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Aphids and Whiteflies in the garden

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Each garden and therefore each gardener is faced with pests that plague their plants from time to time. It’s something that we have to learn how to deal with, and when possible learn to control those pesky pests.

Some plants such as honeysuckle, citrus trees and other flowering shrubs and vines are infested each year with aphids and whiteflies. How can you control some of these pests naturally?

Well, whiteflies can be a real challenge. Planting marigolds near or around plants that frequently get infestations of whiteflies might help. Marigolds secrete a substance around their roots that is absorbed by nearby plants and this helps to repel the insects. This might now work for large shrubs and trees though.

Whiteflies have several natural enemies. Get to know the bugs in your garden. Some of them are beneficial. Insects such as lacewings, big-eyed bugs, minute pirate bugs and a tiny wasp called Encarsia are natural predators of whiteflies. Avoid using pesticides in the area as that will kill off these beneficial bugs that otherwise would find and attack the whiteflies.

Aphids are a big problem in my garden each year. They love my honeysuckle – particularly my Harlequin Honeysuckle for some reason. They also thrive on the newly developing leaves and flower buds of my roses.

When an aphid infestation is really bad I get one of my spray bottles and add a couple of drops of dish washing liquid to the water in the bottle. I then go out and spray the affected areas of each plant with this mixture. By selectively spraying the affected areas of the plants I don’t bother the many other insects that are in my garden- many of which are beneficial. I find that for really bad infestations I have to spray the affected plants with this soapy mixture two or three times in one week. After that the aphids are usually gone.

Like the whitefly, aphids have many natural enemies as well. One of the most important enemies of the aphid are the various species of parasitic wasp that lay their eggs inside aphids. Other predators that feed on aphids are lady bugs or the lady beetle as it’s known in some parts, lacewing and syrphid fly.

There are a number of mail order companies, and some nurseries, that sell a huge variety of beneficial insects for the garden. You might think about purchasing some of these insects to help control your whitefly or aphid problems.

I’ve purchased ladybugs in the past. 2000 I believe! I tried to put them on the plants that I knew the aphids and other pests enjoyed bothering. The lady bugs stayed in my garden for the most part for a day or two but then dispersed throughout the neighborhood. I do think that at the time they stayed long enough to control my pest problem.

If anyone has any other suggestions for controlling whiteflies or aphids in the garden I’d love to hear your suggestions. Please leave a comment.






Basics of caring for house plants

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Purchasing a house plant

Caring for houseplants must start the moment you buy them. Because many are native to hot or tropical climates, even the slightest exposure to cold can prove fatal. So, when you make your purchase at the garden centre or nursery, now that the cool weather has set in, ask for the plant to be put in a box or bag, or bring something yourself that you can protect the plant with for the journey home.

Most plants come with a label giving, often very basic, care advice. Some don’t even list the plants name which can be extremely frustrating for me. I try not to buy unlabeled plants but sometimes I just can’t resist and must have whatever plant I’m looking at. If I do purchase an unlabeled plant I try to search for plants that look like it on the internet, and I’m often successful in figuring it out.

Heat and Light

Read the label carefully on your plant before you purchase it. Do not buy a plant that needs bright light if you can’t give it a spot with bright light. It will only end in disappointment. When you get home, choose an appropriate spot for your new houseplant and leave it there. Like any other living thing it needs to settle and adjust to its surroundings. Occasionally a new plant will drop some leaves if your home is warmer or cooler than it’s used to. It will also do this if the lighting is different than where it had been before too. Avoid drafts or anywhere subject to dips in temperature, and steer clear of poorly lit areas. Lack of light can sometimes be fatal, but more often results in weak, leggy growth and a lack of flowering.

Flowering plants and those with variegated foliage generally need more light than plain green foliage plants. Cacti, succulents and carnivorous plants all need full sun, but they can be scorched by strong midday rays if they are grown right next to the glass of a south-facing window. Cunningly placed mirrors will come in useful to provide orchids with the bright indirect light they require.

Humidity

Humidity is very important to the health of most houseplants. In the winter our heating systems keep temperatures up, but also dry out the air – For many plants you will need to mist them several times each week in order to help replace the moisture in the air. You might want to purchase a humidifier to add moisture to the air in your house. There are large ones that can humidify the majority of a house. Other smaller ones are more suitable for humidifying a single room. If you have a room or two that you keep the majority of your plants in during the winter a small humidifier might be suitable for you.

Watering

The majority of house plants need to have slightly damp soil at all times, but this does not mean that you should water it every day. Over watering is the leading cause of houseplant death. It should be neither soggy nor dry. After watering, check that the compost is damp all the way through, with no surplus water, which you must ensure is drained away. Tap water is fine for most plants; it contains chalk that the plants need. However, orchids, carnivorous plants, azaleas and gardenias hate chalk, so use rain water or put tap water through a filter jug first, then boil it in the kettle, leaving it to cool before use.

