Tag: insect

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Growing Skyscraper Sunflowers

The Skyscraper Sunflower is just one of the funnest sunflowers to grow! It is SO large, so tall and so bright that I do believe every Bee in the nation can see it!  Or at least it seems that way as they all fight for space across its giant Yellow flowers.

About Skyscraper Sunflowers

The Skyscraper sunflower earns its name as it is one of the tallest sunflowers there is to grow!  This baby here grew fifteen feet high and was actually slightly taller than the roof of my house! As a result, you can see from the photo above the flower head was a good thirteen inches across.  Not only are the flowers beautiful the drying stage and the seeds are beautiful as well.

Skyscrapers also produce the largest sunflower seeds making them the best to eat! Their colors range from bright white with gray stripes to light and dark grays and their seed heads are just amazing to look at!

Tips on Growing Skyscraper Sunflowers

  • Skyscrapers grow best in zones 3-9 and need full sun all day long if possible.
  • SF Home Gates recommends tilling the soil to around two feet deep in prep for these giants.  That may be the best for sure as their root systems are solid.  However, I will be honest I did not till more than 10 inches and they still grew well.
  • Sunflowers like well-drained soil, no water should be standing as it will cause root rot.
  • Sow seeds directly in the ground after all danger of frost.  Seeds can take approximately 10 days to germinate.
  • Water deeply two times a week rather than short bursts of watering each day. This will help your sunflowers grow deeper root systems preparing them for the heat.  You can see more about watering in the article,  "Helping Plants Survive the Heat"
  • These plants are large so give them room to spread.  Plant 2-3 seeds per section approximately 18-24 inches apart.  Thin to the strongest plant in the grouping once established.

  • Plants should mature in approximately 60-75 days.
  • Use fish emulsion once a month on these giants!

Challenges with Skyscrapers Sunflowers

  • Aphids love sunflowers!  This is actually what makes them such a good companion plant as I swear they will go there before your other plants. Be on the look out for them under their giant leaves and act quickly or they will soon look like this!
  • Ants will often congregate around sunflowers you can sprinkle DE at the base of the plants to avoid this.
  • Sunflower Months of course are one of the largest predators as they actively seek sunflowers to lay their eggs in.  Read about managing sunflower moths in The Article "The Sunflower Moth"

Companion Plants

  • Squash
  • Beans
  • Corn
  • Cabbage
  • Cucumbers
  • Peppers
  • Tomatoes

Find Sky Scraper Sunflower Seeds in Oma's Store Front!

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Squash Vine Borer – Enemy Number 1 of Cucurbita’s

If you love growing squash then plan for this insect; because the squash vine borer moth is a bad one! There is nothing worse then walking around your garden and seeing your beautiful zucchini or summer squash healthy and strong and returning the next day to find it wilted and gone; and, that is about how fast it seems to happen! As such, anyone planning to grow plants in the squash family needs to be aware  of the Melittia cucurbitae moth, also known as the squash vine borer! This ensures you have a chance of stopping these moths from destroying your plants or at least lets you know what they look like so you can just beat them to death when you see them ha!   

About

Native to North America the  squash vine borer could actually be confused with a beneficial insect.  After all, unlike most moths,  it comes out in the day and flies with very quick bee like movements.  It has a bright orange and red body that I could almost say is pretty.  However, after years of fighting these suckers I firmly believe their color has one purpose, so you see them and know that evil is upon you!  These borer moths love squash, zucchini, pumpkins, and gourds all of which I am growing in my garden!  I think it is safe to say that I pretty much hate them; yet, as you can see from this quick video the borer does not care, it still loves my garden!

Squash vine borers will grow in a brown cocoon in your soil, living there through the winter. They emerge in the summer months and fly around laying their eggs on your food!  Larvae hatch within 7 to 14 days and proceed to bore their way into the hollow stems of your plants where they eat them from the inside out for another 14 to 28 days. If you have missed the egg stage, you may also see the small white worms with a black head on your stalks. These worms do not stay small long.

Tips

There are several organic things you can do to manage the squash vine borer.

