Welcome to northern California. In our mild climate we are blessed with with more generations of pests as well as plants. You will soon adjust to the local pests. We don't yet have Japanese Beetles or oriental fruit moths. Al

I've found that the longer we've had our poison-free gardens the less problems i have. I think it just takes time to build up the proper population of good bugs that eat the bad bugs.

westelle, you make a good point. I have found since I don't spray for pests, I am more tolerant of their damage. I have several Daturas that I watched the pests attacking when I first planted them, in four inch size transplants. The plants tolerated the early disfiguring damage and just outgrew it, now blooming cleanly. Al

Concur with everything folks have said. Since we don't have freezes here, plants and insects just continue their lifecycles. Being close to neighbors will have nothing to do with the bugs you see in your yard - they live everywhere here, in rural areas and in suburban neighborhoods. You'll see some years you'll have more of one insect than another - more snails or earwigs some years due to wet winters and springs for example. Then their natural predators come, gobble them up, and then you'll see more of that bug, bird or reptile. And so the cycle goes here in California :-) As far as spider mites, your best bet is a hard spray of water, or insecticidal soap. If you spray a miticide, you're going to kill off your good spiders as well. So, safer to go with a blast of water or insecticidal soap than using something more detrimental to the environment.

Patty S.

Thank you all for your responses! I'm glad to know I don't live in some buggy hot spot or something. I just have never seen so many of these things at one time, and the sight of them all over my plants triggered a slight panic. I figured California, with the mild seasons and lots of big ag would present some pest issues, but I suppose I just didn't know what to expect.

Anyhow, I am happy to roll with it. Most of the plants, like Calistoga said, outgrew the damage sustained when they were smaller, and now look happy and adjusted.

Thanks for the insecticidal soap tip for the spider mites... I have never seen them before and have heard they're capable of a lot of damage and difficult to get rid of! I killed the plants that were beyond saving and will treat the rest of my plants. And I'd never use chemicals that were bad for the environment.

One more question, I love the idea of building up populations of good bugs, and figured by growing a lot of different types of flowers I'd be able to attract many of them. What I'm wondering is if any of you have ever brought them into your garden yourselves? Like bought a bunch of ladybugs at the hardware store? I saw them advertised this spring. Considering the aphids were the most persistent of the pests so far, and did manage to completely ruin my kale, I'd consider doing that next year, but would love to hear if anyone's tried it.

Thanks again everyone, and thank you for the welcome :)
California is exciting!! Rattlesnakes, earthquakes, bugs...

Two things will bring the good predator bugs to your yard: Biodiversity (the antithesis of a monoculture, like a lawn), and lots of California native plants. I have never bought good bugs like ladybugs, because what you purchase are not native bugs. And you need to buy a LOT of them, as about 90% will fly away. So imvho, I would simply plant plants that will attract your good native bugs. Get to your local native nursery and start planting the California native plants that are indigenous to your specific area of California. And be sure you've got a good, broad selection of plants in your yard. You should have a very good selection of native nurseries in your area, as planting natives is very popular in your area. Also, I'd encourage you to join the Gardening with Natives Yahoo Group. The list owner and moderators are all from N. Calif, and post lots of great seminars, sales, etc. that occur in your area. Great, great group, very knowledgeable. This forum will not allow me to provide you a direct link to a Yahoo Groups group. But, if you type in groups dot yahoo dot com in your browser window, then type in "Gardening with Natives" in the Search Group box, you should come up with the correct group.

Patty S.

Welcome to California, Temmay!

I would introduce praying mantids. Ladybugs just fly away, as Patty said, but it's nice to have the mantids just because they are so cool. You can also produce lizard habitat by stacking up broken concrete or stones in a loose wall.

Sometimes it's best to just avoid growing certain plants, because they are bug magnets. Dark colored glads will not only attract thrips but will show the damage. Brugs attract spider mites, but you can control them by spraying the plants down with water. I hose off aphids with a squirt bottle in early spring and generally have fewer problems for the remainder of the year. Use BT sparingly for bad budworm and caterpillar infestations, so that you don't produce new generations that are BT resistant. Earwigs are a problem, because nothing eats them. They taste too nasty. I squish them, and avoid producing habitat near the house (leaf litter, mulch, shade and moisture).

I have not had the displeasure of dealing with squash beetles, but I had a shield bug infestation a few years back that decimated my tomatoes. I went on a squish fest for a few weeks, and by the following year the population had been diminished dramatically, although there were still a few hiding on the top back sides of the tomatoes. None for the past two years.

I think you experienced a population boom when you first introduced food, as you suspect. Keep us updated on how your harvest goes!

Renee