I can't stand those water bugs! They give me the creeps! If we get any inside, our cats are pretty good at sending them to their maker! LOL
RAIN!!
aggiegirl, you're not alone. We've had many trees dead or dying around here. And got less than 2" through the whole thing since this stuff got here. But don't get me wrong...am grateful for every drop of what we did get. The rains this year are "spotty", more so than I've ever seen. Some people get enough and someone else 10 miles away gets nothing or else barely enough for the vegetation to survive. I'm trying to learn to be patient. Real El Nino effects in Texas are supposed to start anytime from mid-October to the end of the year. Hoping October 15 will be the beginning, with a nice, big rain!
Seems like Texas is always a land of extremes. Still raining here this morning. This is doing more damage to my plants than the dry weather ever did. I could always add water when it was dry but with this much rain in a week, can't drain this soggy mess because of the clay pan underneath everything here. And still pottying Min. Schnauzers in the rain. I've had enough already !!! LOL.
Glenna
Still raining here and predicted for at least 2 more days. I would not do well on the Pacific Coast where it rains most of the time. We are headed to 15 inches since last Thursday.
We are a finicky lot. Pray for rain and then pray for it to stop....at least move onto to other places.
Christi, I wouldn't do well in the Pacific NW either. I'm too much of a sunshine girl.
The good news is that there's now a system moving down from OK and the low that brought all the tropical like rains is backing up in our direction. Isn't that fun? The two systems might collide and who knows what kind of weather we'll get as a result! I heard one weatherman say on TV last night they were calling this a "lamphoon", common in Australia.
Personally, I wouldn't mind if I never saw the sun for a month, as long as we could get some more rain....and if I ever complain about too much rain or too many clouds before the end of this dry, hot year, someone should slap me! I've got a whole new perspective now. All I have to do to be reminded is walk outside and look at what remains of dead plants or the brown crispy leaves clinging to many of the trees!
linda my wake-up call was a few years back when lake lavon was over half gone. it scared me to death.
Sorry folks, it's not "lamphoon", it's "landphoon". I must've had National Lampoon on my brain! LOL
I will not complain about the rain! My plants look like they should have looked all season long. It is amazing to see that the poor little plants that survived are now thriving.
I am so sorry to hear about the problems it is causing for others. Here it is wanted, needed and very desirable. Of course we haven't flooded here, so I might be tempted to change my tune if that happened.
My brugs just had too much heat to bloom all season, they now have blooms on them. For many of them it is the first time to see them bloom. My poor daylillies are reviving and looking green again. This is much better for them to get healthy before the cold weather hits them.
Also, it has been good weather to work on getting the greenhouse cleaned out and ready to receive all of the trades that I am making at the three RU's I will be attending.
I couldn't be happier!! :) For me that is!
I am sorry for those who are having problems and for them I am sad. :(
Charlene
mamajack, I can relate! Medina Lake (in my general area) was down 50 feet from normal at one point. Don't know what it is now, but it couldn't be too much better now. I know the businesses that depend on the people coming to the lake have been hurting bad.
One thing I did not miss was the skeeters...this was the only summer I can recall where they disappeared completely for a long time. But they're back! Darn!
I'm happy for you, Charlene! You deserve this turnaround!
cows were grazing in the bottom of lake lavon that year. bridges looked like roads on stilts with no water in sight.
I have always wondered if Texas was one long drought interrupted by floods, or a flood interrupted by droughts. The weather report says more rain at the beginning of the week, and have we ever got mosquitoes, they are huge and very hungry. I have never seen mosquitoes like this at this time of year. They are even stinging me and they don't usually like me they must be desperate.
Lisa
a recent study i saw said mosquitoes liked folks the most that were under stress. did they spend money on this?
but what you said first......that is funny.
So if I chill out on tranquilizers they won't like me? I don't think so!
Mosquitos love me! There can be a crowd of 100 people, and they attack me for at least 10 minutes before they even think about biting anyone else! As bad as they are here, right now, they don't hold a candle to the ones in Minnesota, where my daughter lives...she says they carry their steak knives and forks with them!
Many times people that think that they attract mosquitoes are really just more sensitive to the bite. My wife and I will go outside and she will be covered in welts and I will have none. We will get bit the same amount but she is just more sensitive to it.
They are attracted to sweat and CO2 when you exhale.
