Specific Problems That I Have Faced In My Gardening Experiences

I have been gardening for 35 years now, and still don't have a green thumb. Should I give up, like everyone else who has these problems does? Should I keep going and try to resolve each issue?

I am writing this with the hopes of helping others who struggle with gardening, especially organic gardening in Central Florida, or other zones that include similar problems as I have had.

I will list the problems and try to tackle them one by one, with educated answers. Please feel free to chime in if you have had tried and proven methods that have worked for you.

1. Lack of water - This wasn't such a problem until we had a serious drought about 16 or so years ago. I watered every day up to that point, but we were put on water restrictions since that time. We can now only use a sprinkler system once a week, and only during certain hours.

Answer: Pray for rain. I'm serious. We had months of no rain, and fires were starting. People were being evacuated from their homes. A lady called from Arizona, and at the end of our conversation, she asked if I had anything she could pray for. I told her to pray for rain. She did. Rain came back to our land, thank God.

Also, I have to do a lot of watering by hand. This gives me good exercise though, so I am killing two birds with one stone (killing birds is not my thing!). You get the point though. Collecting rain with a rain barrel is good and may be necessary for the future (watch out for children getting into rain barrels though. I have heard of children drowning in them). Also, taking a hose and turning the water on low so it seeps out is a really good thing to do to conserve water and, at the same time, water plants.

2. Caterpillars eating my plants. I have had healthy plants just about die overnight because some caterpillar got into the plant and devoured it. Usually it is a tomato or pepper plant that gets devoured by these caterpillars.

Answer: BT is something that can be used to kill the caterpillar. If it is sprayed on the plant, the caterpillar will eat it as it eats the plant and it will kill the caterpillar. Another effective item to use is Diatomaceous Earth, or DE. It works the same way although it is a different product.

Fossil Power Diatomaceous Earth, Food-grade, Safe for Animals and Humans, for Dusters, Getting Rid of Bed Bugs, Fleas, Ticks and More, Used As a Health Remedy Due to High Amount of Silica (89%)

This garden dust with BT. utilizes bacillus thuringiensis (var. kurstaki) which, once ingested by the pest, kills them within a few days. 

3. Wildlife Destruction - This is a big one. I have all kind of repellents and scare tactics around, but each one only works on certain animals. The biggest problem I seem to have is with squirrels. They come into the garden and dig holes, and by doing that they uproot plants. It's like they are enjoying looking for some kind of treasure, but in doing so, the plants get pulled out and die, many times. 

Answer: Perhaps a BB gun will work, but you have to be there all the time to catch the squirrels in the act. I tried fencing them out. I am now using peppermint oil to repel them and it seems to work. Because you have to use a lot of this, it can end up being expensive. You are to soak cotton balls in peppermint oil because squirrels hate the smell of peppermint. If it rains, you have to replace the cotton balls because the scent will disappear. 

Another idea I have is to distract and entertain the squirrels. I haven't done this yet, but you can buy squirrel baffles and they will spend hours trying to figure them out. I was thinking about making my own by taking a corn cob and attaching it to a flexible pole and attaching that to a tree. Squirrels love bird food, so I make popcorn for them. Eventually, we had 12 squirrels in our back yard looking for popcorn everyday, but for some reason, the number of squirrels went down to 2. I have a feeling they became a tasty morsel for the birds of prey that live around here. You could use an electric fence, but it would probably fry the squirrels. For now, I am just sticking with peppermint oil and popcorn. Perhaps I could buy a bag of sand so they could have their own place to dig. 

                              

4. Twigs, branches, and sticks dropping in the garden on top of plants - This is the most recent struggle I have with my plants being killed. I am working on an answer right now and I think the only thing I can do is to make a cover to go over the top of the plant, but a few feet higher than the plant is. 

Answer: Tomato stakes planted around the pot and a top made of sheer fabric attached to the tops of the poles. Twigs and branches should land on the top of the fabric which will prevent the sticks from falling on top of the plants. Also, you don't want to shield the plant from getting sunlight or water because of the fabric. If it is high enough, it should give protection plus allow sunlight and water to be available to the plant. You could use netting instead of fabric. Just cut it into a circle that will match the size of the pot, put string or twisties through the fabric or netting, then attach the fabric or netting piece to the poles. I would use four poles but six might even be better. 

I use 6' poles but these are 4' ones and they
will work. Walmart has them for around $2
a pole, but amazon has a package of 25 that
cost around $28 and free shipping.

One more thing; make sure you give your plants food! I skipped this for many years and it was no wonder my garden didn't grow. There are several organic plant foods available out there, plus there are other organic fertilizers that can be used as well. 

Always follow directions with using organic fertilizers. You don't want to burn your plants. Been there. Done that. 

Until next time...

Happy Gardening!