Bugged out

This year we have had a lot of rain, and cloudy days. It has been alternatingly very hot and muggy and cool, and unlike most summers we have (fortunately for me) not had a long hot spell. I say fortunately because I cannot take the heat, I am a fan of cold weather and love fall and winter. The garden, on the other hand, probably would be happier with a bit less rain and a bit more heat for this time of year. Particularly the tropical plants like the tomatoes and peppers which are much smaller than they have been the past couple of summers.

It has been a great year for bugs. So far, with help of 4 entire bags of Slug-B-Gone, I have kept the snail and slug population down to a trickle. This is miraculous because it is ideal weather for those pesky gastropods, and with the addition of loads of hay onto my beds, I have created the perfect condition for an epidemic. I suppose that I have the best conditions to test the effectiveness of the product and it is holding out. I have not put any beer out at all!

Josh went overboard on mantises this year, and put out nine ooths of Chinese mantises in the spring. I think some of them went onto neighbour’s gardens (my husband the mantis fairy) but the number of mantises in our yard skyrocketed this year. Josh does a daily census, and has been taking photos. He keeps track of where they are, which are male and female, and will be watching for signs of mating in the late summer. I also have been seeing the odd ladybug (who I faithfully deliver to the closest aphid infested tree), and a number of those soldier beetles.

I am not doing well with the aphids. All three of my fruit trees are infested, as are my big patch of orpines. I have been spraying them with diluted dish soap every few days, but now the leaves have turned rust coloured where I sprayed, and are drying up and dying. I also have spotted cucumber beetles and occasionally kill them but more often they fly or scamper off quicker than I can get them. I consulted Claude who recommended diluted soap, and went online to see what other suggestions. I saw neem oil turn up repeatedly for aphids and for cucumber beetles. Also, suggestions for cucumber beetles were deep mulch (straw or hay) around the base of the plant to prevent eggs/grubs getting near the roots, putting tin foil under the plant to reflect light under the leaves where the beetles feed in the shade, onion skins around base, picking off and crushing the beetles. So far the plants are flowering and seem healthy, but my experience last year was that they went from vibrant to dead within a couple of days.  I am checking them every evening now.

One of the websites I looked at said that aphids attack plants and trees that are weaker and it is important to fertilize them. Josh was trying to get some free composted manure from his parents, but it did not pan out, so I asked him to pick some up after work this week. He came home with bags of cow and sheep manure, and bought a few extra sunflowers just for fun. I noticed that one of the heads of my just-budding sunflowers had been knocked off and eaten already, so decided that I would need to get the coyote pee out ASAP now that I was adding some blooming sunflowers into the mix. I spent three hours after work on Wednesday liberally distributing some seven bags of manure everywhere except for the daylilies and the periwinkle, neither of which need any further encouragement, and then sat down to pour stinky coyote urine into Josh’s homemade dispensers (plastic containers with holes drilled in the sides, filled with cotton pads doused with pee).
 I put them up all over the garden, especially near to the sunflowers and tomatoes and cucumbers. The containers are clear with coloured tops (pink, red, blue) and look very decorative. Once Josh washed the spilled pee off the front steps, you could not smell the urine anymore.  So far, after 5 days and lots of rain, not one sunflower has been decapitated. Josh suggests reloading them every two weeks.  By the time I finished, I looked, smelled and felt pretty disgusting, so I ended off my evening of garden fun with a soap spray of all the aphid infested plants (and myself whenever possible), and a hot shower.

I was interested in finding some neem oil. Josh suggested health food stores. I called a few local stores  today.  One had neem oil in capsules, obviously for human consumption not to spray on plants. Another suggested I call back later when the owner was in. One could order it for me at $12.99 an ounce.  I took another approach and called a local nursery. The owner, Jack Vincelli, said he did not carry it but I was the second caller in as many days to ask, so he would consider getting some if there was a demand. He asked what it was for. I explained my problem and got a good lesson on what I should be doing.

First of all, I had no idea how my dishsoap should be in my diluted dishsoap, and it turns out that I have been putting in far too much. Mr. Vincelli suggested 1 tablespoon per litre of water, and add a half teaspoon of baking soda as well. I have probably been putting a third of a cup of soap in there, and that may well explain why everything I have sprayed (including an indoor African violet infested with mealybugs) appears to have been dying once I have sprayed them. He also told me that neem oil is great to put on fruit trees in the fall, because it has the effect of sealing any of the bugs that are dormant and smothering them, but would not be of much use this time of year. I told him that if he has neem oil in the fall I will gladly purchase it from him. He suggested that I brush the aphids off the leaves manually, get on a ladder to reach the leaves on top, and then spray the underside of the leaf, which is the most effective combination.  I am feeling more confident already that I may be able to kill the bugs, not the trees. He also recommended hanging my cucumbers rather than having them trail on the ground. I told him I have them trained to climb up, which is the next best thing. I am thinking of trying to hang them up next year.

Last week, I went over to my friend Julie’s duplex to see what interesting things she is doing on her balcony. She lives in a duplex with a large back balcony over the garage entrance. I had fun brainstorming with her about some ideas for climbing plants like morning glories and clematis going up her brick wall and cascading down off the balcony railing. I saw the new incarnation of her wall garden, with flowers and a bit of chive on top.

  

She is having trouble keeping the top half wet enough. She also showed me this hanging bag with a very healthy, vibrant but definitely upside down tomato plant. 

The weather has been kind to my lettuce which is bigger and tastier than it has been in years past. The peas are doing great. If they are snow peas they are ready and but I am leaving some to see if they will fill out. I think I threw out the package they came in so I am not sure, but they taste good as is.  The bee balm is in full flower and finally very happy where I put it. I did transplant some of the dwarf pink varieties there too, but so far it is all the big red ones. I am not giving up hope, because surprise, surprise, the white hydrangea bush reappeared and flowered last week after not turning up three years running.

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