Preparing To Go Holiday!

I was looking forward for a good holiday in Tasmania but certainly had concerns over some of my plants, especially the vietnamese mints and common mints. I learnt that they are not cold-hardy. So I cut some stems to stand in water while I was away for two weeks, at least I would have some rooted to grow in case those in the garden die. I also made a topless cloche around my pots of capsicum, lemon verbena, curry plant, chilli padi seedlings and vietnamese mint. This should keep them out from too much cold at night and at the same time, they still can access sunshine.

For this large pot of vietnamese mint, I build a topless cloche around the pot with plastic and stakes.

For some mysterious reasons, my snow pea seedlings have been chopped down overnight. No snow peas for now.

I potted on the small pot of common mint and did the same cloche around it.

My other pot of common mint somehow has developed purplish tinge around some leaves. It is puzzling to have this problem before I leave. I sent this pot to my neighbour so that she can monitor its progress.

Okay. Let go and not think about my garden for two weeks! Hope for no casualty.

Common Mint Update

I have been giving updates on my common mint in several entries. It is all getting quite complicated, so I have decided to dedicate an entry totally on it. Mint grows very quickly given the right conditions. Very much the same as vietnamese mint. However, vietnamese mint seems less prone to many problems that plague the common mint. Common mint is susceptible to many pests including caterpillars and aphids as well as plant diseases such as powdery mildew. This pot above was the original pot of common mint I bought from Kmart.

Since then, I have grown a large pot (above) from the original small black pot.

And another pot which was attacked by powdery mildew. See entry http://organic-is-better.blogspot.com/2009/04/cases-of-powdery-mildew-attack.html.

I have got three nos of cuttings here but did not really care much about it. Oops! Yellowing so I had to feed some aquasol yesterday.

This one also came from the original small small pot but in the midst of propagation, it was attacked by powdery mildew. I have treated it with Manzecob Plus twice and planted it at the vege patch. Looks like it is growing.

Similar case to the above - powdery mildew amidst propagation but treated twice. It is still potted in this ice-cream pot but signs of growth too.

The bare stem of another type of mint planted end of December 08 is growing steadily at the vege patch.

Cases of Powdery Mildew Attack!

Recent weather has been warm and then cold and then warm and then cold with scatter rains. Some mornings were wet and cold and followed by warm afternoons. I had to do a bit of work moving pots of more delicate herbs/plants into the mini green house and out into the sun and vice versa.

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The curry plant has been growing quite well but I was surprised that it has invited unwanted guests such as tiny caterpillars. There were also clusters of webby tiny black eggs mainly towards the ends of stems where the shoots are. Most of the stems which are strong and healthy but exposed to air did not have these webby eggs. The eggs were found in areas where the stems were very congested and hidden. I had to snip off several stems as a result. Guess I learnt a lesson : prune the plant on a regular basis to allow better air flow between the stems.

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My pot of mint which was potted on last Friday has got powdery mildew. I think placing it in the green house with all the condensation has caused this. I removed several leaves and sprayed a few infected areas with Mancozeb Plus. And quarantined the pot in another area of the garden. Will have to do a re-spray after 10 days. I have successfully gotten rid of powdery mildew on two other pots of mint but not the vine which was growing under the shelther. The condition was so bad that the vine is already succumbing to its invader. The common mint which was potted on last Friday.

White powdery mildew on its stem.

White powdery mildew patches on one of the mint leaves.

The grape vine is almost dead due to powdery mildew.

Powdery mildew patches on one of its leaves.

The oriental radishes are looking stronger and bigger. Hoping to harvest some crunchy yummy roots soon.

The purple king bean plant has leaves that are turning yellow. I am assuming that it is due to the colder weather coming as it does not survive winter. This bean plant is really running behind time due to the heat wave in summer. It has put out a lot of beans and I am going to let some of them stay on the vine to mature for seed collection.

Back From Easter Trip.

We were away on Philip Island for our church's Australia-wide Oceania Convention during the Easter holidays. It was a refreshing time, though there were moments I missed my garden and wondered if the two dogs had destroyed it.

