This year marks my first attempt to grow my own tomatoes and squash. It’s so much fun and everything is going beautifully…except for the persistent roli poli problem. They crawl inside the squash blooms and nibble on the squash causing them to die. I really want a healthy garden, and I don’t want to eat veggies chocked full of chemicals and pesticides. It’s been organic for 3 months. Can I maintain it that way??
Comments
Hahahaha…..havent heard roli poli in years
Basil works as a companion plant to keep pests away from tomatoes.
You could try those.
Birds may eat roli polis. To attract birds, put out a feeder. Beware, birds will also nibble on your tomatoes. Protect these with bird netting.
Look for natural predators of bugs. Lizards, perhaps?
Homemade non-chemical spray:
1 Qt of water
several drops of dishwashing liquid
about 1 cigarette or equivalent amount of tobacco. Soak all ingredients, then strain through sieve or cheese cloth.
Spray plants.
I would use Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt) but you may not want to. So spray the area with this one of these solutions from Jerry Baker.
Basic Oil Mixture
1 cup vegetable oil
1 tbsp. Murphy’s Oil Soap
Pour the oil and oil soap into a plastic bottle, and store at room temperature. Mix 1 tbsp. of the mixture in 2 cups of water in a hand-held sprayer bottle. Spray pest ridden plants from top to bottom.
Bug Spray - Tabasco Tonic
1 c liquid dish soap
1 c tobacco tea *
1 c antiseptic mouthwash
1/4 c Tabasco Sauce
Mix ingredients in a 20 gallon hose-end sprayer, filling the balance of the sprayer jar with warm water.
* Tobacco Tea
Place 3 fingers of chewing tobacco in a nylon stocking and soak it in a gallon of hot water until the mixture is dark brown.
Put down some diatomaceous earth, you can get it at a garden center. It is organic and bugs that crawl in it die. Won’t hurt animals or kids or your veggies. Package may say diatom.
