Gardening Forever!!!!…….. Housework Whenever.
This year we have been blessed with cooler and moist weather this has kept our forest fires to the lowest amount I can remember for this time of year. Currently there are 23 fires burning in B.C. and only the fire near Lillooet considered out of control. With the heavy rains in the east and deadly heat waves in Europe and several earthquakes throughout the world we are sitting pretty good for now.
The weather for the next couple of weeks in our area will be a bit cooler with more chances of rain. This will be great. Plants like Cauliflower will do much better than usual with the heat causing them to bolt and form poor heads, tomatoes too will do better as over 35 degrees they do not produce pollen which will reduce production. May the people of Venezuela receive the help they need to find and save the multitudes of people still missing and help repair some of the devastation in their country.
So far I’ve found the garden pests have been minimal but one should always be vigilant as these pests may appear and become overwhelming in very little time.
As we return from the cooler wet weather to our usual intense heat be on the look out for spots, holes, leaf damage and discolouration on your plants. The insects themselves can be minuscule but some are very apparent and it is good to be ahead of the damage that they can cause, so inspect the stems and underside of the leaves to locate these pests as early as possible. Some plants will be more susceptible than others as each particular pest has its favourite.
Roses attracts aphids readily as well as having an affinity for fungal disease such as black spot and mildew. Lettuce and flowers like Gerbera tend to attract white fly. Beans attract leaf crawlers and of course cabbage, cauliflower and broccoli attract the white cabbage moth and is the one I dislike the most. I have planted all my cabbage and broccoli with my tomatoes as supposedly this moth does not like tomatoes, but I saw my first moth yesterday and although I managed to eliminate this I am sure more will be on the way. If the tomatoes don’t work then I will bring out the Rye Flour as I do know that with persistence that this does work. Just sprinkle it liberally on your plants and continue to do so after watering and heavy rain.
Here are a few recipes that will assist you in the battle to have a productive and attractive garden.
- Soap and water is quite effective on many bugs. Use one tsp to a litre of water and be sure to agitate lightly after it is in your sprayer.
- A Salt spray using Himalayan Salt and warm water. Use 2 Tbsp salt to 1 gallon warm water. This is very effective on spider mites.
- Mineral Oil Use 30 ml of the oil with 1 later of water. This works by dehydrating the insects and their eggs.
- Chrysanthemum Flowers (Pyrethrum) is available in garden centres and works on the nervous system of insects. You can make your own by boiling the flowers of this plant in water for 20 minutes then strain and cool. This will last for up to two months.
- Tobacco spray products also work well however do not use this on or near your Tomatoes as tobacco contains a virus that will negatively affect these plants.
There are many recipes out there for insect control and if any of you have one that has worked well for you I would love to hear about them and share with other readers.
Remember this is war however we don’t have to go Nuclear!
Happy Gardening!
Samantha Nason
BS Ranch & Greenhouses
250 547 6567
sam1nason@gmail.com
