Indoors it was fungus gnats and whitefly...argh! Outdoors its earwigs, a tiny green flying insect, carpenter ants, and a host of insects I've never seen before.
I've declared a full fledged war against insects. Today I tagged all of my plants with Safer yellow insect strips. I have those yellow flags everywhere. I hope they will be a memorial to DEAD BUGS.
Slugs eat entire leaves! I sprayed the stems of plants that were in the ground with a mild dilute solution of cooking oil and water and haven't seen them since (I found this tip on the web while searching for other info). They can no longer get a grip so they must have gone to the neighbour's beds.
Every other day I spray the soil in the pots with a mild solution of dish detergent to get rid of the few fungus gnats or whitefly that think they are coming to live on my porch...NOT.
Carpenter ants come searching for the sap left behind on the leaves after whitely and fungus gnats suck on them. I have ant traps on the porch now.
Earwigs sneak in around midnight I assume. Those homeless creatures stay until about mid morning gorging themselves on the succulent growing tips. They can easily be picked out and squished.
I picked off all the lower large leaves for better air circulation, but left the secondary vegetative growth for future cuttings.
Finally, if it gets any worse I'll make up signs in several foreign languages including English that say, 'INSECTICIDE IN USE-ENTER AT YOUR OWN RISK'
This message was edited Friday, Jul 12th 7:41 PM
Brugmansia Insect War Zone
Looked first thing this morning at my 'Safer's Sticky Stick' tags and there were all sorts of captured insects including flies. The sticky stick tapes are working! The bright yellow color is said to attrack the insects.
where did you find the strips? i've been pretty fortunate with bugs in the yard this year, so i havent had to declare war yet. maybe its because i'm fighting fire ants..with all the rain, new mounds show up daily.
jen
Joydie..likewise where can you get these strips..I bet they would work great for the cucumber beetles that riddle my brugs all the time..they seem to be attracted to yellow also!
You can make your own sticky strips: get yellow-colored index cards and a can of tanglefoot spray. Punch holes in the edge of the card and put a twist tie thru and secure. Spray the cards on BOTH sides with the tanglefoot spray and hang. You will be amazed at the numbers of insects you catch, but remember - it will affect pollination if you are trying to get seed pods. It doesn't discriminate re which bugs it catches.
Kay,
What's tanglefoot spray.
I saw a lady on tv yesterday and gave a recipe to keep bugs away!
1 clove garlic (big)
9 chili peppers
2 cups water
Blend together and after blending add 1 teaspoon of shampoo for colored hair (not dish soap)...let sit overnite and strain off and put in a spray bottle.
Last for up to 2 weeks in refridgerator!
I am going to try it...if anyone else tries soon let us know if this recipe works!
I read making these cards with vaseline on the yellow card/paper.
I made some last winter with the yellow cards and Vaseline when I had fungus knats and the only thing I caught was dust bunnies.
LOL!!!! Snow.
How about using those fly paper things....you know the ones that you hang from a high place. I hung some of those Fly papers strips in the greenhouse and they caught a lot of this...to include my hair.
I used those this past winter, and caught almost all my fungus gnats, I think that's why I didn't have a bad problem with them this year
I had to take out the big guns tonight. Noticed the earwigs had ate some of the new growth at the top of the Brugs including a Y that was starting on one of them.They set up camp inside of the new leaves and munch away. Circled each Brug with Diatomaceous Earth.Then I saw that my Columbine had every leaf stripped and was covered with those metallic gold beetles.Got out the fruit tree spray and sprayed what was left of them which wasn't much.Wonder what I'll find tomorrow when I go outside?
Glory, you can buy Tanglefoot at most nurseries that sell fruit trees, etc. It is very sticky. I have used it in the orchard to catch those nasty bugs that bite the apples and ruin the looks of them. Also put it around the fence posts that have Bluebird houses mounted on them. Snakes and other critters don't like to get it on them. I have bought the yellow sticky traps a couple of places. I usually get them at Charley's Greenhouse Supply and maybe the other place is Garden's Alive. Don't really remember, but they do work in the house very well.
Where I live we have thousands of city cherry trees on, it seems like, every main street or boulevard. They wrap each and every one in late winter with a saran wrap-like band and glob on the tanglefoot - like a paste. I use it on my rhodos for weevils. Like cement shoes to bugs. LOL
MsJen and Eclipse,
I bought them at a nursery/garden centre. They are by Safer and are called Sticky stick tapes. I'm sure you can get them at any garden centre or nursery. I wish I'd know about them before, they are fantastic! I think its a great idea especially if you don't want bees or other insects to cross pollinate your plants. Today there were mosquitoes and some HUGE flies on them also. I'm beginning to think it is the scent of the leaves of both brugs and daturas that all these insects are attracted to.
This is off topic but, in Harper's Garden Centre here where I bought the strips I was admiring their marvellous specimens of bananas. They had about 5 varieties and one type was the Musa Zebrina "Rojo" with the burgandy underneath and red stripes on top. Boy were they pricey-$50 but huge plants. I wandered around the greenhouses and all the grounds, then decided I would pick up a few more small goldfish for the pond. I must have all male goldfish as none of them have fatter bellies. While I waited for an available sales clerk I was standing by a huge pond display. It took me about 5 minutes to realize that all of the banana plants in the pond were reduced to $9.00. Well I came home with the Rojo banana for my daughter's birthday. What a wonderful bargain indeed and I know she will love it!! I'll post a picture of the Rojo tomorrow.
Joydie1.......don't you love it when you get a beauty for such a price? I always love the plants more that I feel I was not taken on!
Kell,
The Rojo banana is a really good size too with little pups coming up already...I'm going to sever a couple and grow them for myself.