Now I'm going to have put out Sevin with the slug bait. The hosta's start out fine then wind up looking crazy before the season is over. The hummingbirds love the hosta blooms, does the Sevin treat the plant systemicallly or topically? I'd hate to harm the hummers. Annette
Annette is that your garden? I love it! It looks exactly the way I want my hosta garden to look! LoL I need to add some blooming shade lovers along with some colorful Coral Bells.
that is a really pretty hosta. If you ever divide them, please keep me in mind. I would love to make some trades with you.
Maybe I need to use some of my tons of pine needles as mulch!
Sevin is powder ,Just dont get it on the blooms ,which should not be a problem.Good luck
you can also get it in liquid form and spray it on
Oh really? I have only seen the powder. Does the spray work better?
It depends upon what you are using it on and if you want the white powder showing. I use the spray (which is liquid form and you mix it with water) to get into things like tomatoes, etc. I think they both work as well. The spray does leave a white residue, but not like the powder.
That's exactly what I was thiking about that white powder. You use it because you want nice looking healthy plants. But it leaves all this powder which makes your garden look like it's infected with something serious. LoL
glad to hear there is a liquid,good FYI
I use a duster it poofs dust ,never looks bad,unless you gett heavy handed.Going to need a new one,hope I can find another i like as well.this one is a squeeze puffer..love it,you can puff under the plant,works great.
Anita ,cant wait to meet you,and go plant hunting..
Hugger, I'm looking forward to plant shopping with you as well. When does the nurseries open around here?
good question, I ll keep a look out. Have you lived here long Anita?
Yes, I have lived here for 40+ years. I would love to move some place where the weather is 70 - 80 degrees all year long (Hawaii). When I retire I may move to Charlotte if I can stand being away from my grandbabies.
What about you? CC has to offer the best of both worlds??? What type of dust applicator do you have? How easy is it to fill with product? I saw some at Lowes but they seemed pretty expensive. I can remember the old fashioned sprayers my grandmother had that was something like a pump action. How long does it last?
Saw on the news one of the local nursery's is having their spring opening tomorrow! Yea!
What time Crit? I'm off at 7pm. I can start heading that way!!!
LOL .... they open at 9 and are having drawings for $50-$500 gift certificates at 1:00. Have to be there to win. Hope DH will watch the DGD's so I can run in for an hour! ^_^ C'mon down! I have plenty of room!
its still too cold here for nurseries... probably mid-April. seems so far away.
something that helped my hostas was the round seed balls from the sweet gum tree. I hate them but put them around on the ground under the plants.
cathy , those spiney things work really well thats great,they are knarly little things !!! I wouldnt crawl over them either.Neibor has 6-8 of those linning her drive,messy trees,but pretty..
anita ,my puffer is a canister -11high 4inches across,it contained Rose dust.
There is a plug in the bottom to refill it,its soft plastic,dont know what Im going to do when it dies !!! You just squeeze it,shake the can an squeeze,Itts wonderful.cause you can aim it under the plants,so the puff of powder wafts every where ,with out a heavy layer of powder.our fair little town used to be the nutts,Had all kinds of great stores ,not since walmart arrived .It is a very pretty little town ,new Schools ,no Shopping....
I am so lost as to what you are refering to. The round seed ball from the Gum tree. I will have to google the seeds. Inned a nice canister to store my Diatomaceous Earth in and a good method to apply it. It's harmful to your lungs to breathe too much of that stuff in.
Yes Anita, they are spiny little critters (seed balls) The trees lose them (I believe) in the fall. You will probably recognize it when you see it.
In Missouri, they fall all year. One put me in the hospital when it attacked me walking into work; looked up one second to say hi to a friend and landed on my face the next. Tore my open the back slit of my dress up to my undies, sprained my ankle, skinned both palms so bad I couldn't use crutches. I really don't like them.
For the next few months, I found them everywhere at work, in my mailbox, drawers, painted gold and wrapped up at Christmas, lots of funny friends. :D
Wow Cathy! If they attacked you like that I can understand why the slugs are afraid of them.