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Fortunately, they did not. And thank God I had discovered the caterpillar eggs under the radish leaves just one day before I left and was able to take measures. Or I would have come back to be heart-broken. The pot of nasturtiums showed great growth after dressing with vermicompost from my worms. And it was peace of mind for me now that they are under the safety of the net. The whole of nasturtiums can be used in salads and I can see why they are easy prey of caterpillars.

The three oriental radish seeds I have sown on 9 April to replace the three uprooted have germinated when I returned on 13 April. Very fast!

My cayenne peppers are fat and long! Wondering if I should harvest them for pickled green chillies.

The tiny calamondin limes are growing steadily. Haha at times they looked like they are going to drop off.

Congratulations to me! The chilli padi seeds have finally germinated and so many are sprouting. They did take a long time to do so, observing only two on 2 April and now about eight on 16 April.

The pot of mint which I have propagated from the original black pot from Kmart has been planted at the vege patch. I have treated it for mildew twice and hope it will do well. So far so good!

One of the two lots of new buk choy seedlings have sprouted when I came back.

Also sown on 9 April to replace the three which were uprooted due to caterpillar attacks. Will thin them once they are bigger.

One of the three existing oriental radishes. Note the little weeds around. Have to do weeding regularly.

Three out of four sweet pea seedlings. As soon as they are big enough, I have to train them around the sunflower stalks behind.

My two wonderful capsicum plants are producing three or four capsicums. Again, great peace of mind with them caged from possible possums' burglary.

The capsicum plant in the pot is not losing the race either, producing three fruits. Somehow the fruits are not as big and do not have a regular shape as those in the vege patch.

Signs of life after the re-potting. Aloe vera seems to grow rather slow in this weather but steadily producing new pups. It has been the mini greenhouse most times to keep it warm.

Vermicompost from my worms works wonder! My curry plant looks very healthy and flourishing after the castings were added.

Same goes for my thyme! Even the stems look thicker.

My divided lemon grass in two pots did not look too good after I potted on last week. Perhaps scorched by the sun while I was away. I have since fed another round of seasol. Not sure of its fate.

The original pot which I bought from Flower Power.

The potted on mint is growing gloriously - potted on successfully! Large leaves and strong. Now I truly believe in Premium potting mixes as Kevin Hendreck mentioned in his book 'Gardening Down-under' - the best gardening book I have ever read so far. It is certainly better to start plants with a good potting mix.

One of the two smaller pots which I have to pot on soon. I have given away the other small pot to my life group mate for her dish.

This is the pot of common mint which I bought from Kmart for $2.50 and since then, I have propagated 5 pots of mints from it. Quite a sense of achievement to me, having failed once from the pot I bought from Ikea when I started out gardening.

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Easter Sunday is not about Easter Bunny or Easter Eggs. It is about Jesus Christ rising from the dead and conquering death so that we are free to connect with God.

2 Hours' Work

My work for 2 hours this morning : Potted the largest pot of common mint which I grew from two cuttings. Potted up the citronella (mosquito plant) Divided up the lemon grass into three pots. Fed seasol to those transplanted. Fed Charlie Carp to curry plant, capsicum plants, lavendar, buk choy, bay, hot chilli. Fertilised the orange and lemon trees. Removed weeds surrounding the lemon and orange trees.

The potted on common mint.

The original two cuttings which I propagated.

Two of the chilli padi seeds given by my shepherd have germinated. Not exactly a good time to germinate seeds at this time of the year due to lack of warmth and sunshine. I do hope they can make it and grow. I was able to harvest more purple king beans today and had them for lunch. Crunchy and sweet and turned green when boiled. The capsicum is my first harvest off the capsicum plant on the vege patch. I have a feeling it is a yellow capsicum as there is no sign of any redness. Four more coming!

I cleared the potato plant from the large pot and wow! Digging the potting mix out gave me a surprise of a few egg sized potatoes. This is also first time growing potatoes and I started out too late in the season. I suppose I can do better the next round but potatoes are really cheap! Perhaps just to grow them for fun!

I am propagating some ivy in a pot.

The two citronella cuttings in potting mix.

The divided lemon grass.

The oriental radishes have been thinned out to just one per lot.

More capsicums from the vege patch.

The onion bulbs. I think daffodil bulbs grow this time too.