A day late for this. Yesterday had a beautiful morning! Sun's not exactly out. Not gloomy. Not sunny. Not exactly breezy. Just very beautiful to be out in the yard doing gardening.
Checked my herbs - thyme, rosemary, mint, thai basil - checked my tomato plant, sunflower plants, melon, chilli and lavender for signs of pests. Could see the regular white flies. Found a really large ladybug on a blade of grass while feeding my dog in the yard. Brought it to my tomato plant which has grown really well from a small plant. Found a ladybug larva on the peach tree and brought it to my tomato plant too. I have got yellow sticky trap over the tomato plant but the plant has grown so much the trap would probably be a bit out of sight for the existing white flies who love hiding among the leaves below. I am taking all measures to prevent my wonderful tomato plant from being overtaken by pests, excluding pesticides for the time being.
The pear and plum trees are not doing exactly very well as their leaves are being fed on my Saw fly larvae - slug-like creatures. I tried to manually squash them to death but they are a lot. I guess I could not do very much especially higher up the trees. Wondering if I would get any pears eventually at the rate they are feeding! They are really pests! Yet to try out the pyrethrum that I have bought.
Did some fruit-wrapping work - using plastic bags and stapling them to individual peaches and pears. Hoping that this would help prevent birds from feeding on the ripening fruits. Harvested some plums - sweet and sour at the same time.
Since that wonderful morning, it has been raining cats and dogs till now.
Pear slug (Sawfly larvae) on a plum leaf.
A gigantic ladybug on the tomato leaf.
Yellow sticky trap traps a lot of flying insects - unfortunately good & bad - indiscriminate
Tomato flowers - flowering in a few areas on the plant
Flourishing tomato plant
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The same plant a month ago...wow!
Pear sprinkled with cornflour which did not help with curbing pear slugs - experiment failed. Manual squashing with a disposable glove works best. Pyrethrum spray works but not so on windy days.
Thyme growing taller - hoping to harvest some soon.
Peach tree doing well...no pesky aphids due to good work of ladybugs.
Green plum turning yellow and then will go red.
Plums on the tree.
My orange seeds have germinated after a long while (Sept to Dec). :)
Rosemary growing taller.
My friend has confirmed these are either chilli or bell peppers. However they soon died after thinning out and repotting. Should have added Seasol fertiliser during that.
Chilli plants are growing at a slow pace since sowing on 4 Nov 08.
Friend has confirmed these are melons (rockmelon or honeydew). Probably have to space them out when the rain goes and soil is soft.
Sunflowers are doing fantastic since sowing 1st & 3rd Nov 08.
Two types of plums harvested - maroon and yellowish-red.
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