  • Look for the eggs of the borer; and look for them often especially during their season, this will help you stop the damage before it begins! Eggs can be found on the underside of the leaves in clusters and can also be found on their own on the stems of the plants.  I have read some things that say they are at the base of the stems, they are! These moths will place their eggs wherever they land so they can also be found at the top and the middle and everywhere in between!

If the eggs are found remove them. Wipe them off with a damp washcloth, your fingernail, a butter knife or the edge of scissors etc. Also Look for damage from the worms. They can be little small holes with sawdust like residue around the wound or large holes in the major vine area of the plant. 

  • For the smaller stem holes use a pointed object to dig out the hole some.    Place your sprayer on the hole and fill the stem up with either Neem Oil mix or BT.  I like to tell them to just try and swim out of that while I am filling it up!
  • For larger holes if you can see the worm remove it or stab it and leave it there.  If you cannot see it, use the same method and fill the hole. Worms will ingest the Neem or BT mix and die in the vine or stem. Cover any of the large holes in the vine with fresh compost so they can heal and continue growing.

Sprinkling wood ashes on the stems along with Diatomaceous Earth (DE),  black pepper around the plants or growing radishes near them has also been reported as a deterrent for the moths.  I personally have not tried the ashes or pepper, I do use DE and I have had luck with radishes as a companion plant!  Crop covers are also an option with manual pollination of your plants.  I don't prefer this method.

It's even more important when growing squash to till your soil in the spring and the winter to remove the overwintering cocoons.  Also, strictly follow the rules of rotation and attempt to never place your plants in the same spot two years in a row. Last but not least, do NOT put your spent squash in your compost; if possible you should actually burn it.  If you can't burn it place the leaves and stems in a plastic bag and leave them in the sun.  Don't feel bad about any evil laughs that slip out as you imagine the slow death of any borers trapped in the bag!

My best luck has been with the "look for eggs and spray inside the stems method" if I miss them.  What has worked for you in protecting your plants from this enemy?  Do you have some tips to share?  If so leave us a message we would love to hear them!

Related Articles

Quick Hit! - Looking for the Squash Vine Borer

Zucchini - Black Beauty Squash

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Insects – The Sunflower Moth

Sunflower Moth

About the Sunflower Moth

For those that love Sunflowers be on the look out for this pesky insect! It’s a small white sandy colored moth in the genus Homoeosoma.  There are two types, the American Sunflower moth (Homoeosoma electellum) and the Eurasian sunflower moth (Homoeosoma nebulella).   They show up in May to August time frame (depending on your region) and are most prevalent in the twilight hours, (figures it would be right when we all love to be in the garden) where the female lays their eggs on the sunflower head.   

The spawn of this devil will hatch in about a week’s time and burrow themselves down into the the seed head and attempt to eat to their heart’s content with no concern what so ever to your precious plants (how rude!).    To make matters worse this pest can also effect your Marigolds and your Echinacea  as you can see from the picture below where some of my own were impacted.   Signs of damage appears as a rotted area right in the middle of your flowers.   If you pull the seed head apart you will most often find the worms, (I’ll add a pic of that).

Flowers suffering from moth damage

Tips to Avoid and Treat

Like so many of the insects we deal with in our gardens there are a few natural enemies of the sunflower moth.

  • Wasps will attack the larvae as well as eat the eggs of the moth reducing its impact.
  • Ground beetles can attack the overwintering pupae and pirate bugs will also feed on them.
  • Insecticidal soap as well as dawn dish soap (1 1/2 tsp per quart) mixed with water and sprayed on the plant’s seed head can be used.
  • Organic insecticides such as BT and Neem can be used.
  • I personally have had good luck using Neem Oil (the 100% organic cold pressed kind that you mix yourself) to detour them.   Simply spray the seed heads while spraying the rest of the garden.
  • Tilling your soil well for winter as well as again in spring and using nematodes is a good practice. This helps remove any overwintering little critters, (get them while they sleep!)

There are also several synthetic sprays that can be used. However its best for our bees to try the natural methods first as there are so many organic options available to control this pesky insect.     If you find them on your plant cut and remove the flowers impacted and do not compost!

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