Hey Diamond and Crit, yes that is my shade garden above is post 8444105. It was taken last Spring. The garden is just awakening now, and the hostas are already showing. I'm always happy to share plants. The hostas were bought here at a local nursery 6 yrs ago for $2-3 dollars per plant, and they've mulltiplied quickly.Unfortunately they're NOID. I'm going to plant some of my winter sown poppies in that bed as well, where I feel they'll do best with our GA heat. cathy4, now that I've wiped the tears from my eyes from laughing so hard after reading your post about THE ATTACK OF THE SWEETGUM SEED BALL, I wanted to say that I'm glad you fared well, after such a scary experience. I throw them back into the copse of trees behind my house all the time. Now thanks to your post, they'll be thrown into my hosta bed instead for slug prevention. I'll just have to make sure I don't step on any, falling would not be good since I've had 2 spinal fusions. Here's a picture of the shade garden taken today.
Cathy, if it makes you feel better, my dog stepped on a sour gum ball when she was a puppy, and she barked at them hatefully for about six months after.
It was 50-60's all last week, and now we're having a cold snap, it was in the 20's last night. All seedlings still happy and green. Whew!
Are there any perennial seedlings that you grow out in pots for awhile? I have some Aquilegia from Chiltern Seed, my WS aquilegia last year got overwhelmed by other plants in the bed.
for your NoID's... i'd say the big one up front is Frances Williams, next to it sure looks like June. The other 2, in the Undulata family. [they look familiar, but there are just so many in that class ... it's possible the gang in the hosta forum could ID them]
those are my best uneducated guesses.
Cem....that garden is great! Since my yard is shade, shade and more shade, doppled shade/sun and a tiny bit of full sun, I'm always looking for great shade plants. I have a HUGE garden in my front yard that we made, that is hard clay that I have to add some good dirt to this summer, around the plants that survived planting last year. Then add more shade plants to let it fill in. Anything you have to share I would be glad to trade, purchase or pay postage on starts. I don't care if they are NOID's. TIA
Crit, sent you a D-mail. tcs1366,thanks for help with the NOID hostas. I'm going to add some of the winter sown poppies and foxgloves to this bed as well.
I've looked up a few images of "undulata mediovariegata"
[basically, twisted, lance-shaped leaves that have white centers and are edged in green]
yours looks a lot like
UndulataUnivittata
http://davesgarden.com/guides/pf/go/3714/
This may sound like a dum-dum ...... but I have several of the jiffy trays with seeds popping up, but am also having some damping off. What is causing this, and what can I do about it. I left the lid on until most of the seeds had sprouted as directed, then propped it open for a couple days, then took it all the way off.
Try the peroxide/water mix, I've only had 1 plant damp off since using this mixture:
http://www.using-hydrogen-peroxide.com/gardening-with-hydrogen-peroxide.html
Peroxide has been working for me, too. I've always been too generous with water so jumped on this tip when I read about it on one of the forums a few weeks ago. So far, perfect.
Another thing I started doing at the same time is a light dusting of cinnamon on all my flats and pots. I saw one gnat last week, realized I'd forgotten the cinnamon on a few things, dusted them and haven't seen any since.
The third tip for preventing damping off which I haven't needed because the others work so well, is watering with camomile tea. I'm not sure what the right strength is for that, but someone here will know, I'm sure.
Good luck! Pam
OK, thanks. I haven't watered them as they are still damp from the original water to expand the pellets, and I didn't want to overwater. Maybe I should of done this with the water I used at the very first.
I use cinnamon in my dirt, but didn't think to do it on the flats.
sweet william has germinated
cinnamon for gnats ?? wow,i had a few they are gone now,cinnamon so simple.
ive got more sprouts,still really cold here,and going to be this week maybe this weekend we will get some warmth.
Was in the local resturant saw my neibor,I asked what they were up to,they are working on a fund raiser for the animal shelter,Plant sale,well looks like I will be donating as much as I can..good thing ive got 50 jugs sown...i over seeded Im sure, soo I will be able to split chunks up, and i will have plenty Im sure,need dirt tho
garyon -- congrats on the SW babies.
we have been so cold again, i have not checked for seedlings in 4 days or so... just didnt think any new ones would be popping up... we are gradually warming up... should be low 40's by the end of the week. Bright and sunny today -- very deceiving.
I didn't believe that the cinnamon would work, but it really does. I was amazed.
Explain how the cinnamon works.
It's rather unscientific of me, but I don't know. Anecdotal experience, and while I know that the plural of anecdote is not evidence, it does seem to work. I'd like to know if it's bunk, and I've seen it argued pretty hotly both ways. Much like Superthrive, lol.
I agree...as long as it works, I don't really care why. But still, I am curious, so if someone posted a theory, I'd read it!
Maybe it's just the smell? Like some pests are put off by herbs?
Pam
