Tag Archives: slaters

Gardening, News

DEALING WITH SUMMER PESTS IN THE GARDEN (Wally Richards)

Leave a comment

Gardening should be a pleasant pastime and not just another chore that has to be done. If you find it a chore then maybe there are too many things you are doing and the pleasure of working with plants and the soil is lost.

There are things that we gardeners must do to keep everything growing healthy and looking good. I am always are looking for ways to do tasks quickly and simply so more time can be spent doing the gardening things that give satisfaction and gratification. Enjoyment comes from preparing an area and planting it with seeds or seedlings then watching them develop and grow for harvesting to eat or flower to enhance your home.

Summer time temperatures allow pest insects to multiply quickly and infest your plants. If their populations become too great then it is a real chore to try and get them under control. In fact it is better to start control methods as early as possible making life easier in the long term. By spreading Wallys Neem Tree Granules over the soil under trees, shrubs and established plants will greatly help reduce and prevent insect populations building up. There are soil pests that we don’t see which are feeding on the roots of plants, sapping the plant’s energy causing loss of vigor. Mealy bugs, root nematodes, grass grubs and slaters can be controlled and eliminated by scattering the Neem Granules in the plant’s root zone. Gardeners and Landscapers often comment to me that a few weeks after applying the Neem Granules the plants are looking much better. Simple reason is the pests feeding on the roots have gone and the plants are happy. Wallys Neem Granules can be used around your roses, vegetable plants and flowering annuals.

Wallys Neem Tree Powder which is the same as the granules just a smaller, even particle size are ideal to use in the planting hole of seedlings, along with sowing of seeds and in particular with carrot seeds to prevent carrot fly damage. With carrots you side dress to row when the carrot tops are a few centimeters tall as well as when sowing the seeds. Container plants are often a home for mealy bugs which feed on the roots and later come upstairs as adults to feed on the foliage.  The ones on the foliage are easy to control with Wally Super Pyrethrum but you need to place Neem Powder on top of the growing medium. As the powder breaks down it will develop grey mould which is the natural breakdown happening. It is unsightly so after applying the powder cover with a little growing medium. Out of sight, out of mind. If you want a top quality lawn then it is a good idea to sprinkle Wallys Neem Tree Powder over the lawn at a rate of 50 grams per Square Metre.  If your lawn is infected by grass grubs each year then in Autumn when the autumn rains have moistened the soil you spread the Neem powder over the lawn after it has been recently cut. Then lightly water the area to wash the powder down off the grass onto the soil. If you have a roller then its a good idea to roll the lawn to press the powder into the soil.

When you find there are pest insects on any of your plants outdoors you can make up a spray using Wallys Super Neem Tree Oil with Wallys Super Pyrethrum added. Just on dusk when the bees have stopped working for the day you spray the plants under and over the foliage.  The pyrethrum is a quick knock down and it will kill the flying insects such as white fly and leaf hoppers. The Neem Oil will, as an anti-feedent on the foliage, stop the pests feeding on the plants after which they will starve to death in a few days. Often gardeners find that the sprays work, but it is only a short time before the insect pests are back. The reason being is they are on other plants in the area and re-infesting back onto your treated plants. You need to spray the other plants they are coming from. If those plants happen to be over the fence then that is a problem that can only be solved with winter or you getting the ok from the neighbor (who likely is not a gardener) to spray their plants as well.

Gardeners that live in the country and have possums, rabbits and hares to contend with can do the following: plants that are been eaten spray with Wallys Neem Tree Oil just before dark. Wallys Neem Tree oil being the real thing and not some vegetable oil with the Neem properties added, has a horrible taste which with its smell will deter possums and rabbits. Once you find that the varmints have stopped eating your plants then instead of having to respray to keep control and keep them away, simply scatter Wally Neem Tree Granules around and the smell of them should keep your plants safe. A point when using the spray mix of Wallys Neem Oil and Pyrethrum and you have unused spray then you can pour the left over liquid into a container and store in a dark cupboard. Rinse the sprayer out thoroughly jetting some clean water through the nozzle to be sure all the spray has gone. Next time you use you can take the stored spray and if need be add more of the products and water.

