This was the only cauliflower left standing by the unmerciful chupacabra/dog. It thrived, hidden among the broccoli, for months, when all of a sudden, one afternoon, it looked like this. The leaves had no spring and were rubbery and limp. You could bend them almost in half without snapping them. The general opinion was that it was root maggots. I knew what I was looking for because my peas had gotten root maggots in the spring, but when I ripped out the plant, there were no root maggots at all. I was rather surprised, but maybe they're just way down in there and didn't come up with the plant.I tried to get as many of the acorns as I could out of the largest bed. So many of them had already tried to root in. As I raked them to the end of the box, several little larvae of something or another came up with them (a different bed than the cauliflower's). Looks like I'll be using the tiller something fierce come the early spring to rip up any casings in the soil. Ants have also taken over the largest bed.
Has there been any consensus as to whether ants are bad or good for your garden? Will they eat my seeds, or take from or add to the soil nutrients? Should I get rid of them and keep them from coming back, or just suck it up and wear shoes out there so I don't get bitten?
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Oh, I feel for you. Mystery death and ants. I have no idea about ants, except their role in moving aphids about.
ReplyDeleteI'm at least neutral about the jumpy black spiders all over my garden.
Your cauliflower must have been an Auburn fan, and couldn't take it anymore. heh. It does look pretty sad! Ok...ANTS. They cause me no problems, whatsoever. I don't try to repel them in any way.
ReplyDeleteI hate ants in my garden, although I guess they don't hurt much. Well, if they bite you, they hurt much!
ReplyDeleteCan't say what happened to your cauliflower, but I had the same thing happen to two of my cabbages, and the roots looked just fine to me.
No aphids here, stefaneener, so I may just let them go, except they're the red biting kind.
ReplyDeleteEG, it doesn't matter how poorly Auburn is doing...their record is still better than ours. Good game last night, however. I emailed you during the first quarter to congratulate you since I figured you guys would run away with from there.
Odd, isn't it, Granny. At least it keeps us on our toes.
ReplyDeleteRibbit, my cure for ants down here (we have lots of 'em) is to mix a bit of sugar and borax...the 20 Mule Team Borax from the grocery store. put it around the ant hill. They carry it back in and feed the queen, and the colony dies.
ReplyDeletecan't help you with the cauliflower, I am the one who just decided I am no longer planting it .... EVER, lol. That and broccoli! The worms are just too difficult to get out, even when I do end up with nice heads to harvest! Ants shouldn't cause you any issues, and can actually minutely benefit you in that they will cart off or distribute any breaking down clumps of fallen fruit if you don't get around to cleaning it up, lol. Of course, this is assuming they are not FIRE ANTS...lol
ReplyDeletePoor cauliflower! It is kind of a big plant to be taken down by rot maggots, I have only had small ones killed. Definitely is some kind of soil dwelling creature though or possibly root rot.
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