Re: [gardeners] Our beautiful October garden

Bargyla Rateaver (gardeners@globalgarden.com)
Fri, 19 Oct 2001 18:11:37 +0100 

whitefly---improve your soil

Ron Hay wrote:

> Hello, again, Penny,
>
> It must have been a case of sleepy early morning eyes, thinking you were
> in So Cal.
>
> The weather here has been a regular roller coaster, this week. Mid to
> upper 90s during the day; low 60s at night. Shorts and t shirt in the
> garden; flannel nighties at night, with a damp ocean breeze.
>
> Speaking of pelargoniums, I need to whack ours back: they have
> completely overgrown the garden path on the east side of the house. Once
> again, I will try potting up cuttings. This time, I think I will just
> put them in some garden soil in pots, water them about 2x a week, and
> otherwise ignore them. Last year, when I took every precaution to pot
> the cuttings "properly," using perlite, sand mixed into the soil, and a
> bit of peat moss, after taking cuttings with a sterilized xacto knife,
> not a one of them took. The ones I broke off from a huge plant at the
> back of our yard, nearly choking the blood orange, broken, mind you,
> purely by accident while feeding the tree, I stuck in the ground, in
> haste, along the east side of our garage, and voila, 3' plants this
> year...and six of them!!! I guess I will just snap off some more from
> our geranium jungle and just plunk some of them in bare spots around the
> yard.
>
> I really don't know what to tell you about the passion fruit. Trying
> half and half can't hurt. Some of the ones we salvaged from a massive
> whacking back of our vine are actually ripening, so maybe there is hope.
>
> This year, we must, absolutely must, go up on the roof to remove the
> vine from the shingles, as it has climbed up from our gutters, right up
> to the roof ridge beam, engulfing our chimney. Not good, but it has kept
> us cool. Here's hoping it has not done a number on our roof!
>
> A question: Orthenex has proved only marginally successful in beating
> back the white fly on our hibiscus. I wonder if a systemic is the way to
> go. What do you think?
>
> As for firebugs of the juvenile persuasion, if caught, their parents are
> liable for the cost of fighting the fires....and that is extremely
> costly. But for the adult miscreants, I fear there is little recourse to
> recover losses. Ah, well!
>
> Enjoy the occasional warmth of your garden and the sight of the leaves
> as they turn.
>
> Ron

--

Bargyla Rateaver
http://home.earthlink.net/~brateaver