I have a pest problem. My tomatoes are one of my major projects this year. My tomato storage is almost empty, and aside from the project aspect I have GOT to get tomatoes for eating.
I planted them in deep woodchips, and the rollie pollies have found them. They’re leaving everything else in the garden alone, as far as I can tell.
I think part of the problem is that the soil is very wet under the woodchips. The insects are driven up out of the saturated soil to find food on the surface, and the woodchips provide a perfect environment. They basically chew through the plant at ground level, then when the plant falls they finish it off.
One thought is to plant a trap crop. The tomatoes right now are about 5-8 feet apart, so I don’t think most bugs are going to travel that far. If I interplant, the bugs will be better able to travel. Connecting flights, in a sense.
Next year I can make sure to plant out only strong plants (the commercial plants don’t seem to be affected yet) but that doesn’t help for this year.
I was thinking of pouring boiling water over the soil before I plant, but that causes other problems. I will be doing sweet potatoes later in the season, and some will be planted in this area, but that doesn’t solve the immediate problem.
Next year I could do some direct seeded, but again that doesn’t solve the problem this year.
The idea of planting them out this early was to take advantage of the spring rains, but I guess everything else had the same thought.