"Oh,  yuck!  Those crummy bugs are all over my beautiful veggies,  and do those poor plants look sick!"
     Has this wail and lament come to your garden yet?   As long as there have been  nasty  critters  and diseases that seem to appear spontaneously  with  a penchant  for destroying vegetables that we've loved and labored over  in  our gardens, there have been solutions to be had.
     After  the  initial  disgust,  the  first  consideration  should  be  to determine  the acceptable level of infestation - just how much damage to  your plants can you stand before you feel that you must take action?  Just how many chewed  or  dried-up leaves can the plants stand,  and how much yield can  you sacrifice, before you are driven to counterattack?
     This  level  of tolerance is as personal as  a  taste  preference.   Some gardeners can't stand the sight of a single creepy-crawly beast or marred leaf or  fruit,  while  other  gardeners routinely plant extra to  accommodate  the anticipated loss.
     Generally,  concerns for the health and safety of our food, the soil, and ground water supplies requires that we use the "small guns first."  Start with the least disruptive action,  such as blasting pests with jets of  water from the hose.   If the problem persists,  apply increasingly destructive methods, such as narrow-spectrum  pesticides  for specific problems or pests.   Take these intermediate  steps, rather than turning immediately to the "one spray kills all" approach - because it  does  kill  all,  beneficial insects and soil organisms  as  well  as  the baddies.  
     If  the  current generation of plants can't be saved,  then certainly  an improvement can be made for the next,  whether in a subsequent planting or  in next year's garden.
     Remember   that  all  plants  are  determined  to  grow  successfully  to maturity - to produce foliage,  flowers, fruits, and seeds - and then die.  This is  their natural process,  and they will strive to proceed,  no matter  what.  They  will  be  more successful,  and you  will  benefit  more,  when  growing conditions - weather,  fertilization,  irrigation - are  ideal.  To what  degree plants  achieve  this  goal  depends  on the  quantity  and  timing  of  these elements - whether  provided by nature or by the gardener.   How the conditions in your garden are altered for better or worse will affect whether your plants thrive,   barely  exist,   or  die.   This,  in  turn,  will  determine  their vulnerability  to  diseases  and  pests and the quality  of  the  produce  you harvest.   In a word,  healthy gardens make healthy plants, and healthy plants ward off diseases and pests more successfully than unhealthy ones.
     The  most  important  means of combating pests and diseases  is  by  good cultural practices. Thorough preparation of the soil before planting or sowing is necessary.   Incorporating well-rotted manure,  a balanced fertilizer,  and compost will ensure that plants are given a good start in nutrition and proper drainage that will last through harvest.   Additional compost or other organic mulches applied to the soil surface will help to retain soil moisture, provide further nutrients, and suppress weeds.
     Growing  the same or closely-related plants in the same place year  after year should be avoided,  as this encourages a build-up of soil-borne pests and diseases, and it depletes the soil of the specific balance of nutrition that those plants need in common.
     Maintaining  a  clean garden means removing and destroying  all  infected plants and debris.   Plants that have been badly attacked by pests or diseases should not be left in the garden to infect other plants or offer a steady diet for  pests.   Even relying on the heat of a properly constructed compost  pile cannot completely dispose of the pests or diseases.   Organic mulches must not include diseased material,  particularly in the fall and winter,  because they may overwinter to infect the next year's garden.   Weeds should be kept  under control before they set their new seeds since many are the hosts of pests and diseases,  and they compete with cultivated plants for water and nutrients.
 
BENEFICIAL INSECTS:  THE GOOD GUYS
     Welcoming  and  providing for insect predators in your garden is  a  wise move.   There  are  limitations  to the value of purchasing  adult  predators, however.   Once  they've eaten their fill soon after release in  your  garden, they'll leave to find their meals elsewhere.   Some adult populations - such as the  ladybug - are  "programmed" to automatically fly away from their point  of release in order to search for their food.  In both cases, they will no longer be  around your garden to feed on subsequent populations of pests.   In  other words,  you paid for them to eat but one meal from your garden.   On the other hand,  if you provide them with their preferred forage areas, release them in the early evening, and sprinkle the entire area so the plants are moist, the ladybugs may at least stay overnight and perhaps remain longer in your immediate area to benefit your during further pest scourges. 
 
