Re: [gardeners] Whitefles

Bargyla Rateaver (gardeners@globalgarden.com)
Mon, 12 Nov 2001 18:41:20 +0000 

Yes, but there is always something or other that one can still do, I think, seems
to me to be the case. Maybe tomorrow I  will get up the gumption to really spray. I
have been trying to clean out a mess of dried vine that is overgrown with a
flowering vine. I should have eliminated the dead vine before, as now it is so hard
to reach under the green new vine to kill out the old dead one underneath. I can't
keep it up too long at one time, so the job is being spread out over weeks instead
of days.

No, it has been many years since I ever had any real insect problem.
Of course, over the many years there has been a steady input to the soil of dead
leaves and manure, etc., that all helps improve the soil.

But I should take time out and spray the one tree that is suffering from white fly.
It is hard to fertilize its soil because the whole canopy spreads out so far and
underneath is a welter of old bed frames. It takes strength to move out all those
boards and I am definitely losing strength--85 is old--and I can no longer afford
to hire the good Mexicans who did such good work for me before.

No, I have not seen much of insect pests for a long time. Snails no more, slugs
only very rarely. But some mice come up from the quarry below and look for a place
to hide, so I have to empty out some compost bins filled with tools, as that is an
ideal place for a mouse to hide.

I suppose it is about time I spend some money for some new fertilizer. Becoming
quite a Scrooge in my old age.

==================
Bargyla Rateaver wrote:

> My replies are never angry. Sorry if they sounded like that.
>
> No, I have not noticed anything except that when I fail to add fertiizer for
> the big tree in back,I do get white fly on it---branches spread so far. . It
> reminds me to spread fertilizer all around, whidh is hard because now there is
> so much in the way---I long ago made raised beds that are now rotting boards,
> and there is a pile of pots I have to return to the nurseries, so I have not
> got around to doing that. Then all I can do is spray the leaves, which is OK if
> I just get around to it Trying to do too many things at once around here.
> Also, fertilizer is an expense I hardly can pay for these days. More important
> to eat right.
>
> But yes, the answer is really, truly to improve the soil. In the front, where
> there is no problem of things in the way, I never get pests.  But it is so easy
> to see, if I get behind and don't fertilize on time, it is an instant call to
> arms for pests.
>
> Worst trouble i have is the racoons, that wreck everything as they are
> determined to get the ripening fruit from the sapote tree. If I had had any
> idea at all that this fruit tree was to be such a nuisance, I'd have planted
> something flowering isntead. Too late now, but I bet for sure the next owner
> will cut down that big huge tre PRONTO.
>
> It really is true, it's the soil that counts. Make it really good and you don;t
> have the bug pests.
>
> Maybe now that you jog me, I'll just make myself use the energy to spray
> tomorrow, all over that big tree and get instantly rid of the whitefly. It does
> irritate me to see the whitefly.
>
> Also water has become extremely expensive, so I have been skimpy, figuring ti
> would rain. I have been here almost 30 yrs and never before have I seen a fall
> with NO NO NO rain at all!!!!!
>
> The weather has certainly changed.....as I said , the whole world climate is
> going to be habitable, poles and all.
>
> By the way, I just saw the most stunning color photo of the south Pole
> mountains of ice. Imagine what will happen when all that is melted.  From what
> little I gather, it seems it is the arctic ice that is melting, and the south
> pole's ice, a much much bigger mass, is still recalcitrant.
>
> I see so much in the lit about global warming because of this and that, and it
> is really true, the arctic AND the antarctic ice will all melt.  I'd like to
> see it in my lifetime..  yeah 85 already.
>
> Margaret Lauterbach wrote:
>
> > Bargyla, do you have no malevolent insects?  People do what they can to
> > make perfect soil, and still get insects.  It's very frustrating to be told
> > to "improve the soil" when you've done everything you know to do.  Angry
> > replies don't help either.  Margaret L
> >
> > >yes, but when I keep suggesting to improve the soil, the real remedy, I
> > >get angy
> > >replies.
>
> --
>
> Bargyla Rateaver
> http://home.earthlink.net/~brateaver

--

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