To look after the soil and the beneficial microbes plus fungi that live in the soil which help our plants feed and grow, mix Wallys Super Fish Fertiliser with Wallys Mycorrcin in a watering can and water the area around or over your preferred plants such as vegetables, fruit and roses. This will help to greatly increase the soil life (as long as you are not watering with chlorinated tap water). Here is an interesting possibility: as the combination of the fish fertiliser and Mycorrcin has a distinct smell you could try spraying the mix over fruit trees when the birds are attacking the fruit. A product that used to be available years ago from Canada called Alaska Fish Fertiliser which had quite a smell to it did deter birds from ripening fruit. If you find it successful let me know.

TWENTY FIVE PERCENT OFF SALE

Till the end of January we are discounting the following products by 25% to help you gain control of Insect pests and improve your soil quality.

Orders must be placed on www.0800466464.co.nz using the Code 25% in the remarks place.

I will phone you after receiving the order and deduct the 25% off the items below and also give you 10% off most other items except for bulk items.

FREIGHT: shipping charged on orders under $100 (After discounts) North Island In other words order of $100 plus after discount and not bulk items free shipping.

South Island $150.00 plus after discounts for free shipping.

Exception is for Rural delivery a charge of $3.15 on each parcel sent no matter if rest is free shipping or not.

Here are the 25% discount items:

Wallys Neem Tree Granules 1kg normal price $15.00 save $3.75 making it $11.25

Wallys Neem Tree Granules 3kg normal price $28.00 save $7.00 making it $21.00

Wallys Neem Tree Granules 10kg normal price $80.00 save $20.00 making it $60.00

Wallys Neem Tree Granules 20kg normal price $160.00 save $40.00 making it $120.00

Wallys Neem Tree Powder 1kg normal price $15.00 save $3.75 making it $11.25

Wallys Neem Tree Powder 3kg normal price $28.00 save $7.00 making it $21.00

Wallys Neem Tree Powder 10kg normal price $80.00 save $20.00 making it $60.00

Wallys Neem Tree Powder 20kg normal price $160.00 save $40.00 making it $120.00


Wallys Super Neem Tree oil 125 ml normal price $18.00 save $4.50 making it $13.50

Wallys Super Neem Tree oil 250 ml normal price $24.00 save $6.00 making it $18.00

Wallys Super Neem Tree oil 1 litre normal price $60.00 save $15.00 making it $45.00


Wallys Super Pyrethrum 100 ml normal price $28.00 save $4.20 making it $23.80


Wallys Super Fish Fertiliser 1Litre normal price $16.00 save $4.00 making it $12.00

Wallys Mycorrcin 250ml normal price $20.00 save $5.00 making it $15.00

Wallys Mycorrcin 500ml normal price $35.00 save $8.75 making it $26.25

Wallys Mycorrcin 1 Litre normal price $55.00 save $13.75 making it $41.25

Orders must be placed on www.0800466464.co.nz using the Code 25% in the remarks place.

Phone 0800 466464
Garden Pages and News at www.gardenews.co.nz
Shar Pei pages at  www.sharpei.co.nz
Mail Order products at www.0800466464.co.nz

New Zealand Bill of Rights Act 1990. Part II of the Act covers a broad range of Civil and Political Rights. As part of the right to life and the security of the person, the Act guarantees everyone:

1The right not to be deprived of life except in accordance with fundamental justice (Section 8)

2The right not to be subjected to torture or to cruel, degrading, or disproportionately severe treatment or punishment (Section 9)

3The right not to be subjected to medical or scientific experimentation without consent (Section 10)

4The right to refuse to undergo any medical treatment (Section 11)

 Furthermore, the New Zealand Bill of Rights Act 1990 guarantees everyone: Freedom of Thought, Conscience, and Religion.
This includes the right to freedom of thought, conscience, religion, and belief,
INCLUDING THE RIGHT TO ADOPT AND HOLD OPINIONS WITHOUT INTERFERENCE (Section 1)

For other gardening posts see ‘gardening’ in categories (left side of page)

Check out our sister site truthwatchnz.is for other news

Photo: pixabay.com

Gardening

More info on controlling those garden pests (Wally Richards)

2 Comments

I am often asked about how to control populations of slugs and earwigs in gardens without using the usual chemicals.

