The dictionary definition of camouflage is a condition in which the appearance of someone or something when placed against a background makes the person or thing difficult or impossible to see.
We know that Insect pests find their host plants by sight or smell so if we disguise the sight or smell of a plant then the pests will not know it is there and fly on by looking for a host plant to lay its eggs or feed.
The best way to prevent a plant from being seen is the use of crop cover or as known in retail shops by the name of Bug Mesh.
Crop cover is a fine plastic weave similar to a whitebait scoop net.
It can be loosely laid over areas planted with seed or seedlings to prevent butterflies, moths and other insects from laying or feeding on the plants as they are growing.
Once the seedlings get to a reasonable height then either with loops of number eight wire or larger ones made out of rigid plastic pipe are used to have the cover sitting above the growing plants.
Likewise I have in the past use the same crop cover over branches of fruit trees wrapping around the branch like a cocoon to protect the ripening fruit from birds or moths such as Guava Moth or Codlin Moth from laying their eggs.
The cover is tied around the branch at the trunk end and then with cloths pegs sealed under the branch to the tip.
This should only be done when the fruit is near to ripening and the birds are starting to attack the fruit.
Many insect pests find their host plants by the smell of the plant or fruit.
If we have a smell from a source that is stronger than the smell of the plant we are protecting, then chances are the insect pests will not know it is there.
Creating a smell in an enclose area such as a glasshouse is fairly easy to do but in the open air much more difficult and less effective.
Yet I have many reports that gardeners and landscapers that have spread Wallys Neem Tree Granules under trees, shrubs and hedges have reduced the insect pest problems.
Under citrus trees they are magic cleaning a tree of all pests including borer in a period of 6 to 8 weeks.
In days gone by gardeners used to plant marigolds in their glasshouses and also into hanging baskets.
The smell of the marigolds would disguise the smell of the tomato plants and keep them fairly free of whitefly.
At dusk the glasshouse would be closed up for the nite and when opened in the morning the smell of the marigolds would be very strong.
Instead of marigolds we can use Wallys Neem Tree Granules on the soil in the glasshouse and the smell of the granules helps over ride the smell of the tomato plants.
This season gone by as a result of a tip from a lady gardener in Auckland that used Wallys Cat Repellent; which is naphthalene (smells like moth balls) on her fruit trees to prevent Guava Moths from destroying the fruit with great success.
So in one of my glasshouses I decided only grow tomato plants (in another one chili, capsicum, egg plant and cucumbers) and in the tomato glasshouse I hung little gauze bags I obtained from a $2 shop and placed the Cat Repellent crystals in the bags.
As they were hanging from the roof they never got watered on and they lasted just about all season slowly evaporating and smelling the house like the moth balls in Grannies woollies.
The result is no whitefly problem in that glasshouse for the whole season.
I also hung the sticky yellow white fly traps in the glasshouse and caught a number of other flying insects but virtually no whitefly.
My other glasshouse with cucumbers, chili, capsicum and egg plants which is a good distance away also had no whitefly problem as having no smelly tomato plants in there to attract white fly they just didn’t happen.
So it is the tomato smell that really brings in the whitefly which then will colonise other plants such as cucumber.
It is also important that in the beginning of the season you start off with a clean slate in the glasshouse so that there are no whitefly from last season inside the house.
To achieve this at the end of this season when the plants are finished; leave the plants in the house and burn sulphur powder to fumigate the house.
After that you can clean the house and remove any plants .
The reason to leave the old plants in the house when fumigating is you do not want to take the plants out covered in pests to inhabit plants outside.
Then in the new season about the time you start your tomato plants hang the naphthalene bags and some sticky yellow white fly traps.
The Lady gardener that put me onto the naphthalene deterrent told me that she took old used tea bags and slit them open to remove the tea leaves and the put the naphthalene flakes inside the bags and stapled them closed. These she hung in her fruit trees after the fruit had formed and were heading to maturity.
The Guava moth like the Codlin moth finds where to lay their eggs at night by the smell of the ripening fruit.
The over riding smell of the Cat Repellent crystals hid the fruit smell so no grubs in the fruit.
My only comment is that the bags of naphthalene exposed to rain may wash the flakes away and thus lose the smell protection.
If a little roof made out of plastic or good strong cardboard hung above the bags help keep the rain off them, then they would be good right through to harvest.
The Cat Repellent is also very effective for keeping neighbourhood cats off gardens and places where you do not want them fouling.
Taking a two litre plastic milk bottle, you cut the bottom off and remove the cap from the neck end.
Inside it; with it on its side and handle upwards you place a large stone to prevent it blowing around in the wind and inside a table spoon of the naphthalene flakes.
Place the milk container in the middle of where you want to protect and then scatter a few flakes around.
When the cat comes it is put off by the smell of the naphthalene.
My thoughts are that the strong smell could be the smell of a very large cat that has marked its territory and if he comes back while the visiting cat is there then the cat would be mince meat.
The scattered flakes will be washed away by rain or watering but the smell from the milk bottle will persist and if the cat ventures back the smell is still there.
By the way about chem trails and weather modification; Mexico is the first country to ban the practice over their country.
Also in the link the is the concerns that playing with weather in one place could cause problems elsewhere.
Image credit: James Wainscoat
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