I put a few cucumber seeds down in front of my tomatoes awhile back, just because I had a bare spot. Now they are looking horrid, with the "black dot" plague (aphids? mites? I'm not too good with identifying critters). Anyway, they are covered, and the leaves are all curled, etc. I'm thinking to pull them and throw them out, but since they seem to be only on the cukes and are leaving alone nearby broccoli and tomatoes, the thought occurred to me that maybe they are serving as useful decoys. Or do they just like the cucumbers and all I'm doing is breeding lots of them.
Pull 'em? Leave 'em?
Thanks.
Trap plant?
You're at the end of the season for cucumbers and tomatoes and if the cukes are "plagued" it's time for them to go. The black dots may be caused by insect poo or honeydew. If you can't see anything moving on the underside of the leaves use a magnifying glass for a closer look. Cool season crops can be attacked by aphids however cabbage loopers are more of a pest so start spraying Bt to catch the little worms you can't see easily before they scrape the leaf surface or get big enough to eat holes in the leaves. I go out at night to look for ground dwelling worms that come out under the cover of darkness!
Trap crops are usually planted on the perimeter of the garden to keep pest insects from venturing into the garden giving you a chance to control them; companion planting combines compatible plants as a aid to the growth of the crop plant but there are some that are "incompatible", actually inhibiting the growth of the crop plants; search around for a book or on-line for a list of those. Perhaps YouTube has videos on this topic you can view - just look for Texas ones.
Have you ever listened to Bob Webster's radio program? He comes on 550AM Saturday (5:30A - 9A) and Sunday (8A - 11A). Bob is a wonderful resource for all gardeners in Texas! You can learn a lot from the callers questions and Bob's advice. I take my Sony Walkman to the garden and listen to the program while gardening!
This message was edited Oct 29, 2011 7:01 AM
This message was edited Oct 29, 2011 7:04 AM