This is particularly important in food growing gardens as we do not want to have poisons in the food we are eating.

You may not realise it but both earwigs and slugs do provide benefit to your gardens as they prefer decomposing plant material to living plants

so if you are clean and tidy and there are no rotting plants available then they will do damage to your growing plants.

When you are weeding if you leave some weeds on the soil to break down naturally then the two pests will become assets.

Sprinkling lawn mowing clippings onto gardens is another way of using what many consider a waste product to benefit.

One precaution with that is if the lawn grasses are seeding as you would then be putting a lot of new grass weeds into your gardens to germinate later.

If the slugs and earwigs (You can include with them slaters or as some call them wood lice) are a real problem then you could try the following.

I learnt about this method a long time ago and have often suggested to gardeners to use it.

What you need is some strips of 3plywood or similar about 250-300mm long and about 150mm wide.

These are laid down on the soil in areas where you are having problems with the pests.

Now you take a trigger sprayer and mix two parts bleach to one part water.

During the day you fold back the slats of ply onto their far edge and see what is hiding under them.

If you have some of the pests you wish to control simply give them a spray of your bleach and lay the ply back down on top of them.

Repeat the same process regularly until you have the pest population under control.

Slugs and snails cannot tolerate copper as it makes them dehydrate and die.

If either pest comes into contact with copper they will not pass over the barrier it creates.

So this can be used to protect seedlings from being their evening meal.

I suggest placing untreated sawdust around the seedlings you wish to protect then spraying the sawdust and seedlings with Wallys Liquid Copper and Raingard added.

Much safer than using toxic poisons to kill them and better for the safety of your pets and wild life.

There is another slug like pest which is commonly called the Cherry Slug or Pear Slug as it feeds on these trees during the summer period when they are active.

They start about November to December in most areas and can be seen as a small black slimy slug on the foliage which they are eating.

If you do not treat this first generation then in January to February there will be a second large wave of them and damage will correspondingly increase.

The best solution is to spray the foliage with Wallys Liquid Copper with Raingard added as they can not handle copper either.

Another one that can be used for snails and slugs is the mineral iron.

There is a slug and snail bait on the market that uses chelate iron as the killing component which means it fairly save for pets and wild life.

You can make a slug and snail bait yourself by soaking bran in a solution of sulphate of iron and water or if you have available use chelate iron.

Add to this yeast which is what attracts the pests and they will eat the bran which now contains iron and die as a result.

There is one pest that you will never gain complete control of if they are in your area and that is ants.

Many of the ant baits on the market are only effective for a little while as the ants become bait shy to them realising that the bait is what is killing them.

Many years ago I found a very old formula that ants never seem to wake up to the fact it is killing them.

We call it Granny Mins Ant Bait and the container has a combination of Borax and Boric Acid with the recipe on how to make it up.

The product is very inexpensive selling for about $7.00 and you just dissolve the jars contents in hot water and add the required amount of sugar and honey. It makes just about a litre of bait.

Stir well and place the mixture in small jar lids wherever you see ants.

Top up the lids as they empty till there is no more ant activity.

The bait should only be used outdoors and if you have any concern for pets then put a small amount of liquid ant bait into small jars and lay then on their sides on the ground.

The small amount of ant bait used is not likely to be harmful to pets but better safe than sorry.

If ants are inside your home then the easy most effective way is to set up one or more of those insect cans that release pyrethrum spray every few minutes.

As long as that can is operating and even for a few weeks after it has emptied no ants will come into that area.

They detect that there is pyrethrum around and know it is not good for them.

Cockroaches inside your kitchen are a curse for some people and the easy way to control them safely is to sprinkle Borax powder behind the fridge and stove.

Only use in safe places such as these two areas so it is well away from food stuffs and pets.

The cockroaches walk though the borax powder and being very clean insects they clean them elves of the powder which kills them.

Products mention are from Wallys Range of products and can be found in some garden shops or by Mail Order on www.0800466464.co.nz

If there is an interest in some non gardening news email me for the Bits that the media does not like you to know such as 3 waters anti-democracy.

Photo: francok35 @ pixabay.com