Page 34 - Discover Winter 2023

Weeder’s Digest CONTINUED
W eeder ’ s Digest CONTINUED
good reason to do it. The more nectar-rich and
colorful your garden is, the better. Planting
native species is a bonus… also providing a
water source like a bird bath will help. So even
if you don't use herbs like dill, they are excellent
attractors.
Along with that, by all means you need
to be careful with pesticides. I'm afraid that we
often do harm to the vital workers by either
spraying at the wrong times, or using ones that
linger long after application. Naturally, we mean
to protect our investments, but we should avoid
the use of products like insecticidal dust, which
kill pretty much everything they touch. Instead,
seek out organic options such as neem oil, or
products containing Spinosad as the active
ingredient. In its liquid form, it will kill insects
upon contact, but when dry, it will only affect
the insects that chew on the plant. Therefore, it
will do no harm to friendly visitors.
The use of pesticides also eliminates many
beneficial insects that prey on the unwanted,
such as lady bugs, lace wings, and prey mantis.
It may surprise you to learn that the many
wasps visiting your garden are actually beneficial
predators. They are not great pollinators, due
to the fact that they don't possess soft hairs
on their bodies. Bees and butterflies carry
pollen from flower to flower because the pollen
sticks to those soft hairs. However, the value of
wasps is that they are great hunters. They act
as natural biocontrol agents, protecting crops
by preying on caterpillars, aphids and others.
In fact, the large green tomato hornworm is a
host for the Braconid wasp, which lays it eggs
under the skin of the caterpillar. When the wasp
nymph hatches, it eats its way to the surface,
32 Discover Smith Mountain Lake WINTER 2022
and then spins a white cocoon, which is affixed
to exterior of the worm. These wasps are known
as parasitoids: parasites that kill their hosts, so
don't kill the caterpillar when the white objects
are visible, as the hatched wasps will decrease
tomato hornworm populations. Instead, simply
move them to a place that is far away from your
tomatoes.
There are self-fertilizing vegetables such
tomatoes, green peppers, eggplant, green beans
and sweet peas, but they still need the pollen
to be vibrated in order to release it. Wind can
do the job of cross-pollination, but bumble bees
do the best job when hovering over flowers, in
what’s called ‘musical pollination’.
When we think of squash, zucchini and
cucumbers, these plants have separate male and
female flowers on the same plant. As the plants
mature, there may be only male flowers in the
beginning, but when they're ready, they will then
produce female flowers, ready for pollination and
fruit production.
As much as we like to imagine that
we're in control of food production with all of
our knowledge and experience, at the end of
the day, we're still at Mother Nature’s mercy.
Poor fruit set certainly can be caused by a lack
of pollinators, but it may also be due to poor
watering practices, temperature fluctuations,
and fertilizer insufficiency.
So while you may be up on proper
gardening techniques, don’t forget to give
due consideration to pollinators… after all…
Butterflies are Free.
You can reach Bob Siren by email: GardenGab@
wslk880.com