tomatoes, watermelons, cantaloupes, squash

[sputnut]

I remember reading somewhere on here that some of these don't do well there. They are all originally tropical plants, what gives? Someone said something about fruit flies, but can't you cut off the spot or pick fast?

comin' your way soon!

[Carey]

Fruit flies & leaf eaters are the culprit to the veggie garden - the fruit flies "sting' an area & the larvae wiggle around ... OK if you like the extra protein (stung fruit also tends to not be as full of flavor... oranges will look ripe around a sting but usually are rather tasteless & drier...)

Cherry & smaller tomatoes do better, as they do not seem to get stung
Melons, inc. watermelon do fine if you support the fruit off the ground (have seen them bagged in those white hort. bags) & watch for the leaf eaters (neighbors grow watermelon on old roof tin)

Squash, have not had a problem with hard squash & kabocha pumkin...neighbors grow zucchini....

ADDED: the fruit fly eggs hatch real quick...& then the larvae wiggle around & snack on the fruit inside out! that is the reason why most will not eat fallen tangerines & avocados & actually 'pick" these by cutting the stem above...the fruit flies cannot enter the fruit through the stem cutting but are all over that attachment area if thosee fruit detach from the stem...

[sputnut]

leaf eaters? How about squash bugs? They are shield shaped and suck the juice out of the plants, lay their brown egg clusters under the leaves and are nearly impossible to control without poisoning your food with sevin or spectracide.

comin' your way soon!

[unknownjulie]

I stuck a little stringbean seedling that my kindergartner started in school, in my dirt at the lot in ORchidland. Lo and behold, I went out there today and it's turned into quite a large vine and had lots of beans on it for me to pick. It took about a month. This is evidently, a good crop for there.

[mar1957]

This is yucky......reader beware.....
Few years back i got a large white grapefruit at a road side stand,
Took it home pealed its thick skin even sectioned it , after poping a few segments in
my mouth enjoying its sweetness..... I realized something was poping in my mouth...
Inspecting the fruit closer I noticed these white magots jumping on the counter as
I opened the segments.....
Ooooh! The thought still makes my tummy all ---- the only Word I can say is " just yucky"
and a few ohhh's

[Peter Easterling]

My yellow squash grew well but fruit flies ruined almost every squash. Tomatoes did great, but I grow under a plastic roof to keep them as dry as possible and stop black mold. I grow them vertically, to allow max circulation.

I spoke to some folks from the UH Hilo Tropical Ag Dept. who have an ingenious fruit fly trap made from a one liter plastic bottle. Haven't picked up the bait yet but will shortly. Also bagging your larger tomatoes works. My wife got a bunch of gauzy draw string bags at, I think, Ben Franklin. Lettuce does well. Seeds available cheaply from UH Trop. Ag Dept. I get them in the mail with seeds specifically for Hawaii.

[rainyjim]

Hi, peter.

I'm referencing your friit fly trap comment.

You can put apple cider vinegar, sugar - water, essentially any solution containing simple sugars i.e. fructose to draw the flies in. So. No need to buy from somewhere special or something expensive. Also can make traps from your used/reused 2 liter bottles(or any size 2L is not requisite).

From your post it seems you understand the trapping method, but if you need any help with assembly or method let me know I'm glad to help!

Aloha mai kakou

[microage97]

Just be aware of slugs and rat lung worm. It is very serious.

[sputnut]

quote:

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Originally posted by microage97

Just be aware of slugs and rat lung worm. It is very serious.

---

How do you get these? how does one protect themselves?

comin' your way soon!

[Carey]

Mainly from eating uncooked greens & produce (there are many pages on this in the search) as slugs & semi slugs slime over the produce & leave the parasite... There are camps on whether or not certain washes work...

Since the slugs & semi slugs are in the ground, the best thing to do for uncooked produce is to keep them out of ground contact - benches, hydroponics & such... but the buggas can slime up buckets & bench legs, so you need to keep them from climbing (for some reason they do not cross un-oxidied copper, so that is one way - have shiny copper barriers (OK, easier said than kept up...but can be done)

Have also seen things like a hanging guttter hydro garden for leafy greens, probably even better if you have copper gutters...but will not go into the $$$ of that idea... but if you have old ones that gotta go...)

There are slug & snail baits, but one is very not great for the environment & not pet safe and the other is not real rain stable...