Well last post I lifted up the covers to show you my lettuce. Now it is time for some of the brassicas. I always leave the brassicas covered because of all the nasty insects we have here that like to eat them. Flea beetles, root maggots, and caterpillars are the worst of them.
The big yellow green plants on the lower left are Fun Jen. It is a pai tsai, whatever that means. I never have gotten the Asian greens naming down. Usually by this size it is speckled in holes as the slugs think it is dining heaven. This year they are doing much better. Lets see if I can actually name all the plants in the photo. The labels are out in the garden so I can only hope I can get them right. First row from bottom to top is Fun Jen and Shanghai bok choy from Mac; second row is one Ching Chang bok choy from Granny, and Choy Sum from Mac; third row is Chinese kale from Mac and Senposai from Michelle, fourth row is Komatsuna; fifth row is a napa cabbage from Mac.
I do have more brassicas that you can't see in the photo. Farther on is my broccoli and more Chinese cabbage and more broccoli. The last are two rows of tatsoi and yokatta-na. The last few rows including some broccoli are having some slowdown in growth. They are sprinkled around the overwintered spinach patch as there was no other place for them to go. I've tried to keep the spinach in bounds but it just won't stop growing (yeah). I finally had to rip some up so the broccoli wouldn't die. I think it is more under control now. The spinach is starting to bolt anyway so soon it will all be gone.
Not everything is picture perfect though. I keep the row cover on to keep out the bugs, but last year my broccoli got taken down by root maggots anyway. This year I seem to have some flea beetle damage. They like the Shanghai bok choy the best. So I put out some traps for them. The traps are just white plastic bowls with soapy water in them. Yellow works better, but couldn't find anything yellow to toss into them. White will attract them still. Hopefully they will all dive bomb into the traps and keep their numbers down. I don't need to get rid of them all, but I do need to thin out their army. I'm not a fan of these traps out in the open. The yellow color attracts bees and the bees can kill themselves in them pretty easily.
The other trouble in paradise looked to me like caterpillar damage. But I don't see any caterpillars or droppings in there, so it is probably slugs. I'll keep an eye out though to make sure. Every year I do get a few caterpillars under the row covers. Not many, but you have to watch them as they can eat a plant to the ground in no time flat.
This year I'm doomed to more flee beetles and root maggots. My row covers are getting holes in them. If I can see the holes, it is easy for the insects to find them. When I move, I'll order more and get it all cut to size for the beds. But until then I don't want to order anything that might not fit the garden well.
Daphne, many of my row covers have holes. I close them up as best I can with clothespins. Your greens look great! I am working on developing a better strategy for Asian greens, mine seems to always fall victim to slugs.
ReplyDeleteps hope you are feeling better!
ReplyDeleteYour greens look great! You are so lucky to have spinach. Mine is not doing very well this year. I just took a look at my Pak Choi and they look like they have flowers starting in the center! This weather has been so so unstable. I was outside covering my plants due to a frost warning! The weather here goes from 90-32!
ReplyDeleteI hope this cold snap doesn't move up the coast to you in a day or two.
I had flea beetles all over the potatoes last year, it was horrible. It was the first time I'd ever had them.
ReplyDeleteYou have all this stuff in the ground right now? I think I am going to go for it. I have row cover that I can put over the top of the rabbit fence I have pushed in around the garden.
ReplyDeleteGreat pics. I like to see that your spacing is pretty tight too.
That's the problem with brassicas - bugs go crazy on them. I've never tried row covers - just spray BT when the worms show up.
ReplyDeleteI should start using row cover more. Something keeps nipping off my brassica's this year, I can't figure out if it is the black birds or that little devilish chipmunk. I bet row cover would do the trick! Your brassica's are looking nice. It seem us veggie gardeners always have to share with the bugs :-)
ReplyDeleteThe asian greens are looking very good. I constantly fight slugs on the brassica families - they love them more than other items it seems.
ReplyDeleteI also use clothespins in the garden, to clip together tomato cages when the tomatoes are big enough that they need a second cage on top. So much easier than messing with ties. I use the plastic clothespins that have springs.
ReplyDelete