Feeding

The most advisable method is to mix a long lasting, slow-release feed into the compost when potting or re-potting. Specialist plants, such as cacti and succulents, orchids and bromeliads, need very little food, while carnivorous plants do not need feeding because they catch their own grub.

Pests

All houseplants, no matter how well cared for, are susceptible to pests. Some of them are microscopic, so if your houseplant doesn’t look as healthy as it should, give it the once over with a magnifying glass. Look in leaf axils for mealybug, which looks like tufts of white fluff, and check on stems for tiny limpet-like scale insect. Inspect around young shoots and buds for greenfly.

You might not spot red spider mites because they are tiny to the point of being almost invisible. But you may well spot the damage they do as they suck the sap and cause premature leaf-drop, leaving groups of tiny pale dots on young leaves.

Compost can become home to jumping fleas called springtails (especially in over-watered peat-based composts) and vine weevil, whose grubs devour roots, tubers and bulbs. Spraying with an appropriate systemic treatment from your garden centre should eradicate nasties. Nematodes – minute parasites that kill the bugs – are also very effective.

When I notice pests on my plants such as spider mites or white fly I spray the plants with a mix of water and one or two drops of dish washing detergent. This soapy water mix often does wonders. I very rarely resort to using pesticides.

Gardening tips for you! Part 1

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Organic Gardening Tips

1. Mulch your flower beds and trees with 3″ of organic material – it conserves water, adds humus and nutrients, and discourages weeds. It gives your beds a nice, finished appearance.

2. Mulch acid-loving plants with a thick layer of pine needles each fall. As the needles decompose, they will deposit their acid in the soil.

3. The most important step in pest management is to maintain healthy soil. It produces healthy plants, which are better able to withstand disease and insect damage.

4. Aphids? Spray infested stems, leaves, and buds with a very dilute soapy water, then clear water. It works even on the heaviest infestation.

5. Compost improves soil structure, texture, and aeration, and increases the soil’s water holding capacity. It also promotes soil fertility and stimulates healthy root development.

6. Look for natural and organic alternatives to chemical fertilizers, such as the use of compost. Our use of inorganic fertilizer is causing a toxic buildup of chemicals in our soil and drinking water.

7. When buying plants for your landscape, select well-adapted plant types for your soil, temperature range, and sun or shade exposure.

8. Landscaping your yard is the only home improvement that can return up to 200% of your original investment.

9. Plant trees! They increase in value as they grow and save energy and money by shading our houses in the summer, and letting the sun shine through for warmth in the winter.

10. Think of trees and their locations as the walls and roofs of our outdoor rooms, when you are planning their locations and sizes.

11. Grass won’t grow? Find an appropriate ground cover for the exposed earth and fill the problem space, creating an interesting bed shape.

12. Plant vines on walls, fences, and overhead structures for quick shade, vertical softening, and colorful flower displays.

13. If gourmet cooking is in your plans, organically grown herbs make wonderful landscape plants. They flavor foods, provide medicinal properties, and offer up fragrances. And most thrive on neglect.

14. Shade gardens are low maintenance – they require less watering, slower growth, and fewer weeds to fight.

15. Everyone loves flowers! Annuals are useful for a splash of one-season color. But since replacing them each year is expensive, concentrate them in just a few spots.

16. There is no need to work the soil deeply when adding compost or soil amendments. Eighty five percent of a plant’s roots are found in the top 6″ of soil.

17. The best organic matter for bed preparation is compost made from anything that was once alive, for example leaves, kitchen waste, and grass clippings.

18. Dig an ugly hole when planting a tree or shrub. A hole with “glazed” sides from a shovel will restrict root penetration into the surrounding soil.

19. Planting from plastic containers? Carefully remove the plant and tear the outside roots if they have grown solidly against the container.

20. Think of mulching as “maintaining the forest floor”: add 1″ to 3″ of compost or mulch to planting beds each year.

21. Natural fertilizers, compost and organic materials encourage native earthworms. Earthworms are nature’s tillers and soil conditioners, and manufacture great fertilizer.

22. Bare soil should not be visible around a new planting. Always cover with a layer of mulch, any coarse-textured, loose organic material.

23. Think “biodiversity”. Using many different kinds of plants encourage many different kinds of beneficial insects to take up residence in your yard.

24. Organic pest control is a comprehensive approach instead of a chemical approach. Create a healthy biodiversity so that the insects and microbes will control themselves. Using natural products and building healthy soil is the best long-term treatment for pests.

25. Weeds? Spot-spray with common full-strength household vinegar, on a sunny day. It’s an organic weed killer that’s safe for you and the environment.

Stay tuned for part two!

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