Being successful in gardening is the ability to observe and when necessary take the appropriate action.
A good memory or a gardening Diary are also an advantage so that you are aware of things that happen at certain times and you can prevent problems or know when it is the best time to take action.
Though I have never kept a gardening diary I do understand the great advantage of doing so and especially for people that are not ‘old hands’ in gardening.
Gardening problems of pest and diseases are seasonal and they start in the spring, become worse as we head though summer and if not sorted out before autumn can be devastating.
In winter the only real problems are wet soils that can rot plants roots and frosts on tender plants.
Insect pests start in the spring when the weather warms and day light hours extend and if there is a week or two of nice weather the pests will come out and start breeding.
Sometimes after this happens there is a sudden cold snap it kills those early pests and we are fairly trouble free till about January.
If that does not happen we need to get on top of potential problems before they escalate.
Checking your garden plants once or twice a week for any early signs of insect populations by looking under the leaves or noticing black sooty mould on the leaves which is caused by the pee of sap sucking pests.
Ant activity on plants is another indication, but maybe not if the ants are only after the nectar of flowers.
Even if you don’t see any sign of problems you can always take preventive steps.
Sprinkling a few of Wally Neem Tree Granules over the soil under plants has proved very effective in stopping pests from colonising plants.
I believe it is the smell of the granules that overrides the smell of the plants so that insects looking to find where to set up home cant easily find their host plants.
A number of landscapers that care for gardens use the Neem Granules under trees, shrubs and around gardens reporting much less pest problems as a result.
But if the insects are already on the plants that is not going to work so a control spray of Wallys Super Neem Oil and Super Pyrethrum mixed together and sprayed just before dark under and over plants foliage will take care of those early insects.
The time of the day to do so is important, late afternoon or early evening is best as the sun needs to be off the plants so the Neem Oil will not cause and burning of the foliage.
The pyrethrum is very quickly broken down by UV (withing two hours of sun light it is gone) but during night it will be active till the sun comes up next day.
Many pest insects are active at night because their predator enemy, the birds, are not active so it is safe at night and then they hide during the day.
Insects that come in contact with the pyrethrum at night will be effected and their nervous system breaks down and they die.
The Neem Oil is an anti-feedent and when pests feed on the foliage that has Wallys Super Neem Oil, they stop eating and starve to death over the next few days.
Like the Neem Granules on the soil the smell of the oil also hides the plant from pest’s ability to find it.
The Neem oil lasts for a few days on foliage exposed to sunlight but for a long time under the leaves where there is no direct sunlight.
The current weather with rain and wind have slowed down pests from getting established except in glasshouses where they are not affected by the elements.
Outside plants and ones in glasshouses should be sprayed with those two Wallys products as soon as possible. In glass houses repeated again 3 days later till under control then a further preventive spray every couple of weeks or so.
If you have followed my article on hanging gauze bags with Wallys Cat Repellent crystals from the ceiling of your glasshouse along with Wallys Yellow Sticky White Fly Traps then you are likely to be free of the dreaded white fly problem all season.
These have to be done right at the beginning time of planting tomatoes or if not done so yet you need to spray the tomatoes planted to kill all white fly on them and also hang the two controls.
The controls hide the smell of the tomatoes so whitefly outside do not know there are any in the glasshouse. But once in the glasshouse you have to eradicate them first before the controls have the effect of keep them out and catching any that happen to venture in.
Outside plants spray now and again in a couple of weeks time unless problem infestations are noticed then treat as soon as possible.
Once whitefly get established for the season they are near impossible to control.
Now in regards to fungus diseases on plants it can be good a good plan to spray Wallys Liquid Copper with potassium permanganate and Raingard added now.
Gardeners that do this at this time of the year often find they have less disease problems during the season. A further spray of the same a couple of months later in summer and again another in autumn are good preventive controls.
You may like to use the new Wallys Copper Nutrient spray as it is systemic and works from inside the plant helping to prevent diseases establishing and you could add aspirin to this spray as talked about in last weeks article.
No Raingard is used in this combination spray as it is not needed.
So the program could be spray plants with the Neem oil/pyrethrum first then about a week later the Liquid copper, potassium permanganate and Raingard.
Then if you want to be sure to be sure two weeks later the Copper Nutrient and aspirin.
Thats the prevention program taken care of and only further control if there is a problem that happens.
I have come to the conclusion that two diseases which are very difficult for the home gardener to control should be like the ambulance at the bottom of the cliff.
This is curly leaf on grafted stone fruit trees and rust on garlic.
I have a peach tree that has set a good crop of fruit this season and about 20% of the leaves have curly leaf the rest are looking good. Last year I used, diligently, the Copper Nutrient but have done no preventive control this season.
So either the Copper Nutrient inside the tree has helped still or the weather has not favored the disease which is unlikely as its been fairly wet.
Instead I have used every few days the Liquid Sunshine spray of molasses and Magic Botanic Liquid (MBL) and things are looking good. I will continue with Liquid Sunshine till I am sure I have lots of peaches to harvest later on.
The same spray I am using every few days on my garlic before there is any sign of rust.
I will continue the treatment till harvest time and even if they do get the rust later on I am sure to get reasonable size bulbs and cloves for my efforts. Happy Gardening…
Image credit: Sandie Clarke
Products mentioned are from Wallys Range of products and can be found in some garden shops or by Mail Order on www.0800466464.co.nz
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