I bought a CO2 generator with a vacuum on it. I caught mosquites but only a few dozen a day. What a waste.
I keep a can of insect repellant by the door, and don't venture into the flower beds without it. If I don't use it, I am covered with welts for a week. I guess you could say I'm sensitive!
It takes about 20-30 bites before I even notice. I look down sometimes and there are dozens all over me.
I am one of those that walks out the door into a swarm...have all of my life. I detest Off and all the other stinky products but it is the only choice I have. Worked outside all day and had to continuously add more Off. Worst thing for me lately is ant bites. Last about 2 months and then I have a purple scar. Whatever variety doesn't make a mound but hides in the St. Augustine and unknowingly I step right into them and suddenly I am covered with ants. The mosquitoes almost drain my blood.
Listening to the Weatherman tell us that with in 20-30 minutes we should have a wind storm of 80-90MPH. Can hardly wait for that.
Christi
Christi, I use a homemade recipe of vinegar, citrus oil, and water. It works very well if you don't miss a spot. Any spot you miss, though, they'll find it! When I get bit, I put tea tree oil on it. The itch is gone in about 5 mins and the spot is gone in about an hour. Works well for ant bites, too.
I hate the feel of all that stuff, so sometimes I hibernate! I do use Avon Skin So Soft on my exposed areas, and spray my clothes with Cutter's 8 Hour. My friend told me that she bought some citronella candles on sale at Lowe" the other day, and they kept them off her porch, so I think I might get some and use them in the areas I am working . The mosquito's just love the back of my arms, and try to dive bomb my eyes. Maybe the candles will help keep small areas clear of them. It's worth a shot!
for mosquitoes when my son was lil he would swell up with silver dollar size blisters from them and a friend told us to try using B12 ...so I have used B12 vitamins since then and it has made a difference
Start out with 2 a day for the first week then go down to one a day then after that one every other day and it seems to help keep them off
But I am going to try your mix Step as anything that helps with ants would be great I am so tired of them blistering my feet LOL
Rain gauge says we got 2 1/4 inches of rain last night. Wind was really bad for a while.
Alas, I take B 12, B 6 And D, and do not see any difference. Wish it were that simple!
I like your formula for ants but have a really large yard and I would never get it all covered.
Best part right now is I have been on a campaign for 5 years to use no chemicals. I regularly see toads, frogs, lizard, gecko and lightening bugs. All indications of an eco system in good order. Each time I see I do a little happy dance. I grew up playing with horned toads and they have disappeared. I hear it is from fire ants but am more inclined to believe it is chemicals that linger in the ground for decades.
Haven't checked the rain gauge yet. Had high winds and hard, hard rain for about 20 minutes. No damage. Hope the rest of you didn't get any damage.
Christi
I am always the complainer but I got 1.5 inches last night and I just hooked up my 2000 gallon rainwater system two days ago.
Over 1/2 inch last time I went out to look at the gauge!
Rowlett got to see a *fabulous* lightning display for hours, but got only 1/2" of rain. High winds for a short while, but luckily no damage.
Christi, not sure if this is for real or just an old wives tale, but I've heard (probably from Howard Garrett) that fireants don't like molasses. Every once in a while I'll spread a bag of sweet molasses on my St Aug as a fertilizer. I rarely have fireants in my yard, and then it's usually in a conspicious place in my flowerbeds. Then, and only then, do I use chemicals. But I don't have fireants very often. I think it's because they don't like competition, and an organic environment encourages native ants and other insects to come in. Fire ants would rather go to my neighbors' yards. :-)
Carla
re: fire ants - For several years we used the recipe that Howard Garrett calls "sick tree treatment" as fertilizer for our St. Augustine lawn. (We had tried to save a sick tree and the tree died but realized the grass where we had applied it was so much better than the rest of the yard.) The mixture is corn meal, molasses or sugar, lava sand and green sand (I believe that's all) and we did it about every 3 years and our neighbor saw the results and started using it also. Neither of us had fire ants. But the ingredients are expensive and time consuming to mix and spread and the last time DH spent $100 on ingredients and didn't get it done and the cornmeal was eaten by bugs in the storage shed!!! Now we are absolutely overwhelmed with fire ants and unhealthy grass. We're going to try the beneficial nematodes and DH has good intentions of using the Howard Garrett mixture again.
