Chicken bald back

[Leicester_H]

Hi

 

My (small) greenhouse is pretty clean & tidy. Last year I cleaned it thoroughly at the start of the season with Jeyes fluid.

 

Now I have put in shading it's hard (impossible) to get into all the nooks and crannies - so I was looking at greenhouse fumigating candles. Some claim to be natural (garlic etc) but don't seem to claim to kill overwintering bugs etc. and some seem to contain 'nasty' sounding chemicals.

 

I can empty the greenhouse of plants.

 

Does anyone have any experience or advice ? Am I being over cautious ?

 

As always, thanks in advance, H

[sjp]

unless you have a specific pest problem I wouldn't bother. the only really effective ones were the old sulphur candles but I think they've been band

[Valkyrie]

We usually hose it down inside - I like to keep the spiders as they are brilliant for keeping pests away. Also we have bees that like to lay eggs in little nooks and crannies and stuff leaves in to seal the joins. Although that means I have to shepherd them out when they hatch out! Then I have gravel down below that the chickens do a wonderful job of making piles and covering the paving slabs to get woodlice and other things - I've noticed slugs are rare in there now too! Every year I have to rake it all over and clear the slabs!

[chickencam]

We just wash ours down with soapy water normally but this year we replaced the double polycarbonate sheeting because it had got very dirty in between the layers and it is so light in there now . I use companion planting to keep down the pests, I always plant marigolds and basil with my tomatoes to deter the white fly. It has worked so far.