Pest or partner?

[John E Windsor]

I have some type of egg or larvae on the bottom of my squash leaves. It looks like yellow eggs and they are accompanied with a flurry of ants. The ants don't seem to be eating these eggs, more like waiting on whatever comes out of them. Does anybody have an idea what we have here? Are they pest or partners? And how should I deal with them?

[Phil Slaton]

Borax.  My sister who hates them with a passion takes a large box of straight Borax dumps it in a bowl.  Then cuts the top off and dumps a whole spice can of cinnamon powder into the Borax, blends it well, and puts it out. 

I never want to cross her, she was a college chemistry professor.

[Jane]

i asu,me she is putting it on the groumd not in her ap system

Phil Slaton said:

Borax.  My sister who hates them with a passion takes a large box of straight Borax dumps it in a bowl.  Then cuts the top off and dumps a whole spice can of cinnamon powder into the Borax, blends it well, and puts it out. 

I never want to cross her, she was a college chemistry professor.

[Chris Carr]

Lol gotcha. Thanks for the info, I missed the reference to borax in another comment.

Phil Slaton said:

Borax.  My sister who hates them with a passion takes a large box of straight Borax dumps it in a bowl.  Then cuts the top off and dumps a whole spice can of cinnamon powder into the Borax, blends it well, and puts it out. 

I never want to cross her, she was a college chemistry professor.

[Phil Slaton]

Jane, she does not do Aquaponics.  But of course you put it on the ground and not in an AP system.

Jane said:

i asu,me she is putting it on the groumd not in her ap system

Phil Slaton said:

Borax.  My sister who hates them with a passion takes a large box of straight Borax dumps it in a bowl.  Then cuts the top off and dumps a whole spice can of cinnamon powder into the Borax, blends it well, and puts it out. 

I never want to cross her, she was a college chemistry professor.

[Phil Slaton]

Chris - Borax is a great naturally occurring product.  One summer in college I worked in a Borax operation in Death Valley, CA ... interesting work.   Anyway Ronald Reagan would never have lied to us about Borax, would he have?

Chris said:

Lol gotcha. Thanks for the info, I missed the reference to borax in another comment.

Phil Slaton said:

Borax.  My sister who hates them with a passion takes a large box of straight Borax dumps it in a bowl.  Then cuts the top off and dumps a whole spice can of cinnamon powder into the Borax, blends it well, and puts it out. 

I never want to cross her, she was a college chemistry professor.

[Chris Carr]

Until today I didnt realize it was a substance and was thinking of "Boraxo" brand, like "Kleenex" is to facial tissue. Mom never used it growing up so I wasn't familiar.

Back on topic though I am really curious about something I read just the other day regarding uses for the soy milk whey bi product from the tofu making process. (curds and whey just like dairy cheese). Besides the culinary uses, it was mentioned it can be kept in a jar on the counter and used like a mild detergent for scrubbing pots. I wonder if it has the same "wet" properties as soapy water. Likely not worth the effort and the probable chance of having a stinky mess in a bottle. 

The Mrs and I have been messing around with tofu making for a while and I have just been dumping it down the sink so I might play with it next time.

Another cool bi product of tofu making is more soy bean pulp then my little worm bin can handle. I almost cooked the poor worms the first time. It doesn't take much and it starts to break down so fast it turns a box into a sauna in no time.

Phil Slaton said:

Chris - Borax is a great naturally occurring product.  One summer in college I worked in a Borax operation in Death Valley, CA ... interesting work.   Anyway Ronald Reagan would never have lied to us about Borax, would he have?

[TCLynx]

Need more or bigger worms bins then I guess Chris.  The liquid byproduct can probably be poured into the compost bin too as a liquid/nitrogen source.

[Chris Carr]

I really wish I could but I'm moving/relocating soon and I have to restrain myself. They have these silly Starbucks machines at the office that grind and brew coffee by the cup and dump the grounds into a trash can underneath the counter. Its 100% pure coffee grounds in those bins and I cringe when I see them empty it and take it outside to the dumpster. I haven't been able to convince anyone else at the office to start vermicomposting yet.