There is a dirt yard on 35E just south of us. They have a mix of Texas green sand, lava sand and hardwood mulch. Last time we purchased a load it was Texas green sand, hardwood mulch and , shoot can't remember the name but it is the same thing they make sheetrock from. Oh heck!
Anyway, everything I plant that has been amended with this grows like Jack and The Beanstalk. I have never had fire ants. These I haven't been able to ID. The are small, almost clear, and build no mounds. Because there is no warning it is easy to just step in a hive and you are covered before you can move. They sting like the dickens. I get a huge whelp and sometimes a blister.
When I started going organic I purchased molasses, horticultural cornmeal and alphalfa pellets. Noticed no difference until we used the above soil mixture. I have been told there is no such thing as dirt....it is ahem...soil. Still dirt to me. hahaha
Christi, was the other ingredient gypsum?
Have you tried the nematodes to control the ants? We bought it Saturday and it is going to be quite a procedure to apply but I have hope it will work. Supposed to kill the white grubs, too, and we have tons of those.
After surveying the damage from last night's rainstorm, I'm in such a down mood that I wonder if I even want to continue with my flower garden project. The 2 1/4 inches fell in less than an hour, I would guess, and I've got things washed out and erosion to repair everywhere. Current was so strong in one drainage swale that it moved a very heavy railroad tie that borders it.
Glenna
Glenna, yes you are correct--gypsum. Everything is so well balanced and mixed you don't see any of these items but the results are amazing.
We tried the nematodes one year for fleas as the vet told us squirrels are the carriers and as long as we have squirrels, we would have fleas. I'm afraid I did something wrong because again there was no evidence. The name of this place, should anyone be interested is "Living Earth Technology" and they have a website.
Thank you , Glenna. Somedays it just pay to get up.
Christi
Sorry about your washout. Because of the continuous rain I have brugmansia's that are dying from standing in water. Need to get more soil to raise the bed.
I just hooked up my rainwater collection tank two days ago. We received 1.6 inches which gave us over 1100 gallons of water. I am happy we did it. I have to hurry and put an overflow valve in the top in case it rains again. It only holds 2000 gallons.
Wow, that is quite a tank, Congratulations !!!
I wanted the old time feel so I went with metal. It was less than 1000 dollars. What a bargain! I feel bad that it sat there for over a year before I finally hooked it up. It wasnt raining anyway so I guess I dont feel that bad.
Dogs_N_Petunias I am interested in your recipe what are the amounts of each?
are they equal parts?
The seasons come and go and the gardener is always saying "now next year......". Eternal optimist.
This is what Howard Garrett's website currently has as the sick tree treatment recipe. http://www.dirtdoctor.com/organic/garden/view_question/id/2456/ At the time we used it, the zeolite was not included and I'm not sure what it is. The other ingredients we used, except sometimes DH used 10 lbs. sugar instead of the molasses when it was cheaper. I'm sure I have the original recipe around here somewhere... LOL.
"Apply zeolite 40-80 lbs. per 1000 sq. ft., greensand at about 40-80 lbs. per 1,000 sq. ft., lava sand at about 80-120 lbs. per 1,000 sq. ft., horticultural cornmeal at about 20-30 lbs. per 1,000 sq. ft., and dry molasses at about 10-20 lbs. per 1,000 sq. ft. Cornmeal is a natural disease fighter and molasses is a carbohydrate source to feed the microbes in the soil."
DH mixed it all up in a wheelbarrow. We first punched holes in the lawn with aerator pulled behind our riding mower and then spread the mixture and followed up with light top dressing of llama manure or compost and watered it in. We did this about every third year. The lawn service we used said we had the healthiest St. Augustine of any client they had and several friends and neighbors had the same results we had. Would like to kick ourselves for getting careless and not continuing because we had no St. Augustine decline, fungal diseases, etc. and I've only recently realized that's probably why we had no fire ant problem back then.
Forgot one of the main ingredients. Epsom Salt. Go to their website for the explanation about how it is not salt, etc. Makes the turf so thick they crew an hardly mow it. I save all of the goody stuff for the beds.
LouC, there was no Epsom Salt in the recipe we used. This was about 10 years ago, so must be in a different recipe. I don't think Howard Garrett ever recommended the Sick Tree Treatment for the lawn but we just saw how great the grass did after the tree died and considered it lawn treatment. LOL.