On Monday, September 11, 2000 8:05 PM Barbara Lamar shabrika@juno.com wrote:
> > My friends
> > who planted the seeds I gave them reported that these plants were
> > quickly and eagerly consumed by pests if not protected.
>
> I've found that when I plant a wide variety of botanical families in the
> garden; leave the soil undisturbed by tilling; and maintain a high %age
> of organic matter in the soil I have very few losses to insects or
> disease. My theory for why this is so is that in such conditions the
> plants are able to obtain the nutrients they need in order to build
> strong immune systems. Commercial fertilizers can be good sources of N,P
> & K, but lack trace nutrients.
I agree overall, but the problem is that level of care costs more money, a
lot more. Even organic food is more expensive and has a lower level of care
than that. (I eat mostly organic for some of the same reasons.)
Also, if you plant smaller amounts of stuff, pest control is a lot easier.
I think, say, when you have row after row of wheat, you invite creatures
that like wheat to feast. If you only planted a square meter of the stuff
in an otherwise mixed patch, this would be a lot less likely.
Cheers!
Daniel Ust
http://uweb.superlink.net/neptune/
This archive was generated by hypermail 2b29 : Mon Oct 02 2000 - 17:37:42 MDT