Price : $15.75

Product Description

Featuring more than 250 color photographs of pests and crops, and more than 100 drawings, this book, with its authoritative text, enables you to identify pests quicklyand to prevent, correct, or live with most common pest problems. Crop tables at the end of the book describe major pests on 30 vegetable and fruit tree crops and refer you to specific pages for more detail. The book’s approach minimizes the use of broad spectrum pesticides, relying primarily on alternatives such as: biological control; resistant varieties; traps and barriers; less toxic pesticides such as soaps, oils, and microbials; changing planting, irrigation, or cultivating procedures; and other preventive measures. Includes: landscape designs that prevent pests; planting, irrigating, other plant care activities that prevent potential problems; resistant varieties; biological controls (use of parasites, predators, or pathogens); less-toxic pesticides such as soaps, oil, and microbials; mulches and other physical and mechanical controls; references, suppliers list, and glossary.Now in an extensively revised new edition, the highly successful Pests of the Garden and Small Farm adapts scientifically based integrated pest management techniques to the needs of the home gardener and small-scale farmer.

Customer Reviews

Review date : 2009-01-16
Amazon is the best place going for books. I bought this book, with Flint’s, Natural Enemies Handbook, last year as a birthday present for myself. I can honestly say, I never thought that I would enjoy this book or learning about bugs, as much as I do now. In one growing season, I was able to restore my landscaping, from what looked totally destroyed.
It is a definite must have reference book, geared for all growing conditions. Would be a great for gift for your favorite gardener.

Review date : 1996-06-07
A great book for reports and gardening. I like it and I am 12! Adults I have given it to also have liked it

In general, plants grown in straw bales appear to require less water than when grown in soil. Another benefit to using straw bale culture is the garden bed will turn into compost offering some additional nutrients to your vegetables and herbs. The constantly composing environment warms up to provide gentle heat to the roots of plants and for your greenhouse. After some preparation and processing the compost will also begin to generate Co2 which will help to boost your plants growth rate.

Instructions:
Wheat straw bales are a good choice for cultivating plants. You should try to remove any weeds that may sprout, then follow the instructions below to get started growing your vegetable crops Straw Culture style.

Construct Garden Area
The straws should be tied and in a vertical position. Build a (plastic) barrier/fence around your garden area to hold the bales in place. If you do build a barrier around your garden, make sure the bales are packed in well. The barrier should be made of plastic or other synthetic material and not consist of wood or other biodegradable substance.

Place a sheet of plastic on the bottom of your grow area to help the straw retain moisture. Tightly pack in the tied straw bales until the entire area of your garden is filled in. Soak the entire garden with water and place another sheet of plastic on top. Each bale will require approximately 1-gallon of water daily. For example, if you used 10 bales, you will need 10-gallons of water. Place another sheet of plastic on top of the bales after watering. The plastic should remain on between feedings until the processing period is over.

Preparing Bale (Processing)
The straw bale will require 3-4 weeks of processing before it is ready to grow plants. After the 3-4 weeks processing time, the bale will begin to decompose and form compost. This is when you will add fertilizers and top with a dressing of bagged compost or manure about 4 inches high. Do not use soil.

Adding Fertilizer:
Once youve topped with compost/manure its time to add the fertilizer. Spread the dry (soluble) fertilizer over the surface of the bales and then water according to manufacturers directions. After you add fertilizer, the rate of bacterial action in the decomposing straw will increase, raising the bed’s internal heat. Cover with plastic and let it sit for an additional week. After a week, the bales should be cool enough to start planting your seeds just drop em in to sprout.

This article courtesy of http://www.hydroponicsearch.com – Gardening search engine and educational community.