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Oh no, it is the dreaded Dendrobium beetle! This is a
common pest of potted and shade house orchids, but as
you can see, will also attack orchids grown in tree
forks or other naturalistic settings. Beetles and their
larvae destroy new leaves and stems of orchids, so
control them if you can. Squash them by hand (like I did
this one) or try using any organic chewing insect
control (Spinosad, diatomaceous earth, molasses drenches
etc).
Mite Damage on Citrus
Take a close look at your citrus blooms (these are from a Minneola tangelo) and
you may observe some distorted flowers and developing fruit. These blooms have
been affected by bud mites (most likely Eriophyyes sheldoni). Sulphur or oil
sprays can be used as a preventative, but once flowers and young fruit have been
affected the damage is already done. Pick them off if you like. Fruit typically
still develops, but will be distorted.
Silver Leaf Desmodium - (Desmodium uncinatum)
Here is another introduced pasture legume that has
become a weed problem in gardens and bushland areas. It
grows incredibly quickly and flowers and seeds
prolifically. You will see it covering the soil and
growing up trees as a dense climber. The small, flat
seeds stick to your socks and clothing. You really are
best to remove it by hand. If you try to spray it with a
herbicide like glyphosate, the vine will die, but the
seeds will drop to the soil and before you know if you
will have another crop to contend with. If you have
grazing animals (sheep, goats, a cow), you could feed it
to them as it is high in nitrogen. Avoid putting it in
the compost as the seeds are problematic, but you can
soak it in water and use the nutrient enriched liquid as
a liquid fertiliser.
Creeping
Indigo -
Indigofera spicata
This legume weed was introduced for agricultural use. It
fixes nitrogen in association with common soil bacteria.
It has a long tap root, spreads like a mat, and is a
prolific seed producer. It is a common weeds of lawns.
Common lawn chemicals are registered for the control of
this weed (MCPA/Dicamba), but I prefer to dig it out so
that you remove all the seed pods at the same time.
Burning with fertiliser is another option.
I have been asked to identify some lawn and garden weeds
on ABC radio recently. Identifying weeds from verbal
descriptions is always difficult, so I will post some
names and images of some problem weeds here in the hope
that you might see the one troubling you.
My favourite weed control method is burning. I do this
with a gas powered flame weeder or by using fertiliser.
To burn weeds with fertiliser simply apply a
concentrated fertiliser directly on top of the weeds
(without watering in). The weeds will be burnt out
completely in just a few hours, after which any
remaining fertiliser can be watered into the
lawn/garden.
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Question of the Week
I have
three citrus trees. But it seems only one has an infestation of stink bugs. I've
tried picking them off with a gloved hand and snipping of entire branches. Is
there anything I can spray? from Mary
To control adult stink bugs (or bronze orange bugs), spray with neem oil by
aiming the spray directly at the insect. Another option is to use an old vacuum
cleaner to dispatch them at arm's length. In future, it will help to recognize
the various stages of the lifecycle. It is likely that your tree was infested
several months ago. Control the eggs and immature stages by spraying each
season with oil. Eco- Oil or any other botanical oil in fine for this. This will
also control scale, mites and aphids. Without treatment your stink bugs will
spread to all your trees next year.
more pest information....
Blue Cycad
Butterfly
The cycad blue
 butterfly has become an increasing problem for
gardeners over the past decade. This small butterfly lays eggs in the centre of
the plant, often prior to the emergence of the new fronds. The new fronds either
fail to emerge or are permanently ruined by the chewing of the slug-like larvae.
The presence of ants on cycads is often an indication of the presence of larvae
on the undersides of the fronds. Any organic products that control caterpillars
(including molasses and spinosad sprays)
will control this pest, but must be
applied before the larvae being to chew the new foliage. Correct timing is
essential. I prefer to cover the centre of each plant with a small section of
soft, green, mosquito netting, prior to frond emergence. Tuck it loosely over
the centre of the plant leaving room for the new fronds to gradually push it off
as they mature. Covering with ting keeps plants free of larvae and once the
fronds become hard they are immune to attack. If you are not prepared to go to
this effort consider an alternative plant. Zamia furfuracea (a close
relative of the cycad commonly known as the cardboard palm) is immune to attack
from the cycad blue butterfly.
Lawn
Grub
Everyone is being hit by lawn grub. Remember that lawn
grub is not one insect but the name gardeners apply to a
range of beetle and moth larvae that attack the roots
and stems of grass. These insects have been busily
laying eggs all during the drought. The eggs did not
hatch because there was no grass for them to eat. Once
the rain came multiple generations of these insects all
hatched at once into grubs that attacked lawns. The
lovely orange wasps flying over the grass are now
frantically trying to provide biological control by
laying their eggs into the lawn grub larvae.
If your lawn is already brown, there is no point
spraying. The damage has been done and the insects will
have moved on. The chemical sprays used for lawn grub
are toxic. If you choose to spray a 'still green' lawn
remember that you will kill not only the grubs, but also
beneficial organisms including earth worms. You should
also be aware of keeping children and pets off the lawn
immediately after spraying.
The lawns were brown during the drought and recovered.
It is now brown due to lawn grubs, but will recover. It
is all part of nature's cycle.
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Other articles of
interest:
Seed-saving:
When buying seeds
look at
where and
how the seed
is
stored and
packed....
Edible Ornamentals
My Top Ten:
Kangkong (Ipomoea
aquatica)
is an
aquatic plant
popular
in Asian
cuisine, in fact you
have possibly eaten
it
unknowingly in
vegetable
based
dishes. If you have
a
pond or water
feature you
can grow kangkong....
Propagation Notes
Native Plants W/Shop
Notes
Lawns W/Shop Notes
Citrus Guide
School Planting
Guide
Soil pH Plant List
NEW FEATURE!
Ask A Question
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Save Your
Back
Increasingly
popular with new gardeners is the no-dig or sheet mulch gardening technique.
In no-dig gardens, layers of organic material are built up on the top of the
soil, rather than dug into it. Lucerne is usually used as the main
component of the no-dig garden, but you can mix in other high nitrogen materials
such as grass clippings and sappy green prunings with animal manure
and compost. This will make the lucerne go
further. Straw, sugar cane or some other high
carbon material is used as a mulch on top of the garden.
No dig gardens can be built on top of the soil or any
surface, even concrete!
Ingredients:
To build a no-dig garden 2m x 3m you will need:
Four
bales of lucerne
One barrow of compost
One barrow
of manure
One bale of straw/cane straw
Wet
newspaper
Method:
Slash or mow any existing lawn or weeds. Water the
area well and spread some gypsum if your soil is heavy
clay. Lay down a thick layer of wet newspaper,
overlapping it well. Alternate thin layers of the
lucerne, compost and manure, watering as you go.
When you have a nice thick layer almost knee high and
all your nitrogen materials have been used up, spread
the straw/cane mulch over the top to form a mulch layer.
Leave
for at least two weeks before planting, re-wetting if
necessary. Covering the bed with plastic will ‘cook’ the
layers and help them to break down more quickly.
To plant the no-dig garden create small pockets within
the lucerne layer and fill with compost or potting mix.
Plant seeds or seedlings into the compost pockets,
drawing the straw mulch layer back in around the plants.
Leafy crops such as silverbeet, spinach and lettuce grow
well in no-dig gardens as do tomatoes, melons and
pumpkins. Avoid planting root crops in no-dig
gardens for several seasons until a good depth of
compost has accumulated.
Change a Life with a Loan
Interested in sustainability? Consider giving a no interest loan through
Kiva. By getting involved in micro-finance, you can help fund an
individual or group involved in the type of activity you believe
supports the planet.
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