I think you can use Diamacious earth on the top of the soil to kill the gnat/flies and future eggs. It’s completely safe to use just don’t inhale it a ton because it does have a small bit of silica in it.
It’s used as a dietary supplement as well so it’s food safe for animals and humans. It just isn’t for insects because it dehydrates their exoskeleton. It’ll turn kinda brown as you water on the top of it so just know that’s normal. It’s also very inexpensive.
Amazon, Home Depot, Lowe’s pretty much most home and garden stores will have it. It is an insecticide but not a bio pesticide. It’s not even put on the plant itself just on the top soil. The plant will just see it as a different type of soil essentially. Just looking at the Wikipedia article on what the composition is of diamacious earth will tell you this:
Diatomaceous earth consists of the fossilized remains of diatoms, a type of hard-shelled microalgae.[3] It is used as a filtration aid, mild abrasive in products including metal polishes and toothpaste, mechanical insecticide, absorbent for liquids, matting agent for coatings, reinforcing filler in plastics and rubber, anti-block in plastic films, porous support for chemical catalysts, cat litter, activator in coagulation studies, a stabilizing component of dynamite, a thermal insulator, and a soil for potted plants and trees as in the art of bonsai.
Go to your local public library and get anything by The Teaching Company on gardening, such as (these are all dvd's, you can rip them using Format Factory or MakeMKV:
Food Gardening for Everyone
The Science of Gardening
Pioneering Skills for Everyone (there's a section on gardening in there)
Thank you for responding. Unfortunately, we do not have any optical media capabilities (i.e. CD, DVD etc.). I may be able to find some of this content on the Internet somewhere though.
My mother in law lets her cucumbers grow along the ground and they do great. Not sure if she buys a specific variety that's not for climbing but it's definitely possible to grow cukes without a trellis. Same as you would squash.
Cucumbers need a lot of direct sun and a lot of space, either vertical (trellised) or horizontal (along the ground). Put them in a wide open sunny part of your yard. They're also fairly susceptible to powdery mildew so keep an eye on them if the weather is rainy.
You mentioned you're in Maine, which means you have a relatively short growing season. You might want to start your cucumber seeds inside to get a jump start on the season in the spring. Otherwise just make sure you get them started right away once it's okay to plant outdoors so that you don't run out of room at the end of the season.
Good luck and let us know how it goes! Cucumbers are a very rewarding plant, right up there with tomatoes for me as far as bang for your buck. Homegrown cucumbers have a crunch that totally knocks store bought ones out of the park.
Other vegetables I like growing that grow well in my corner of New England:
Basil (grow enough to make several batches of pesto and freeze it)
Tomatoes
Sugar snap peas
Leafy greens, especially collards and Swiss Chard
Potatoes in 5-gallon buckets
Hot peppers
if you can handle fruit trees and perennials, then annuals won’t pose too much of a challenge – same rules apply, pick plants that like your climate – USDA hardiness, humid continental climate
most plants and seed packets will come with relatively basic instructions (how often to water, how much sun, etc.) to give you a starting point
cucumbers (pretty much the whole squash family) can be pretty prolific growers (there’s running jokes about planting too much zucchini and ending up having to leave bags of extra zucchini on neighbors’ doorsteps)
if you go a large pot (or a raised bed), take a look at companion planting (plants that traditionally grow well together)
the classic is “four sisters” (“three sisters” + pollinator) – tall corn in the center, something out of the bean family that will climb up the support of the corn, something out of the squash family that will act as ground cover, and something flowering (like sunflower) that will attract the pollinators (bees and birds)
if you’re dealing with early winters
something out of the cabbage family (cabbages, kale, broccoli, cauliflower) and a tuber (carrots, radishes, daikon) – one grows up, one grows down
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