Four Methods to Control Aphids

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In most parts of the world, aphids are the number cause of plant damage among harmful insects. They come in a wide range and variety of sizes and colors, depending upon where you live, and eat just about everything. Aphids will work over a plant, reproducing at a great rate and when the plant they are feeding on becomes over populated they will develop wings and move on to another plant. As you can see if you do not tackle the problem immediately you can get over run with aphids fairly quickly. Here are four methods you can start implementing right away with any aphid issues you may have.

Yellow Sticky Traps
These are the same yellow sticky traps that you would use inside to catch house flies. You can pick them up at any home center or hardware store for a couple of bucks and sometimes even cheaper than that. They do a great job of attracting aphids and of course the aphids are incapable of removing themselves from the sticky tape. The downfall of this method is you might catch some beneficial insects as well. But, if you are over run with aphids you will have to make that trade to get their population under control.

Safe Sprays
Sprays that are safe to you, your family and the surrounding environment are another good way to get the aphid population under control. Such sprays include, neem or insecticidal soap. They can be quite costly depending on where you buy them and aren’t readily available at all home centers, so you may have to buy them online. For me personally, these items are hit or miss. Some years they have worked great and other years, not so well. I have not researched why this occurs, but it would not deter me from using it since I have already purchased the item.

Beneficial Insects
This is one of the best ways to to get rid of aphids. There are insects that you can attract to your garden that do absolutely no harm to the plants but feed on aphids. The most common is the ladybug. They can eat over 2000 aphids in their lifetime. You can buy ladybugs from a lot of garden centers or plant various flowers or herbs to attract them. If your aphid issue is one of urgency you may have to spend the $20 to get some ladybugs in there right away. Green lacewings are another beneficial insect that will feed on aphids.

Homemade Sprays
Finally, you can make your own sprays out of items in your kitchen. Two popular ones are a garlic spray and a hot pepper spray. A Google search on either will give you a number of recipes to choose from. Just remember to wash your veggies thoroughly before consuming.

We have all been there with aphid issues. Just know you are not alone. Using the four methods above in conjunction with each other will surely get rid of the pesky critters once and for all.

About the Author
Mike Podlesny is the owner of Mike the Gardener Enterprises, LLC, the exclusive home of the Seeds of the Month Club, which has appeared on NBC, ABC and MSN Money as a great way for consumers to save money.

Watch the video below to learn more about the Seeds of the Month Club:

Three Easy Home Vegetable Gardening Tips to Follow

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I like to keep my home vegetable gardening as simple as possible. Sure on occasion I will venture out into something new and little more advanced, but my entire gardening process surrounds some basic tips that I am going to share with you in a moment.

My gardening philosophy stems from the teachings of my dad. My dad is a very simple person and that translated the same into his garden. So when I watched him all of those years I saw that he kept things simple and easy to handle. My tips that I am going to share with you are really his tips, and for many of you out there they may already be your tips.

Tip #1

Grow what you like to eat. many times new vegetable gardeners will go crazy when buying seeds or plants. Most of the time buying things they or their family do not even consume. My brother is notorious for this. Instead, think about what you and your family actually consumes, and grow those fruits, vegetables and herbs. You will save on a lot of space and time on items that would simply just rot.

Tip#2

Keep the size of your garden reasonable. For many the size of your garden will be dictated by the amount of land you actually have. However there are a number of people who lots of land and want to grow huge gardens, bordering on the size of a small farm. What they fail to take into account is that the larger the garden the more work it will equate to. So try to keep your garden the size of what you can handle. Too large and you may become overwhelmed and lose interest.

Tip #3

Keep your garden within sight. What I mean here is your garden should be within view from the inside of your house. I find, as do others I have talked to (whew, glad I am not alone here), that you are more likely to keep up with your vegetable garden if you can keep it in plain sight. It allows you to keep an eye on what is growing well, what is not, the weeds that need to be taken care of and so on. You will find that once you have home vegetable gardening down, your maintenance will be very minimal (or at least should be).

Sure these three tips won’t make you a commercial farmer capable of feeding the planet, but they will make your home vegetable gardening experiences more fun and enjoyable, and more importantly keep you motivated to grow every season.

About the Author
Mike Podlesny is the owner of Mike the Gardener Enterprises, LLC, the exclusive home of the Seeds of the Month Club, which has appeared on NBC, ABC and MSN Money as a great way for consumers to save money.

Watch the video below to learn more about the Seeds of the Month Club:

Saving Money with a Vegetable Garden

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Mike Appears on NBC Philadelphia to talk Saving Money with a Vegetable Garden and the Seeds of the Month Club.