Some of the predators more commonly used are:
 
Predator (eater)           Object (eatee)
Aphytis wasp               Scale
Cryptolaemus              Mealybugs
Encarsia formosa        Whiteflies
Fly parasites                  Flies
Lacewing                       Ants, aphids, some worms and
                                         caterpillars, and eggs and larvae
                                         of other pests.
Ladybug                         Aphid, mite
Praying mantis             Wide variety (including their
                                          own mates!)
Predatory mites            Other mites
Trichogramma wasp   Variety of worms & caterpillars
 
     Another helpful predator is the daddy-long-legs, which constantly "combs" plants for aphids and larvae of other insects.
 
PESTS:  THE BAD GUYS
     Garden pests can be grouped into either of two major categories:  chewers and suckers.  The chewers bite to get what they want and include caterpillars, potato  bugs,  grasshoppers,  and cutworms.   Treat this group  with  filtered sprays  of pungent concoctions made of ground-up parts of aromatic plants such as  marigold,  garlic,  onion,  or hot pepper.   Many of these insects can  be eradicated with two sprayings of a tabasco-detergent-alcohol  spray.   Combine one tablespoon liquid dishwashing detergent,  one tablespoon of tabasco sauce, one  quart of rubbing alcohol,  and one gallon of water.   Be careful to  wear non-absorbent  rubber  gloves  and to not breathe the fumes,  as  the  tabasco liquid and vapor are very irritating.
     The second group suck plant parts.   These include aphids, thrips, flies, and scale.  Treat this group with sprays of a biodegradable insecticidal  soap or  oil solutions that asphyxiate the pests by coating them and clogging their respiration systems.
     Diatomaceous earth, when magnified, looks like a cluster of pins pointing out of a ball.   These "pins" prick the bodies of insects,  causing their body fluids to drain out.  While fatal to most insects, it has no harmful effect on people or warm-blooded animals.   Vegetables can be eaten the same day they're treated.   However,  be  sure to use only the type sold specifically  for  the garden, not the one to be used in pool filters, which have their “pins” rounded off and so are ineffective treating insects.
     Aluminum  garden siding or boards laid on the soil will attract a variety of  pests to the cool darkness underneath them.  Lift the boards in the  early evening, destroy the pests, and replace the boards for the next day’s "catch."
 
     I’ve compiled this information from a variety of sources including the University of California Cooperative Extension, California Department of Agriculture, United States Department of Agriculture, Rodale Press, University of Wisconsin Cooperative Extension, and Washington State Cooperative Extension.

Ants
PROBLEM:   Ants  may be in general presence in the garden,  but they  are  not automatically a problem since they do eat the larvae of fruit  flies and houseflies,  and caterpillars.   They may also "herd" aphids for their honeydew, however, and then they do become a garden problem.
SOLUTION:   Paint  tanglefoot on trunks of trees to keep ants and  the  aphids they  "herd" away.   A homemade sugar-and-yeast brew can be made very inexpensively.   Stir  together one pound of brown sugar and one-quarter teaspoon  of baker's yeast into one gallon of warm water (80 degrees is ideal).  If substituting refined white sugar, add a one-inch square of bread and one teaspoon of soil  to  initiate fermentation.   For the greatest yeast  activity  and  pest response,  air  temperatures  should be between 50 to 100 degrees.   Ants  are attracted indoors by sweet or fatty foods,  so keep these foods  well-covered.  Place  cucumber  peelings on cupboard shelves to deter them.   Invasion  paths into the house can be disrupted by sprinkling them with kitchen cleansing powder.   Planting mint,  pennyroyal,  southernwood,  and tansy by doorways  will drive them away.   Within a six-inch circumference of a nest entrance, stir in several tablespoons of Epsom salts into the top inch of soil.   Use silica gel to seal openings around pipes and treat areas behind cabinets.  Carpenter ants don't eat wood,  but they do nest in it and can cause structural damage.  They are fond of moist or partially-decayed wood.  Firewood that is stored outdoors should  be elevated above the soil level,  provided with air circulation,  and covered to keep it dry.   Inspect the wood before bringing it into the  house, and bring in only a small amount at a time.
 
