6d • General discussion
Mildew, Mites, and Immunity
There's very few things more frustrating than going through the effort of getting plants in the ground, watching them start to take off, and... the troubles arrive. Our squash starts getting some powdery mildew and maybe a few squash bugs before the first fruit even arrives. Where did all these aphids come from and why do they love my brassicas?! The mealy bugs won't leave my wife's succulents alone!
We try all the little deterrents. Soapy water on the aphids, but they still come back if I forget for a day or two. Picking off squash bugs every evening, and heaven forbid I forget or the plant will be half wilted in the morning. Maybe I use some neem to extend the protection for a couple days.
If we're really diligent, our plants survive... just to have a lackluster performance when it comes to fruiting. They look fairly big and healthy, I added nutrition before or even after planting, I might even be getting squash and tomato blossoms - but nothing (or very little) is converting to the FOOD that I so greatly desire from this experience.
But what can I actually DO to fix this?
To answer this question, we need to get down to the root (ha) of the problem.
That problem is poor plant nutrition, and a resulting poor performance of plant immune systems.
One of the main functions of a healthy plant is to repel pests and disease - just like your own body.
Those quick (or slow) fixes of BT, neem, soapy water, and the like, are all band-aids. They don't bring the missing nutritional pieces, the plant continues to signal for pests to eat it. (Yes, really. The plants GLOW for insects when they have compounds the plants can eat. That's why they keep "magically showing up".)
Some of this may sound familiar. It might sound too good to be true. I thought the same thing for a long time. I thought "maybe full plant health and pest resistance can happen in easier climates, but not the southwest."
But I'm here to tell you it IS TRUE and it CAN BE DONE - even in the Southwest!
I know, because I did it.
This last summer (I live in northern Arizona where we have 4 seasons) I decided to use a consistent application of liquid soil microbes to see if I could achieve proper plant nutrition and remove pest pressures.
That was a resounding success.
-I had squash bugs 2-3 weeks later than anyone else in my area.
-When I did get the squash bugs, they *couldn't take a bite*. They'd just be sitting on the plant, confused. No damage to the leaves.
-Powdery mildew appeared on a squash plant early in the season. I kept it entirely at bay and it didn't infect any other plants. I got squash off that plant, and all others, for an extra month!
-The aphids that had been persistently reappearing in the greenhouse were gone within a couple days.
-I even got rid of my damping off (fungal issue) on my 600 tomato seedlings. The year before, I had lost probably 30%. This year, maybe 2 plants total.
I did all of this with microbial applications alone. Because microbes are what plants eat, and when plants get the opportunity to eat microbes, they also get all of the trace minerals necessary to fully function.
My main tool in this success was my product Microbe MasterMix. Even with lackluster soils in a 2nd year area, the consistent use of diverse microbe species gave the plants the ability to take care of themselves.
Some other tools that can assist in persistent pest and disease issues are fungal dominant composts and feeding a microbe solution like Microbe MasterMix a chitin containing food source like insect frass, mealworms, or something like Nutrient+ from Arizona Worm Farm.
Have questions? Don't think this could work for you? Let me know in the comments! Every situation is different and there's not magic bullet for everything. But when we get back to the foundations of soil health - a robust microbiome in the soil and our plants - we can start to see amazing turnarounds that before seemed impossible.
Happy growing!
3
0 comments
Mildew, Mites, and Immunity
powered by
skool.com/sacred-soil-solutions-5162
Learn how to use the power of Soil Microbiology and Regenerative Techniques to bring abundance and resilience to your farm, garden, or homestead.
Suggested communities
Powered by