If someone reading this is in Charlotte NC and is interested, it is likely around > 500 cups of coffee worth of grounds per day. Our food service manager is a cool guy and I bet it would be no problem for you to score it for free.

[Sheri Schmeckpeper]

Michael, thanks for the book recommendation,

Boraxo, Borateam, and borax are all great cleaners! Borax converts water to H2O2 (hydrogen peroxide) which is a bleaching agent. It's also high PH, so it helps other cleaning agents do their thing.

It's used as a laundry booster, cleaner, fungicide, preservative, insecticide, herbicide (too much will kill plants), and disinfectant.

Speaking of H2O2, if you're transporting fish you can add a little H2O2 to the water & it breaks down into H2O and oxygen.

[Cheryl Laird]

Worm tea!! I had aphids and ants all over the squash, cucumbers and zucchini.  Got some worm castings from a local worm farmer that I found on Craigslist.  "Brewed" the tea and sprayed it on the infected plants, as well as everything else.  The ants were gone the next day!!  My plants are in "recovery" mode, and it gave the rest of the plants a real boost!  I read the worm tea also kills spider mites, white flies and a few other pests.

The tea is easy to "brew"... I used a 5 gal bucket, filled it with about 3 gallons of water from a rain barrel. (Don't use tap water, as it has chlorine in it)  Put 2 cups of worm castings in a cloth bag of some kind. I used the leg of pantyhose. You can put the worm castings directly in the bucket, but will have to strain it before putting in a spray bottle.  Add 2 tbsp of corn syrup or molasses.  Then aerate it for 24 hours, with a aquarium air pump.  Set a lid on it, but don't seal.  You have to use the tea within 18-24 hours. 

[Converse]

  

   Cherly, glad you used the freshly brewed worm castings tea!  For the record, you can keep the brewed tea for longer than 18-24 hours, as long as you keep the aeration source in the 'brew'.  The 18-24 hours window is the time frame that the brew looses its live mircobial population after being removed from its aeration source. 

    You can also use "table" sugar as the food source in your worm casting tea.  Do not use honey, since it has anti-microbial properties.

 

   It is always good to see a report like this from people who use the worm castings tea.  I know it works.  But it is nice to have someone else letting our AP friends know too!

    Great results and no chemicals used. This is completely safe to use in an AP system. There are a lot reasons for people doing AP to have redworms in a bin:

     - A great way to get rid of your compostable matter, without sending it to a landfill

     - You get worm castings, which are gardeneners' gold, just by feeding your 'trash' to your redworms

     - Worm castings can be used for:

           - A planting medium. Use it straight or mix it.

           - A top dressing for soil and also for potted plants

           - Improve texture of soil

           - Helps retain moisture and  improve drainage in soils that need this help

           - Brings damaged soil back to life (such as if you use things like "Miracle Grow" which kills your soil)

           - Gives an incredile nutirent boost to plants

     - Make a great worm castings tea for:

               - A soil drench

               - Nutrient boost for soil and plants

               - Mist it on seeds proir to planting.  Worm castings contain Auxins and Gibberellins which are natural plant growth hormones.  You can see the improved  seed germination rates and lowered germintation time.

               - Gets rid of insect pests ( some examples: Aphids, spider mites, tomato horn worms, white flies...)

               - Stops and also prevents plant maladies (such as - but not limted to- damping off, black spot, powedery mildew) 

   - You get a great food source for your fish - they love worms! - and you can be sure they are not fed chemicals.

   - You get a great source of fishing bait.  Many anglers like redworms since you can fit an entire worm on the hook and you get better 'worm action', and great results when fishing.

    - If you have chickens, or reptiles, you have a wonderful food source for them.  Chickens love worms.

    - If you don't have chickens you can use your extra worms as a barter items with friends who do have chickens.  Trade worms for eggs!

   

The list goes on.....

  Cheryl, thanks so much for sharing how easy making the brewed worm casting tea really is. 

 

- Converse