September 02, 2017
I mixed equal amounts of petroleum jelly and dish washing detergent, which is supposed to trap and kill white flies, and smeared it on yellow post it's, because the color yellow is supposed to attract them, and got nada. The mixture both soaked in to the paper and evaporated off it within an hour. It would be more fun to take the shop vac down there and suck them up. I was surprised to learn that both hummingbirds and dragonflies eat white flies because I have them both in the garden constantly..
The flies stay on the bottom of the leaves and don't get detected until they fly. I've gone along and brushed the plants so often I think I've loosened the roots :(..
September 03, 2017
A second mound of honeydew melon had the vines die before all the melon were ripened. I googled "melon diseases" and have now doubled the number of garden adversaries that I'm aware of. From an assortment of viruses, bactium and fungus arises a host of parasites that cause wilts, rots, mildew, spots, cankers, and stunted growth. One of the diseases, anthracnose, sounds serious enough to keep me at bay..
Fusarium wilt and Downy mildew are familiar problems but have never caused me significant losses. One melon problem that matches what happened to mine is that when the temperature cools the roots slow their output and when the temperature rises they aren't always able to ramp up production fast enough. Sounds bogus to me..
September 04, 2017
I can understand why people choose not to grow Brussels sprouts. My foot tall transplants are covered in white flies and my three foot ones in aphid. The aphid are so abundant that the entire plant is fuzzy gray and wiggling. Their excretions are glued with the soapy water spray and the entire sticky mess stinks like propane gas. I don't even want to look at it much less get close to it. They will clean up after the first few freezes so I'll just have to be patient..
On the other hand the bush beans are so big and bushy that I have to crawl down both sides of the row to pick them. From now on my beans will get abundant water, but I'm reminded how clay soils don't permit air circulation. Watering them requires a drying out time in between for the oxygen to be replaced at the root zone. In a tilthy soil the water flowing through pushes out the carbon dioxide created by the microorganisms activity, and is followed by the sucking in of air for their, and the plants, survival..
