aces. | December 28, 1990 ~ North Shore News - 13

Houseplant homilies for the holidays

THIS WEEK has provided me little in the wav of inspira- tion with respect 10 writing about the garden. Of course, I could always come up with something on how to conduct

major repairs, icescaping.

On second thought, forget it; most of us have had enough bad news for this week. We should focus our attention on some in- door gardening activities instead. Let’s just take a look at a few of these plants and see if they con- tain anything N.S. News-worthy.

Hmm, what's this? BUGS!

The winter months are stressful enough for your houseplants without having to endure assaults from insects and diseases. This week we will look at a few of ihe more common problems and how best to combat them.

First, a word on prevention. When bringing plants in from a summer vacation outdoors or allowing a new immigrant to cross your borders, make sure it con- tains no hidden time bombs or terrorists. Conduct a careful and complete inspection at the point of entry.

Be prepared to carry out a complete body search; leave no leaf unturned and do not be afraid to remove the subject’s pot and poke around in the root zone.

Set one room of the house up as a quarantine arca. It should meet the needs of the plant being watched and well away from the rest of your plants. Leave the newcomers in this area for four to six weeks, if they happen to be carriers, the problem will reveal itself within that time.

If you find any serious infesta- tions on really sick-looking plants, throw them away. Why risk a bout with the plague on all your plants for the sake of one half dead candidate for the compost pile?

For mild attacks, use the least offensive treatment available. Some houseplants (and most peo- ple for that matter) are sensitive

renovations,

garden cleanups or maybe

Geoff Tobiasson

OVER THE GARDEN GATE

to the use of pesticides. If you must use one (and I still say don't), try one or two leaves first. If they (or you) do not suffer any adverse reactions, then proceed with a wider coverage.

There is no point in killing the patient with the cure and even less in killing the doctor. Do not use Diazinon when a_ little Safer's soap will ac. And if thumb and fore finger are healthy, you can forget the Safer’s.

if a chemical cure is the only thing that has a chance of work- ing and you can’t bear to part with your green buddy, use the weakest dilution you can. Some- times 1.5 ml of Diazinon 12.5 per cent E.C. mixed with a litre of a Safer’s soap solution will work just as effectively as the recom- mended 6 mi Diazinon per litre of water.

Ok, so what do we took for? What do the little buggers look like? Let’s start with the bugs:

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inch (2.8 mm) long, fat and squishy. They may or may not have wings and come in lovely shades of green, yellow, brown or black. They usually attack the soft, new growth of young leaves or tender flowers and buds and they usually attack in packs.

Affected plants usually show stunted, malformed growth and can be covered with a shiny, sticky residue. Thumb and fore finger work just fine for those of you who take pleasure in your work while Safer’s is all that is required by those of you who are a bit more squeamish.

Ever sit in front of the TV only to have the viewing of your favorite show disrupted by what appear to be tiny fruit Mies? Well, they aren't. They are fungus gnats and besides being a nuisance, they generally do fittle harm.

The young, soil borne maggots (don't faint on me now) can cause minor damage to root systems, but only in the severest cases. They feed on decaying organic material in overly moist soils. In fact, the appearance of these pests could be considered more a boon than a problem. They are telling you that you are watering your plants too much.

The easiest way to get rid of them is to keep the soil on the dry

OUI

solution of 20 ml of Safer’s soap and a litre of water. To this add Kelthane 18.5 per cent E.C. at the Strength recommended on the label. Apply this solution three or four times, four to five days apart. Inspect the plant again with a magnifying glass and if any crit- ters are detected, repeat the pro- cess.

One invader even comes equip- ped with its own armor. Scale in- sects look like small, “% inch brown bumps on stems, branches and the undersides of leaves.

Your best bet here is to rub off all the larger insects with a damp cloth and then spray the plant with a Safer soap solution. Once again, use two or three applica- tions five days apart to ensure that you kill any hatchlings which were not present during prior shots.

These are the most common in- sect problems in the home. There are others such as white fly, thrips, and more, but their fre- quency is such that they are not worth mentioning.

Next week is the Things-To- Do-This-Month-(Year) column and the one after that will deal with some of the diseases of houseplants we are faced with.

problem persists, pot, wash off the repot in a sterilized planting soil. If you can't do that and chemistry is your game, try drenching the soil with a solution of Malathion 50 per cent E.C. at tml per litre of water.

Mealyhugs are a more serious problem. They show themselves as tiny, cottony bits of apparent fluff lodged in the crevices formed at branching points and under leaves.

They are difficult to get rid of because their waxy coating repels most soaps and pesticides. One of the most effective, albeit time- consuming methods of control is to dab them with rubbing alcohol on the end of a cotton swab.

As always, the worst problems are the hardest to spot and Spider Mites are no exception to the rule. If your plant is dying, looking as though the color were being suck- ed out of it and all you can see is that it appears dustier than nor- mal, it is likely to have mites.

The dusty look is the giveaway. These almost microscopic creatures form very fine webbing wherever they travel on the plant. As dust and debris contacts the webbing it sticks, therefore the dusty look.

Control is best achieved with a

side. H the remove the roots and

Until then, Happy New Year.

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