Growing Swiss Chard from Seed

Up until about seven or eight years ago, I was simply a traditional home vegetable gardener. I, like a lot of other people, grew the basics such as tomatoes, cucumbers, peppers and various greens. As I started to expand my vegetable gardening horizon I learned about so many new plants that offered up great tasting and healthy options for my family’s dinner table. One such vegetable is Swiss Chard.

There are a number of varieties of Swiss Chard, however my favorite is the Rainbow Mixture. It is a great mix of a variety of colors which not only adds a great leafy vegetable to your back yard, but it is a very attractive plant that adds beauty to your garden.

The seeds of all varieties of Swiss Chard are the same size, shape and look. The best way to describe what the seeds look like is to picture the cereal Grape Nuts. Because it is a fairly sizable seed it can be planted about a half inch deep.

To get a jump start on your Swiss Chard begin indoors two weeks prior to the last frost of the season in your area. Once fear of frost subsides in your area then you can move your Swiss chard outdoors. Swiss chard is one of those vegetables that is versatile when it comes to temperature. Although their optimal temperature is eighty-five degrees Fahrenheit they will do ok anywhere from fifty to eighty-five.

Swiss chard grows best in soil where the pH level is in the 6.0 to 7.0 range, with a moderate to even watering in an area that receives full sun, although Swiss chard will tolerate light shade.

When Swiss chard reaches six inches tall it is ready to be harvested. You can either harvest the entire plant or cut off a few stalks at a time and the plant will continue to grow throughout the season.

If you are active in a crop rotation plan, avoid following beets or spinach. If you do a lot of companion planting, Swiss chard grows well next to members of the cabbage family, legumes and lettuce. However you will want to avoid beets and spinach when companion planting as well.

If you have never thought of trying (or even heard of) Swiss Chard, give it a go in your next home vegetable gardening season. You may find out as I have, it is a great vegetable to grow.

About the Author
Mike Podlesny is the owner of Mike the Gardener Enterprises, LLC, the exclusive home of the Seeds of the Month Club, which has appeared on NBC, ABC and MSN Money as a great way for consumers to save money.

Imagining A Garden From the Ground Up

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Growing a well-rounded garden is like writing a compelling novel or designing an aesthetically pleasing home or painting a lifelike landscape—except you get to eat the product. And when it’s all over you have to throw the leftovers to the compost heap and start fresh next season. So that leaves the gardener with a sort of rhythm: imagine, create, cultivate and scrap. Come to think of it, that’s more or less what any good artist, writer or designer is always doing.

So if gardening is like art why not call it art? Gardening is art. It feels good to read that. Gardening as art and the rhythms of it then, all have an intimate connection to a fruitful outcome—pun intended (sadly). Now that sprouts are digging into the air it’s a good time to imagine what might be. If you imagine well, you might end up with the envy of your neighborhood.

Imagination is hard though. Some people even claim they haven’t got it. But everyone does. Everyone has imagination if they take the time to cultivate it. The question becomes one of how to cultivate the mind to create.

You’ve already got your plants in the ground. You’re already in the rhythm of watering and keeping an eye out for weeds. What’s to imagine anyway? Well, for starters, can you imagine a budding tomato plant as tall as your head with all red, ripe toms on it? Can you envision a twenty-foot, curling vine of healthy, pest-free, waxy coated, bright cucumbers? Believe in the full-sized orange of a ripe, seed-filled pumpkin. Dream.

For every one gardener who chooses to take the adventure of a growing a nontraditional plant, there are ten who have given up on trying to get a plant to grow out of its natural environment. Can you imagine making it work? More importantly, can you dream up a solution for the thriving of that plant? If you live in the acid free Midwest where blueberries refuse to grow, do you have the gusto to take it to the soil?

There’s a secret to this kind of imaginative exercise. You’ve been taking it in since you started reading. It’s the process of asking questions. The odder you can make your question, the more likely it is to evoke a thriving imagination. But small, easy questions prime the mind and start you on the path to rich complex inquiries. Maybe, if you ask those questions this spring you’ll begin to have ideas to revolutionize your garden next year; maybe you’ll discover ways to make your garden thrive more this year.

When you next go into your garden, look at the layout and picture how it might change this year. Write down questions about how your layout is helping and hindering your produce. Discern what plants seem to thrive and ask why. Discern what plants seem to take a nosedive and beg, “Why?” Then follow your questions with research, notes and late nights. You’ll be glad you asked the questions when you begin to see the outcome. Imagination is the first rhythm of a good gardener and if you start now, you’ll have it in the bag by harvest.

About the Author
Jody Sperling is a contributing write for Mike the Gardener Enterprises, the exclusive home for the Seeds of the Month Club.