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Got banned from a Facebook gardening group for sharing this one tip about nematodes
I was talking to an old farmer at the feed store last Tuesday and he said pouring a diluted molasses mix around your tomato roots attracts beneficial nematodes that eat grubs naturally. I posted it in a gardening group and got banned for 'promoting pseudoscience' even though the University of Florida extension office backs it up. Has anyone else run into gardeners who think natural pest control is just woo-woo nonsense?
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aaronsullivan15d ago
I get where you're coming from vera195, but I think "promoting pseudoscience" is a bit harsh when the extension office backs it up. That said, I've seen too many people online take one study or farmer trick and run with it as a cure-all without understanding the soil biology behind it. The molasses thing works for some soils but can backfire if your ground already has lots of sugar-loving bacteria. I'm not saying natural methods are woo-woo, but I've watched a neighbor drench everything in molasses and end up with a slimy mess that attracted more pests than it helped. Is there a specific test or starting point you'd recommend before someone tries stuff like this?
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vera19516d ago
Promoting pseudoscience" is funny, considering the extension office literally published a bulletin on using molasses to feed soil microbes. I tried it in my own garden last year, dug up a football sized sweet potato with almost no grub damage. Neighbors who used chemical granules lost half their crop to wireworms.
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