Welcome to General Chat - GAW Community Area
This General Chat area started off as a place for people to talk about things that are off topic, however it has quickly evolved into a community and has become an integral part of the GAW experience for many of us.
Based on its evolving needs and plenty of user feedback, we are trying to bring some order and institute some rules. Please make sure you read these rules and participate in the spirit of this community.
Rules for General Chat
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Be respectful to each other. This is of utmost importance, and comments may be removed if deemed not respectful.
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Personal anecdotes, puzzles, cute pics/clips - everything welcome
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Feel free to give feedback as these rules are expected to keep evolving
In short, imagine this thread to be a local community hall where we all gather and chat daily. Please be respectful to others in the same way
I have a problem. Two weeks ago, I had a full on ecosystem going on in my yard. I had ladybugs, aphids, a few spiders and of course, flies in the evening when it’s cool. I don’t use chemicals for bug abatement of any kind. I use garlic, cayenne and dish soap. Anyway, the ladybugs were doing the job with the aphids. Then I noticed not one aphid left on my roses. I thought the ladybugs had eaten them all but there are no ladybugs, either. No flies! What happened? No bugs hardly at all. Anyone in the NV area notice this?
What is the process with the garlic, cayenne and dish soap?
I cut up a full bulb of raw garlic and steep it in very hot water. Let it sit overnight. Strain the solids from the water and add a tsp of dish soap and a 1/4 tsp of hot pepper. I used the cayenne and had to put a tea bag on the bottom of my sprayer nozzle to keep it from clogging. I’m going to try just hot sauce next time. It doesn’t kill anything, either. It just repels them for a few days.
Thank you for the information, will give it a try. 👍
You’re very welcome!
That’s just weird! If you are missing bugs I can send some if I can figure out how to wrangle them up in a box without getting bitten🤣 In eastern North Carolina bugs don’t die in the winter. I walked the mailbox yesterday mosquitoes and gnats were hovering around me.
Lol! No, thanks! I just find it so strange. We have a few spiders and a few mosquitoes but nothing like usual. I live within a mile of a reservoir in the desert. Gnats seem to be more abundant than the rest.
There’s no telling what’s going on. Something could have been released in the air that killed the bugs. I’m also wondering if something eats these bugs. I’ve seen the videos and reports of over population of cicadas in certain areas. Wonder if it’s related.
At this point, I think it’s all related. I’m such a “conspiracy theorist “ that I think everything is here to kill us off. The one genus of bug that seems to be doing okay is the hornet. I saved one from the dogs’ water bucket the other day. Now when I go out there, seven of them come to visit me! They float on the water and then fly a little bit. I can’t help but be secretly pleased that they think I’m okay. They’re very playful!
bugs will move on to a new food source, so no aphids, nothing to eat.
I agree but where are the flies? Our evenings are cool and usually the flies show up. Not so lately.
that is a mystery, we used to get june bugs all the time, lots of them, for the past 5 years hardly any, the would bang against the screen, stumble all over the place, I thought maybe the chickens had been eating the grubs in early spring, but I have always had chickens. This year, not a one, and I use no herbicides or pesticides in my gardens or outdoors.
I live in central Texas, and I have also noticed hardly any bugs this year. Interesting.
Well I’m fighting ants. Any recommendations- killing the Scout Ants with dove soap and vinegar
I have had an unusual invasion of red ants this year. I boil water, vinegar, and dish soap and pour onto the mound early in the morning, and it helps to reduce the numbers but in a week or so, I have to do it again. The numbers get smaller, but still some remain.
I had some garden salt and a little bit of course Himalayan salt I wasn’t going to use. I poured it on fire ant hills. Grass is dead and so are the ants.
I would try dawn and vinegar instead of dove. My husband usually sprays the entire yard and around the house once a year and we don’t even get bugs inside. He’s got a big tank sprayer on the four wheeler.
it will not kill them but they will move away from any area you sprinkle coffee grounds on, I use it in the garden all the time.
Thanks!
Used it fresh grounds