Organic pest and disease control

[farmingnoob]

My little garden is being invaded by slugs every night. I found out that they're coming in from the street. I'm getting sick of stomping 30+ slugs every day.

Is there some slug poison that is safe to use around vegetables?

[gonbechan]

get some shallow containers (yoghurt or pudding cups) you can semi push into the earth so the edge is almost flush with the ground.
Put as many out as you need around your garden, half fill each one with some beer... (do this in the evening)
next morning tip out the old beer and all the drunken slug carcasses ... and arm it up that evening again...

Slugs prefer beer to your veg.. they will crawl in and die happy.
You can drink the rest of the beer if you use a normal or large can.
If you don't drink beer, just put saran wrap over the opened can and secure with an elastic band to keep it fresh in the fridge.

[farmingnoob]

Put as many out as you need around your garden, half fill each one with some beer...

Do I have to use real beer (¥200 a can) or can I use that fake stuff (¥100 a can)?

[gonbechan]

I am sure the slugs will not care haha.
I have never tried the cheap stuff so you will have to report back.

[Zasso Nouka]

So with the rainy season about to begin it might be time to order up some predatory nematodes if you suffer from cutworms (ネキリムシ) or other soil dwelling pests in your growing area. They come in two sizes for either small veggy patches or large field application, here is the larger size



They aren't cheap, that pack costs 13,000円. As an example, last year production was suspended so we couldn't buy them and we lost nearly our entire carrot crop which amounted to 8,000円 in seeds, lost time seeding and then weeding the carrot beds and lost sales plus losses to other crops where the cutworms destroyed young plants. All in all a lot more than the price of a pack of nematodes.

Packs for home garden plots can be ordered Here

Larger packs can be ordered through your local seed shop, product information is Here or online.

They will store in the fridge for around 3 months. Ideal application time is in the evening just before a few days of rain, so right in the middle of the rainy season is perfect. for small areas a watering can is ideal for larger areas then a lorry tank and pump will work well, ideally a low pressure pump rather than high pressure spraying pump. I use a Koshin Hidels Pump with ordinary hose and shower head as it's far gentler than our higher pressure spraying pump.

Not all crops need protecting and ideally make two applications spread over about a month to get the best coverage.

[UshikuDan]

I’ve got a lot of endomychidae beetles in my garden. First, what are the name or names of these beetles in Japanese or even English? I am currently using the index finger and thumb pressing approach. Any natural ways to kill these things??

[gonbechan]

if you are talking about the handsome fungus beetle or in Japanese the false ladybird (ヨツボシテンダマ), then you really do not want to kill them because they eat fungus.Unless you are farming mushrooms of course.



They do resemble the spotted potato beetle and the cucumber beetle quite a bit though, so it is better to check.

[UshikuDan]

I got it wrong. The bug looks like a potato beetle.

[Zasso Nouka]

What crops or flowers are they on ? Or is it possible to post a picture ?

[UshikuDan]

They are on my Nasu and tomatoes. I’ve tried to send pics from my phone but it says error. I’ll try again after work today.