Aphids
PROBLEM:   If foliage is crumpled,  curled,  and yellow,  and shiny and sticky with honeydew,  or looks blackened with sooty mold,  aphids are enjoying themselves.   Aphids  thrive on new,  young growth and excessive nitrogen  in  the soil. 
SOLUTION:  Add raw, carbon-rich organic matter such as straw or sawdust to the soil  to put the excess nitrogen to work.   Aphids are "herded" by  ants,  who "milk"  them  for  their honeydew and can be blasted from their perches  by  a forceful stream of water from a hose.    Spray them with a garlic/onion/paprika mixture or a  biodegradable insecticidal soap and water solution.   If the foliage  looks dull  and wilted after two days,  rinse it off so that the plant  can  breathe again.  Crush the aphids on branches, leaves, or flower buds - these "corpses" and   "bug  juice" warn off current and later generations.    Dust the  aphids with diatomaceous earth.   Place aluminum foil or white plastic on the soil or mulch  under  the  plant foliage to reflect  sunlight  - this  disorients  the aphids, and they'll settle elsewhere to feed.  Sticky traps can be made easily from yellow plastic can lids.  Paint the lids with a thin solution of honey or sugar and water,  and set them outdoors near an infested area.  When they have attracted and trapped many pests,   wash the lids off, reapply the sweet solution,  and  set them in place again.   Encourage ladybird beetles,  lacewings, praying mantids,  and syrphid flies. Aphids generally stay away from nasturtiums, spearmint, and stinging nettle. 
 
Earwigs
PROBLEM:  Earwigs are in the garden, eating decaying vegetation.
SOLUTION:   Most earwigs feed on other insects and are thus  beneficial.  When they become too numerous, however, they occasionally eat live plant parts. although their pincers look ferocious, they can't inflict real damage.  Trap earwigs by placing rolled,  moistened newspaper or cardboard near an infested area; check daily,  and destroy earwigs.   Earwigs also can be caught in a homemade sugar- and-yeast brew (see "Ants").
 
Flea Beetles
PROBLEM:   Many tiny holes in leaves,  with more damage in the  lower  leaves, signal the presence of the flea beetle.
SOLUTION:  Spray with a garlic/onion infusion.   For severe infestations, dust with wood ashes,  diatomaceous earth,  or rotenone.  Rotenone also kills beneficial predators,  so use it only for severe infestations.  Flea beetle damage seldom occurs once the plants have developed beyond the seedling stage.  Potatoes are safe to eat.  Black flea beetles stay away from catnip, hyssop, mint, rosemary,  sage,  thyme,  and wormwood.   Interplant cole crops,  lettuce, and tomatoes.   Incorporate organic compost.  In the fall, deter overwintering and laying  of  eggs by frequent cultivating of the garden and keeping it free  of weeds and trash.
 
Grasshoppers
PROBLEM:  If grasshoppers jump all around as you pass through the garden, they are probably chewing the foliage on your plants.
SOLUTION:  Catch and destroy them by stomping them.  Protect seedlings by  covering them with cheesecloth.  In spring and early summer, the young are most vulnerable,  and Nosema locustae may be the answer.   It is a protozoan that attacks specifically grasshoppers and some species of crickets.  Dissolve the spore in water,  add it to a bran mixture (grasshoppers' favorite food),  and then disperse  this  over the garden or yard area.   As the grasshoppers feed  on  the Nosema-bran mixture, they become infected and slowly die.  Surviving grasshoppers  retain  sufficient  infection to reduce or  inhibit  reproduction.   The infection is also transmitted when infected grasshoppers are eaten by  healthy ones.   In the fall, winter, and early spring, cultivate the soil and  destroy cream-to-yellow colored egg clusters that look like grains of rice.
 
