Well, damn. I have an outbreak of whiteflies. They could have come from anywhere, the soil I brought in, the wind or they were here already. I've got no idea how things were treated by the previous owners. The neighbor uses chemicals.
I mixed up a soap and vinegar solution and we sprayed everything. I got some fresh mint cuttings and made a hot water extract with garlic and cayenne which we will spray today.
I've never had these so any experiences using natural predators etc will be appreciated. There is a slim chance I can order some rove beetles.
Unfortunately, they devastated my papaver
On a serious note, the way to win the bug war is to provide the habitat for natural predators to live with a diversity of plants and weeds. You can buy and introduce predators but they wont stay without suitable housing and food. Not a quick fix but very effective in the long run. Working for me quite well and I encourage you and others to give it a try.
This is great advice, the way to make predators work for you is to get them to stick around, and hopefully breed!
On one of the MJ podcasts I listen too (I think it was dude grows) they were talking about grass mites. Apparently grass mites are fairly specialized in particular varieties of grass. The predators for spider mites prefer spider mites, but will also eat the grass mites. Some company is selling the grass already infected with mites as a supplemental food source for the predators.
It sounds scary to purposefully bring mites into your garden, but it is probably beneficial in the long run. Most people buy predators AFTER they have a problem, but we all know an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cured buds.
Cool. That must've been on Wake and Bake, because I didn't hear it on Grow Talk.
DGC baby!
I'm gonna look for the mite infested grass dealer.
Lol.
This is great advice, the way to make predators work for you is to get them to stick around, and hopefully breed!
Rico; Are those heal all, all heal, self-heal plants - prunella vulgaris in your 'volunteers' thread?
healthy
I just finished straining and bottling another batch of mint 'tea' to use as an insect spray. I left it to sit about 36 hours after bringing to a boil. I was going to add a teaspoon of isopropyl alcohol 70% or vinegar as a preservative but opted for 25 ml of EM fermentation in almost 4 litres. I've never tried this. Anybody?
PS. I miss my cat fiercely.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZctSqJDBqKc
h.h. ; is that your huglebeds? looking good and ready to plant something there soon? We need a place to discuss hooglin so as not to muck up this thread. I would create a thread but I am not a very good host but I love to contribute. I thought 'Keep on Hooglin' might be a catchy title (word play on Creedence Clearwater Revival's Keep on Chooglin but strictly platonic, lol)
Never have with EM, interesting. I have held simple infusions/extracts in the fridge for months at a time. efficacy seemed stable on both thyme and camomile infusions(separate not combined). I don't do many infusions anymore as nature seems to be doing the heavy lifting these days. Used to be plagued by cabbage whiteflies but haven't seen an outbreak in years. Hope you get your situation under bio control soon. Insectary FTW
Have you tried vegetable glycerine as an adjunct? I used one teaspoon dawn to one tablespoon glycerine added to said teas.
is there a reason you are doing a decoction and not infusion? Are you seeking different metabolites (or did you just have another senior moment and left the kettle on the boil View Image)
rescue cats are cool cats, I'll bet there is another one ready to fill that void when you are ready. Not as a replacement, but to help keep compassion flowing and love of life living. I wish you success in that endeavor my friend.
enjoy your dayView Image