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pests, drought, mistakes etc

(10 Posts)
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craftyone Thu 02-Apr-20 09:14:56

I`ll set the ball rolling

shiny looking rose plants, on closer look, full of aphids and some white fly. I made a spray with a few drops of fairy in water and sprayed 2 days ago. They look much better today and I saw an aphid predator but I still needed to spray the tips again. Predator was fine. I saw that gloss on another rose today and have sprayed that one as well. Plenty of watering needed, it is very dry here and the plants need to get strong to fight off aphids naturally. Predators do come in but not quickly enough, not before the roses get damaged

Sedums next, I have become very nervous about vine weavil, have seen it destroy a large camellia in a pot belonging to a neighbour, my strawberry beds in growbags all got it once, last house, it was devastating. Vine weavils love sedums beyond any other plant. I used chemical vine weavil killer on the compost, there are more chew and bite marks today and the plants look poorly. I have ordered vine weavil nematodes for my many pots and planters. The sedums are out and away, they made me too nervous

My soil is very dry, the soil in planters and trugs is very dry, in spite of water gels. One big water butt is empty, the other is half empty. I can store 1000litres of rainwater. I ordered planter plugs that will cope with drought. Begonias and geraniums

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Davidhs Thu 02-Apr-20 09:57:41

Must have a look at mine, the frosts we have had in the last week has slowed everything down, how do you get predators to stay where you want them outdoors?.

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craftyone Thu 02-Apr-20 16:56:11

damping off, grhh this is the first year when I have watered from the top and I am about to lose 2 tomato seedlings. Never again, all watering will now be from the bottom. I will have enough and cannot be bothered starting again. As a matter of interest, I have replanted the 2 seedlings in fresh compost, right up to the seed leaves. They my well produce roots higher up, it has becaome an experiment!!

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Davidhs Thu 02-Apr-20 17:19:53

I have got one or two aphids on roses but not worth treating, plenty of frost burn on some varieties.

Given up on tomato plants I only need 8 so I buy them

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craftyone Thu 02-Apr-20 18:42:27

I used to grow 19, only me now but I still cannot resist. I have 6 arriving and am growing 6, a ridiculous number really. I may only end up with the 6 bought ones. Got to try and restrain myself somehow, very limited room

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craftyone Fri 03-Apr-20 06:31:29

maybe it wasn`t damping off fungus, it could have been from the day I put them in the sun and the wind came. They certainly look fine this morning, buried up to their leaves in new compost. They are ferline, good in blight conditions and the ones I am expecting mid may are mountain magic and losetto

Tbh I can cope with all of them, I will skin and chop and freeze for next winter.

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Nannytopsy Fri 03-Apr-20 07:42:17

I have my fingers firmly crossed that the nematodes didn’t their job in the Autumn. I brought many plants from the old garden in pots and I gave them all a dose of nematodes as soon as we got here. No signs of nibbling yet!

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Nannytopsy Fri 03-Apr-20 07:43:24

Did not didn’t! Predictive text! ?

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craftyone Sat 04-Apr-20 21:20:14

I hate vine weavils more than any other pest

I set the hose up today as the garden is so dry and Ihave many new fruit bushes, I battered the rose aphids with water spray and most fell on the ground. The roses look much better after watering

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craftyone Fri 10-Apr-20 15:53:30

every one of my roses is now covered with aphids and there are no predators, yet. I have had to open my grazers concentrate and have sprayed each one with that, never used it before and I have my fingers crossed. I am going to water each rose this evening. It is veryhot and the soil is parched. 6 days after the last good watering

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