Leafhoppers
PROBLEM:   If  the tips and margins of leaves look dried or burnt,  and  white stippling is on the upper surfaces, the damage is probably due to leafhoppers.
SOLUTION:  Dust with diatomaceous earth.   Employ lacewings.   Plant petunias, geraniums as repellents.  Remove and destroy affected plants.  Keep the garden free of weeds.
 
Leafminers
PROBLEM:  The leafminer leaves white blisters,  tunnels,  or blotches in plant foliage.
SOLUTION:   Handpick and destroy the infected leaves.   Grow  less-susceptible varieties.   Keep garden free of weeds.   Consider growing pak choi to replace infested  spinach - the pak choi's taste and use in cooking is  similar,  its  growth needs are the same, and it overwinters well.
 
Loopers and Worms
PROBLEM:  The worm family which includes loopers and cabbage worms chews large ragged  holes in the leaves they consume.   Cabbage and lettuce heads  may  be bored into.   The light green caterpillars and their droppings may be present. 
SOLUTION:  Handpick and destroy the worm and its egg clusters, and destroy the adult  white moths that flutter so prettily.  Apply garlic/onion/paprika spray or dust with diatomaceous earth. Cover plants with  cheesecloth when the adult white moths first appear,  to prevent their  laying eggs  on plant foliage.   For severe infestation,  spray with Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt) or  rotenone.  Lacewing larvae and trichogramma wasps destroy the eggs that the adults lay.
 
Mites, Spider
PROBLEM:  When foliage is stippled,  loses color,  wilts,  and may be  covered with fine webbing, mites have been at work.
SOLUTION:   Hose  off the mites and their webs with a strong stream of  water, including the undersides of the leaves.   Sprinkle the plant foliage occasionally – both top sides and undersides - to  keep it free of webbing.   Lower surrounding air  temperatures  with applications of organic mulches.   Spider mites thrive in hot,  dry conditions and plants with a calcium deficiency.  Maintain a more frequent watering schedule to eliminate the moisture-stress condition  which initiated the calcium deprivation.   Predatory mites and lacewings eat mites. Plant onions, garlic, and chives as repellents.
 
Nematodes
PROBLEM:   The  extended  family of nematodes causes  damage  to  plants  that results in the foliage becoming yellowish and wilting readily on hot days, and roots that are stunted,  knobby,  and distorted with galls.   Potato and sweet potato tubers have irregular dark brown sunken areas.
SOLUTION:   Plant resistant varieties.   Incorporate organic  matter.   Rotate crops.   Grow  non-host  plants for three or four years,  and incorporate  the plant matter into the soil before replanting host plants.  Nematodes are  susceptible to drying out,  so turning the soil and allowing it to dry thoroughly can help reduce populations.   Infested plant root systems should be carefully destroyed,  not  mulched  or composted.   Nematodes will not be a  problem  in biologically  active soil,  as the bacteria eat the nematode  eggs.   Nematode damage  develops more frequently on stressed plants where the root systems are unable to take up adequate water and nutrients. Vegetables which are relatively resistant to root-knot nematode are asparagus,  the cole crops,  and  sweet corn.   Cherry  tomatoes do not seem to be affected as severely as other tomatoes,  and they will produce well, even in moderately-infested soil.  Increasingly  numerous  nematode-resistant varieties of  susceptible  vegetables  are available to choose from,  especially of tomatoes.   Plant red salvia, dahlia, calendula, and African and French marigolds as repellents.
 
