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 Post subject: White Moths/Butterflies
PostPosted: Wed Apr 21, 2004 9:39 am 
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Location: Dallas,TX
A few weeks ago I started noticing a number of white moths (?) that appeared to have some yellow markings, but would not sit still to allow close observation. These creatures were flitting all about the garden, but appeared to be especially drawn to white salvia greggii. Then today, I saw smaller, whiter, faster moths with a sort of ruffled edge to the wings, zipping all around the yuccas. I am curious what caterpillar pests I am going to be seeing soon. Anyone have any ideas?


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PostPosted: Thu Apr 29, 2004 1:09 pm 
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Just make sure your soil is in good shape. Good soil = good plants = good animals (includes me and you)!
Remember that pests are nature's way of taking out the weak.

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Nadine Bielling
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The Laws of Ecology:
"All things are interconnected. Everything goes somewhere. There's no such thing as a free lunch. Nature bats last." --Ernest Callenbach


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PostPosted: Thu Apr 29, 2004 2:16 pm 
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Nadine,
You hit upon a subject that is very perplexing to me. We have been organic for over 10 years. Three years ago we started completely re-landscaping our yard. That gave us the opportunity to dig and dig and dig and ammend, ammend, ammend, all according to Howard's recommendations. We planted Texas natives or adapted plants and tried to be very careful about placing plants in the environment they required. We have moved a number of plants in the intervening couple of years if they happened not to be getting the sun or shade or room they required. Most of our plants are really thriving, but we continue to have a big problem with whiteflies. The other pests are transient. I haved used soft rock phosphate and micorrhizae fungi because I have read that Howard has said plants that have whiteflies are more troublesome in phosphorus-deficient soils, and to use lots of colloidal phosphate. Also, that the lack of mychorrhizal fungi on plant roots is a strong contributor to the presence of this pest. We use only Howard-approved organic "pesticides" and we use them every three days when we are really besieged. I believe we are doing everything we should be, but we still have a problem. I wish I knew what more we could do.
K


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PostPosted: Tue May 04, 2004 1:51 pm 
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Kay Young wrote:
Nadine,
You hit upon a subject that is very perplexing to me. We have been organic for over 10 years.... We use only Howard-approved organic "pesticides" and we use them every three days when we are really besieged. I believe we are doing everything we should be, but we still have a problem. I wish I knew what more we could do.
K


One thing folks need to remember is that although orange oil sprays and other such organic pest control mixtures are indeed better than things such as Sevin dust, these things can kill beneficials as well. Have you tried using biological controls such as predatory insects?

For example, if I see aphids on my roses, I look close to see if there are green lacewing eggs there as well. The green lacewings lay eggs near aphids so the hatchlings have food right away.

According to the Texas Bug Book by Howard Garrett and Malcolm Beck, the natural controls for whiteflies are:
Native parasitic wasps, lacewings, lady beetles, and pirate bugs. Beneficial fungus called Beauvaria bassiana.

Hope this helps!

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Nadine Bielling
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The Laws of Ecology:
"All things are interconnected. Everything goes somewhere. There's no such thing as a free lunch. Nature bats last." --Ernest Callenbach


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