I have a few items off your list. You have to keep in mind, things like Coriander, Dill, and others need to flower before they start attracting insects. I always let some carrots go to seed, and I plant a few cilantro plants in the summer cause they will bolt fast. Yarrow is a good plant to have as well, I have several of those too.

What pepper seeds do you have for trade?

LOL

Good to see somebody jumping on the IPM boat.

Some of those are easier to just go down and by starts from a nursery. You may also want to check out big box stores at the end of summer/fall... some times they discount seeds so they can bring in the holiday crap.

A couple more things to know. Flowers and herbs take up a lot of "pepper" space. You may want to limit what you have growing -- the key is to have something flowering at all times of the year. Also, some herbs and flowers are very short lived in their flowering stage. For example, sunflowers flower for a month max, while marigolds and allysum act like perennials in mild climates.

Also, check for compatibility. For example, NOTHING really likes growing next to fennel.

I've yet to harvest any FLOWER seeds. Sorry I can't help.

Kevin

punkrotten, which ones on the list do you have? for trade I have bhuts, red brain strains, tabasco, orange hab, thai hot, and serrano.

Kevin, I was just thinking about taking one pot and sprinkling in some seeds of all of the above randomly (except maybe fennel, now that you mention it).

my other concern is, I have a small yard with a 6ft fence on all sides. how are the lacewings even gonna see the flowers I'm so graciously planting for them?

I was considering using the 2 windowsill boxes I have and bolting them to the fence high up. that way I'm not losing space (if you see my layout I have planned, every square inch of my yard is either pepper space, or small walkways between rows), and the lacewings can see it from afar. again this is just the idea that makes sense to me as a noob. if there's a hole in my plan please let me know what it is.

Ok. LOL

First, the lacewings don't need to "see" them. Do you think ants need to "see" a chocolate bar? Don't worry about placement. Insects will find plants. Just try to strategically place flowers on the edges and in the middle of your growing area.

A lot of flowering plants sprawl, grow high, like larger pots or REAL soil.

With your list, you're going to need a lot bigger yard. One thing that has always kept me from doing the IPM thing is taking up valuable veggie space.

I'd get a couple or 3 oak barrels and rotate out different plants to do the year-round thing.

If your yard's as small as I think it is from pics. Here's what i would grow and why.

marigolds -- totally easy, don't need much room or depth, bloom for months on end

Allysum. same reason

Zinnias -if you have deep pots.. bloom for quite awhile and keep putting out flowers.. plus they're pretty

Yarrow and/or tansy -- I haven't tried it yet, but i see them at the top of almost every list for Beneficial plants , plus i think they're perennials

Cosmos or other asters -- bugs just love em

The herbs -- dill and coriander are a toss up... they're edible for one, but the flowering lasts very shortly -- if you can set it up to do a planting every month, then i say go for it.

Borage is an herb that attracts tons of beneficials, especially bees. The leaves are rough but edible.. tastes like cucumber.

Lavender maybe.

Bachelors buttons -- you can plant them almost year round, they're beautiful and on a lot of lists.

I'm not saying the rest of your listed plants aren't worthy. I've just not grown them or find them to be too much of a hassle.

For example -- i love sunflowers, love the seeds, but mine are 10 feet tall, they're susceptible to powdery mildew, and they only flower for a couple weeks before going to seed.

Gotta take the bad with the good, I guess.

Kevin

Like already mentioned, you can either buy seedling or seeds of 90% of those in your list from any nursery.(probably I have 40% of them)
Exception are things like ;Queen Ann's lace, Golden Rod ... that grow wild and are considered "WEEDS". Plus, they can be headache later.

Blast from the past may help with whiteflies,
Will post the following page from the book

Let me know if you can't read it, then I will post it, that's a lot to type out though.

This post was edited by habjolokia on Wed, Sep 4, 13 at 19:16

read it just fine. in fact, loud and clear. have people had these results with yellow sticky traps? if so I'll buy some right now.

the unfortunate part is I'm not in a greenhouse, they can keep coming. still, I wanna try it.

Judo: they work. But outdoors, they're used mainly for early DETECTION. Because they can multiply at such rapid rates and once they gain a foothold, they're difficult to control, early detection is crucial so one can take action --- i.e., insecticidal soap, neem oil, release of beneficials, etc.

Kevin

I remember once battled white flies in Gardenia bushes for years.
Then I learned that they have three life stages. You fight one stage, they come to life from other two stages. That is why, when you have an infestation like that, it is hard to get rid of them with a quick shot of some spray.