Slugs and Snails
PROBLEM:   Slugs  and snails,  which thrive in moist,  cool  conditions,  give themselves  away by their shiny,  slimy,  slick trails.  They eat  just  about anything that's cool and succulent.
SOLUTION:  Eliminate harbors - boards, debris on soil and around the perimeter of the garden - or use these as attraction areas, and destroy those collected.  Construct a yeast-and-sugar trap (see "Ants"),  or use old beer.   Snails love beer,  even old flat beer, but they can't handle it.  Any container with sides low enough for the snails to crawl into will do.   The snails will plunge into the  beer,  absorb too much,  and be unable to leave.  Dispose  of  the  dead snails,  pour  in  more beer,  and wait for another "catch."   Paint tanglefoot on the trunks of trees to keep aphids and their ant "herders" off.   Poison bait  can be  utilized  in the garden so that it does not come in contact with  it,  and neither  pets nor birds can get it - place some of the pellets in  small  baby food jars that are laid on their sides next to plants.  The slugs can crawl in to dine and die,  but the bait will remain dry even after overhead sprinkling.  Barriers of sharp sand,  powdered  charcoal,  diatomaceous  earth,  ashes,  or sawdust will get caught in the mucous membranes of snails and slugs who try to cross.   Reapply these after rain  or overhead  watering,  as the particles are most effective when they remain  dry and separate.   Poultry-grade crushed oyster shells gives planting beds a dry, rough,  sharp,  alkaline  surface which is avoided by slugs and  snails.   The shell  powder  is also good for raising the soil pH because of the  high  lime content.  Fences can be constructed of 1/4" hardware cloth cut into strips and attached  to  wooden stakes or raised bed railings.   Slugs and  snails  can't easily  crawl up the mesh;  but if they do manage,  they can't crawl over  the tiny  spikes  at  the top without piercing themselves.  Plant  prostate rosemary, wormwood as repellents.
 
Sowbugs and Pillbugs
PROBLEM:   Sowbugs  and pillbugs are generally present in the  garden,  eating decayed vegetation.
SOLUTION:  Keep soil surface free of mulch for a two-inch area around plant stems.   Provide  good  air circulation between plant foliage  and  the  mulch underneath.  Remove lower decayed plant leaves from the surface of the soil or mulch.
 
Thrips
PROBLEM:  When dwarfed foliage wilts,  is speckled,  curled, crinkled and papery, silvery or tan colored, and dies, suspect thrips.  Onions develop whitish chainlike marks on leaf surfaces and on distorted bulbs. Thrips thrive in hot, dry weather.
SOLUTION:   Wash  or soak seeds in a saltwater solution before planting  them.  Plant  seeds  as  early as possible so that the plants are  mature  enough  to withstand the initial infestation period in spring.  Unless the infestation is very heavy,  plants will outgrow the problem.  Dust with diatomaceous earth or spray with solutions of soap,  oil,  tobacco,  or rotenone.   Rotate crops  in three-year cycles.   Maintain sufficient moisture.  Keep garden free of weeds.  Employ  lacewings,  ladybugs,  and predatory wasps.   As with aphids,  foil or white plastic mulch disorients thrips, and they'll settle elsewhere to feed.
 
Whiteflies
PROBLEM:  Leaves that are slightly curled and wilt,  yellow, dry, and may look shiny  from honeydew or blackened from sooty mold may  harbor  whiteflies.  If white flecks fly into the air when the foliage is disturbed, their presence is confirmed.
SOLUTION:  Hose off both sides of all leaves on infested plants every few days with  an  insecticidal soap solution.   Destroy heavily infested  plants.   On plants  which are still productive,  remove lower,  heavily  infested  leaves.  Provide  traps of yellow sticky boards.     Whiteflies are attracted by a lack of phosphorus (plant foliage is a purple-green) or magnesium (plant foliage is yellow between the veins).   In the greenhouse or other enclosed area, utilize Encarsia formosa predatory wasps (they don't attack people or pets).   Also, use a  sticky yellow cardboard to attract and trap them.   Add  wood  ashes,  bone meal,  blood meal,  fish emulsion, or poultry manure tea to increase the phosphorus in the soil,  and dolomitic limestone to increase the magnesium.  Plant nasturtium and marigold as repellents.
 
Wireworms
PROBLEM:  Wireworms,  which are  most prevalent in poorly drained soils, puncture or tunnel roots.
SOLUTION:   Rotate the crops.   Trap wireworms in pieces of potato buried  one inch  below  the  soil surface for one or two days,  and  then  destroy  them.  Harvest  early  potatoes as soon as possible.   Plant late potatoes  in  June. Cultivate the soil several time in the late fall to expose the worms.   Incorporate compost to light the soil texture.
 
 
For more garden tasks for now, see July.

