I mean that in the best way, of course!!!

Hiya Everyone!

I'm pretty much a newcomer to the wonderful world of gardening, having only had a couple houseplants that barely survived my brown thumb & a failed attempt at a flower garden a few years back ... Last summer, however, the color of my thumb miraculously changed from brown to bright green. You can imagine how delighted I was to leap right into my yard & begin to beautify my surroundings!

Now, in celebration of my new green thumb, I've most certainly gone overboard here in Glen Rose, Texas -- with several small flower & herb "patches" & a rather large vegetable garden for a beginner. Preferring holistic medicine & healing practices, it was easy to embrace the ideals of organic gardening ... But I'm getting a bit discouraged with all my insect pests!

Fire ants have always been -- & continue to be -- a major problem to our one acre yard. Now I'm having problems with what I presume to be aphids eating the leaves of all my beautiful babies ... These insect pests are so many (& my pocketbook is so little) that they are getting away from me ... Can anyone offer some encouraging words of wisdom as to what methods best work in the first couple years of changing to organic gardening?

Looking forward to eventually becoming an avid poster, not just an avid reader ... Thanks for all the helpful info I've read so far & will no doubt read in the future!

Tiny

You could try getting some ladybugs, but I don't know if it's too late for most nurseries? These guys might be another source:

http://www.hydro-gardens.com/aphids.htm

They seem very good at getting stuff out very quickly, very fresh. I used them for some beneficial nematodes (after seeing David Hall's post here), and will definitely be using them again in the future.

Hi,
Fire ants. I am old, had 2 strokes, a lazy gardener and hate Fire Ants so I do something organic people don't do. I use "Ortho's Orthene Fire Ant Killer". I have a 1/2 acre yard and get 2 or 3 Fire Ant hills 2 or 3 times a year. When I mow the yard or walk around the yard and notice a Fire Ant hill or hills, I get Orthene and sprinkle the power over each hill. Then I put up the Orthene till the next time that Fire Ants think they a welcome in my yard. It works every time, it works quickly, it is a simple as you can get, and less work then anything else. I hate them Fie Ants.

Aphids: I don’t use any bug or disease products (commercial or organic) in my yard except a slug/snail commercial product. I use it on young vegetables and 3 Brazilian Plume Flower plants. When I first started my yard I had a big problem with aphids. When aphids were on a plant and it died, I would replace it with something different. I still have lots of aphids but I don’t do anything. Somehow the plants don’t die and the aphids disappear. I have 6 milkweed plants which must be aphids favor plant. The aphids suck on the plants stems and leafs (they are all over the plants) and then along comes the Monach caterpillar. The caterpillars eat every leaf off the plant and when they are done the aphids are gone. So all I can say is use some of the organic methods to get rid of them and look forward to the time when your yard is in balance and then you won’t have to do anything. You become a lazy gardener.

There are organic products for fireants--Antifeugo is one I've used.

Pat Akin

Another good organic product is "Green Light Fire Ant Control with Conserve". This is a bait that is very effective. You can get it at Lowes and organic garden centers.