I spent several hours cleaning up my garden this morning. I got rid of 2 dying tomato plants, trimmed dead leaves, repotted some plants and moved some around. In the end, I carted away three big boxes of leaves and debris to the refuse centre.
After several failed experiments on planting vegetables in little containers, I have decided to revert back to planting them in proper pots. My father is having so much success with growing vegetables in his backyard, they're eating their own organic sweet potato leaves, spinach and chye sim everyday!
Here's what my vegetable section looks like now. I'm left with 5 egg plants, 5 tomato plants and some leafy vegetables.
After several failed experiments on planting vegetables in little containers, I have decided to revert back to planting them in proper pots. My father is having so much success with growing vegetables in his backyard, they're eating their own organic sweet potato leaves, spinach and chye sim everyday!
Here's what my vegetable section looks like now. I'm left with 5 egg plants, 5 tomato plants and some leafy vegetables.
The spinach below were salvaged from the flooded container last week. They seem to be doing very well.
While pottering around the garden, I took a closer look at my tomato plants. Some of the flower buds are drying up.
I found these white mealy bugs under the leaves of the tomato plant. That could be the reason why 4 of my tomato plants have died this week. My curry plant is infested with this pesky bug as well. I've removed all the infected leaves and pray that my brinjal plants will not get infected too.
neem oil? i read somewhere tat it might be good for bugs. =)
ReplyDeleteYou can make your own home-made white oil too. It kills them (you can actually see a sort of slight sizzling like it's dissolving them).
ReplyDeleteI use a 400ml bottle. Fill it to near the brim with water. One teaspoon of cooking oil. Half a squirt of dishwashing liquid.
Even that is too strong actually, so I suggest you dilute it by half or three times. Then water your plants at least 30 minutes before you intend to spray so that the plants can build up their immunity against leaf burn.
Fry - Wah, impressed. You also know about planting!
ReplyDeleteCasey - Thanks! I shall try it when new ones appear. I actually washed off all those on the curry tree stem yesterday. Plenty of them!
ReplyDeleteI know! It's so annoying, actually.
ReplyDeleteHot and dry weather - red spider mites
Slightly wetter weather - mealies.
I hope you'd win this battle!
hahaha.....coincidence, really! i got to know neem as an ayurvedic medicine, then read more on it then know it can anti-many things. hahaha.....
ReplyDeletei used to mix neem oil + lavender + peppermint oil on my bamboo plant to anti-roaches. but neem's bah-wuu! wat a PONG!
or u can try the coke/pepsi thing 1st, maybe useful leh? neem 1 small bottle from pet store = $18! *faint*
That's a lot of $ for insecticide! :) Trouble is, you need ants for the coke to work, and I don't remember seeing many ants at Blur's balcony.
ReplyDeleteYES, I have ants! It's just that I keep the house clean :-) If Rusty eats and leaves crumbs all over the place, the ants will appear.
ReplyDeletethen summon the strength of the mighty small ants! *ROAR*
ReplyDeletehehehehe.....ironies all around.
oh, i forgot to add.....get rusty to eat near the plants for ants to come? hehehe......
ReplyDeleteTalking abour Rusty, recently I have caught him eating soil from my vegetable plot!
ReplyDeleteoh my. i read somewhere tat dogs eating soil = needing mineral in their diet......i read pet owners add kombu to their doogy food to supplement their minerals.
ReplyDeleteor wait, was he tasting some plant? =P
Somehow he likes the crunchy type of soil, like he's chewing nuts or something. There are some schools of thoughts. Some say the dog is simply bored.
ReplyDeletebored would be the best scenerio. hehehe.....lets hope he is! =)))
ReplyDeleteTry sprinkling cinnamon for ants....They won't come near it.
ReplyDelete