    With our 90+ degree days becoming more plentiful, paired with fewer inches of winter rains and more expensive water prices, I’ve reduced the amount of gardening I initiate during the summer.  
         Whereas I used to plant second or third batches of tomatoes and beans and cukes and squashes in late June, since our droughty weather for the last 6 or so years, I’ve given up adding anything new now that July is here.  
     The June-planted and sown veggies barely survived in the last several years, much less thrived.  And last year’s couple of 116-degree days wiped out several tomato plants and fruit trees, despite my heavy irrigating and mulching.      
     So what to do in the garden, especially now that I don’t thrive in the heat or bright sun anymore, so my gardening time is an hour or two after 6pm when the sun has crested the hill to my south, and my garden is in shade.  Very pleasant time to be outdoors! And this is just enough time to do any of a selection of activities before my arthritis decides that I’ve done enough for the evening.
 
     Here’re some of my projects.

Trimming Roses.
     The first flush of blooms has finished, so I've trimmed the long branches back to an out-facing leaf to encourage more new shoots and flowers to develop.
 
Repotting My Succulent Collection.  
     I’ve loved cleaning off root zones of old potting soil (saving it for the compost pile layers on top of the green stuff before layering the brown stuff), matching colors and textures and sizes with decorative pots that I’ve collected over the years, and placing them back on my sunny concrete growing area where I can enjoy them from my computer.
     As a side benefit, I’ve ended up with many babies that I’ve either included with the repotted mother plants or potted up separately for sharing later whenever we gardeners can gather again. 
     I must admit that this time around with repotting, I’ve gotten rid of almost all of the prickly ones – they’ve just grown too large to handle easily without getting stabbed, so I’ve passed them along to other gardeners.
     It’ll be another five years or so before the collection grows too much like a jungle again and so I’ll have to repot them.  In the meantime, the plants are enjoying their increased root space and new neighbors!  And I'm loving seeing them thrive and as each comes into bloom.
 
Watering Tomato Plants
     I water my tomatoes using two methods which keep plants happy even during a week or more of 95+ air temperatures before needing to be watered again:
1.  Directly into the sunken basin where they were planted so the water sinks directly down around the root system which grows straight down following the water.  I do have to pull out some of the soil mix that’s “melted” down next to the base of the plants every other time I water, to form a larger basin that will hold more water.  Even when this reveals some of the roots, the next watering will "melt" more of the soil to cover those roots.
​2.  Into the 5-gallon plastic nursery pots that are buried almost up to their rims, allowing the water to release out at the bottom into the soil a good foot down, directly to the root system.   
      While the hose is placed in the nursery pots, I use the couple of minutes that it takes to fill them with water to tuck tomato branches under the rungs of the tomato cages.  This is best done before watering, when the branches are somewhat limp and can be wrangled under the cage rungs.  If I attempt to do this the next day, when the plants are again turgid from the day-before’s watering, the branches tend to break more, especially when they're long and don't bend easily.
     And as of July 1, we’ve begun harvesting – 20 Sungold tomatoes and 3 Celebrity tomatoes.  Finally!
 
Watering and Sowing More Squash Plants
     We’ve been enjoying crookneck squashes for more than a month from the first batch of seeds that I’d sown back in March, with continued watering both at the soil level and in the buried 5-gallon nursery pots between plants that releases the water directly in the deep rootzone.  But, now the harvest from this first planting is slowing down.
     Coming into bearing just in time is the second batch of seeds that I’d sown when the first batch started bearing, so this seems to be good timing to have consecutive bearing without much overlap of too many squashes. 
     Now I’ll sow another batch of seeds.  We’ll see whether they germinate and then thrive and bear in another couple months of this hot summer weather.
 
Watering Fig Trees
     Following those extremely droughty years and loss of several stone-fruit trees, last year I concentrated on planting more varieties of fig trees.  We now have Celeste, Conadria, Kadota, Mission, Panache/Tiger Stripe, Peter’s Honey, Texas Everbearing, Violette de Bordeaux, and an unknown variety from a cutting from a friend’s tree.  
​     We love figs, they produce well even with minimal attention to watering, and each of the varieties bears at a slightly different time and with a distinct flavor, so we’re looking forward to a nice selection of yummies!

​For other July garden task possibilities, see July.