Segment 4 of S4E23 Garden questions answered early August The Wisconsin Vegetable Gardener Radio Show

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In segment four Joey and Holly answer gardeners questions

Q One of my container cherry tomatoes all of a sudden has green aphids and ants. I was reading that the duo are quite a pair. Sounds like the ants are gardening the aphids? How can I prevent both from hanging out on my tomatoes. I already removed the aphids and put down coffee grounds and cayenne pepper (I didn’t have any ground cinnamon).

Recently the ants ate the root system from my Bee Balm and now I’m worried they’re doing the same to my Black Cherries because the plant hasn’t been growing much
A:top dress with worm castings water around plants for aphids - get rid of aphids the ants go with them
Get rid of aphids and other sap-sucking pests. This will prevent ants from hanging around to harvest honeydew.
Distribute artificial sweetener near the ants. Reportedly, this is fatal to ants (which might make you reconsider adding the stuff to your coffee).
Sprinkle ground cinnamon or cayenne pepper around your plants. This may help repel, but not injure, ants.
Place food-grade diatomaceous earth by trails and nests. Made from fossilized hard-shelled algae called diatoms, this fine powder dehydrates ants — as well as slugs and cockroaches. But it’s completely safe for humans. (Note: It may take a few weeks to kill ants, and it must stay dry to be effective.)
Set a borax (or boric acid) and sugar poison trap. A quick internet search will return dozens of DIY recipes for borax- and boric acid-based pest poisons. But use these carefully — though borax and boric acid are natural compounds, they are toxic to humans and animals.
Pour boiling water on the anthill. This technique works only if you know where the ants’ nest is, of course. And bear in mind, ants build their homes to withstand rain and flooding. So it may take several attempts before you kill the queen (and wipe out the colony).

Q: Are pine needles are too acidic to use as browns for composting?
I am so glad I came across your site. It has a lot of valuable information. Keep up the good work.
Thank you,
A: Thank you for the kind words of out the site. Pine needles are acidic on the tree however you can mix them into your compost pile but it is best to not mix more than 10% of the total volume of the pile with pine needles as it can cause problems in breaking down in a reasonable amount of time period

Q: is it okay that my swiss chard is so floppy? they grew so tall and then get knocked down by just normal watering. They're all on the dirt instead of growing upwards. Crushed by their own weight and the weight of water. Its been a fe(continued)