Sorry Dude

Time to get out the snail pellets. Sorry little dude. You’re cute and all but I prefer my passionfruit vine over you.

What’s This?

I have a new unidentifyable pest. This one has made it’s home on one of my Callistamons. I’ve cut off the affected leaves and that seems to have gotten rid of it for now but I’m curious to know what it is. They look like dark balls all bunched together and they don’t move. Any ideas? I’m unfortunately learning lots of different pests in my first garden 😦

Oh No, Aphids! :(

After a few days away, I’ve come home to water and inspect the garden, only to discover yet another pest has come to play. Black aphids on my lime tree! I hate aphids! They’re so infesting!

I cut off all the shoots I could see with aphids or eggs on them (which actually weren’t many, looks like I get in early!). Then I squashed the aphids and eggs with my gloved fingers because I’ve read that squashed aphids give off a scent to deter other aphids. Then I got out my trusty spray bottle and sprayed the whole tree with one part vegetable oil, two parts water, and some dishwashing detergent to get it to mix. This will hopefully suffocate any aphids I’ve missed. I’ve moved the tree out of the sun so the leaves don’t get burned from the oil magnifying the light. Over the next few days I’ll spray garlic and water to deter any aphids coming back. I have seen plenty of lady bugs in our garden so hopefully they’ll help me fight this war too!

The Disadvantage Of Worms

I was so excited to see that the worms had decided to grace my vegetable boxes with their presence after several months of having worm-free bought soil. However, I’ve now discovered the disadvantages of wormy soil.. Birds!

Every day I’d go out to check of my vegetables and see that the birds had dug holes around them, looking for worms, and all my little seedlings were dug up too.

I finally had a day off work where I could pop down to Bunnings and pick up more netting and some bamboo stakes to create a low net.

Once the seedlings were big enough to withstand the odd dig from a pesky bird I took the net off. Without the net I can see the vegies much easier and inspect for caterpillars and white flies, plus the vegies get more sun and are easier to harvest! Here I have leeks, cos lettuce and beetroot. I’ve just watered them for the first time after being away for three nights so they’re usually less droopy than this! They’ll pick up again in an hour or so. 🙂

Unidentified Flying Bug

Does anyone know what these buggers are and how I get rid of them? They’re on my Swan River Pea and a Callistemon, so it seems they’ve got a thing for natives.

They’re tiny, brown bugs that can fly and they make little webs to stick leaves together, then hide in the leaves. This makes it impossible to get rid of them with spray, and there are just too many to go around picking them off.

They also seem to have eaten some of the leaves of the Swan River Pea.

And they stick clumps of leaves together. On the Callistemon, they especially love new leaves and buds, and as a result, this Callistemon has never flowered. Any advice??

Caterpillar Heaven

Well, my bok choy is coming along nicely.. if it wasn’t for the damn caterpillars eating it all! I don’t like using pesticides on my vegies but picking them off every day just isn’t working! What are some good tips for caterpillar control? I want to have some of this bok choy for myself!