank you, Sheri!! Ha, ha, not sure what I am going to do about it.
Chickens or wine cap mushroom spawn in chip bed?
Can't keep or control chickens in Los Angeles front yard, wish I could. Sorry for the delay in responding. I'm recovering from an accident, as you will see in recent videos. Thanks for watching!
but tell me more about that fungi. I already have loads of spawn in wood chips, just don't know what kind.
My chickens love them grubs...I lost about 3 native plants to grubs....
nematodes that works for me.
Will that harm your chickens?
U r so pretty. Like a beautiful friendly aunt that would teach me gardening and share fruits.
Great for chickens or birds that like worms
I know, well, as you saw at the end of the video, I thought I had a good source for the grubs, but the owner didn't want me to come back. 😬
There is a way to make money on the Grubs.
Grubs are Chicken Feed (Food). Feed the Grubs to the Hens and sell the eggs
you might not be able to get money for them, but if you know someone with chickens you can maybe trade those grubs for eggs! Chickens love grubs
I know, but I don't know anyone close who has laying hens anymore. Most of the neighborhood kids have grown up and the few I knew that had them, stopped keeping them. That's the tough thing about being an urban gardener. There aren't many other people doing it. Thanks for watching and please tune in to my livestream on Sunday at 10AM PST and join the conversation!
Thanka
You're welcome!
Can you use DE where you live?
Yes, but it has to be reapplied after you water or rain. So, it doesn't seem to make sense for grubs which are a few inches down. Thanks for watching and please tune in to my livestream on Sunday at 10AM PST and join the conversation!
Do any of your neibors have chickens?
Ducks. You need to run ducks into your patch. They will eat up all of the grubs and the adult beetles.
Time to bring in the chickens!!
Thats a lot, i only plant on a container but also see some grubs sometimes but yours is a lot. Omg!
Yes, that day was a real haul and they got happily eaten by those chickens at the end. But, I can't drive that far to get rid of them, so I tried drowning just in water, but after looking lifeless in water for 6 hours, I dumped them in the street (for the crows) but they were all gone in the am. I think they came back to life and crawled off. I could be wrong but it sure seems like they have nine lives. The only way to be sure is to squish. :)
My chickens would love those grubs
Oh, believe me, I could use them. I wish there was some way to keep them, but it's just me, and I've got my hands full. Yesterday, we planted a couple of vines and uncovered a dozen big ones. Thanks for watching!!
fish love grubs, its excellent bait
Oh, I bet! I don't fish here in L.A. But, I wish I had a neighbor who would take them. Thursdays is my big garden day and we always turn up a few dozen. Thanks for watching!
Now, maybe I should get a turtle! I might be able to manage that.... did you see that HUGE turtle Jake Mace has, in the Phoenix garden tour video I did last summer?
Turtles live a long time, Ive met someone who kept a turtle in an aquarium for over a decade!
I feel your pain Kaye. It`s always something isn`t it? Yea beneficial nematodes. What a great solution. On the ants, try Diatomaceous Earth which you can buy a small bag of at your garden center. I`ll also seen people pour boiling water on their ant colonies and it does work. Need to do it a few times I believe. Aren`t harvester ants a good thing to have? Disperse seeds, aerate soil and provide food for lizards and birds.
Yes, I have a big bag and dumped a couple of cups on them. It doesn't seem to kill them all but it helps, but the point is you don't really see them till you unearth the wood chips, which you're not supposed to have to do. I need a BTE expert to weigh in.... Thanks for watching!!
research what benifit the ants are to the eco system . everything is here for a purpose but we may not know why.
Right, well, these are farming aphids, so......
Ants hate mint
Hmmm. I only have mint growing in one area. It's so hard to keep it growing nice, constantly have to cut it down to the ground and start over. Had major ants in the compost this year but viewers said I didn't wet the compost enough. Does that sound right? Thanks for watching and please tune in to my livestream on Sunday at 10AM PST and join the conversation!
Great chicken food
YES! I have no way to contain them in my front yard, unfortunately. Thanks so much for watching!