Cucumber bitterness is a common issue that can undermine the efforts of even the most diligent of home gardeners. This issue, rooted in the plant’s sophisticated defense mechanisms, can transform an anticipated crisp and refreshing harvest into sheer disappointment. Understanding the intricate biochemical processes behind […]
To work out the best strategy for managing a rodent problem, accurate identification is important, as is understanding their behavior. 1. Norway Rat Identification Norway Rats (Rattus norvegicus) also known as common rats, sewer rats or brown rats, are the larger of the two pest […]
For homeowners, seeing rats or mice scurrying through the house can be an unsettling experience, as these rodents are both a health risks and can also be quite destructive. Rats and mice live in unhygienic environments, and have the potential to transmit diseases to humans, […]
Discovering cockroaches in your home can be unsettling and frustrating. Known for their resilience and rapid reproduction, these pests not only pose a nuisance but also a health risk, as they are capable of spreading pathogens and triggering allergies. Traditionally, combating these unwelcome guests has […]
Many formulations of natural pyrethrum insecticide (derived from the flowers of the Pyrethrum Daisy Tanacetum cinerariifolium) also contain piperonyl butoxide. Gardeners often wonder what this chemical is, what it does, whether it’s environmentally friendly, and if its approved for use in organic gardens. Piperonyl butoxide […]
Gardeners and horticulturists have long sought effective, environmentally friendly methods to protect their plants from the voracious appetites of snails and slugs. Among the myriad of options, one solution stands out both for its simplicity and its basis in science: copper strips. But how effective […]
Rats and mice are not just mere nuisances; they pose significant threats to health and property. While traditional methods like traps and poisons are effective, they may not be the most eco-friendly or humane solutions. An excellent alternative is using natural repellents. This article explains […]
Slugs can wreak havoc on gardens, voraciously devouring young seedlings and tender plants with alarming efficiency. While conventional methods of slug control often involve harmful chemicals that pose risks to beneficial insects, pets, and children, there’s a safer, environmentally friendly alternative, which is using a […]
The five main reasons leaf tips and edges of houseplants turn brown are: When indoor plants display such symptoms, it’s their way of showing us that something may not be right, and they need attention. 1. Improper Watering When houseplants are overwatered, underwatered, or watered […]
During the summer season, bean plants may become unhealthy looking, with a mottled or stippled pattern of tiny whitish speckled spots, short streaks or short lines on the upper surface their leaves. These affected leaved may eventually turn yellow, then brown, and become dry and […]
Mulching the garden is great way to protect the soil and keep it healthy. A good layer of mulch around 5-10cm (2-4″) thick on top of the soil surface prevents evaporation of soil moisture, saving water, and also keeps plant roots cool in summer. It […]
Live catch rat and mouse cage traps are humane, non-lethal devices that are used to capture pest rodent. They are designed to trap the animals without harming them, so that any non-pest native rodents that are captured can be relocated or released back into the […]
Woolly aphids are sap-sucking pests that are bluish-black in colour that produce a covering of fluffy white wax that resembles wool. They can be found clustered around the bases of new shoots on branches, wounds on trunks and branches, and on exposed roots of apple […]
Fungus gnats (Bradysia spp.) are annoying tiny, delicate looking little flies are around 1.5 – 3.0mm (1⁄16 to 1⁄8”) often seen flying slowly around indoor plants. They look like and are often mistaken to be tiny ‘fruit flies’ when they land on the sides of pots […]
Two-spotted spider mites or red spider mites (Tetranychus urticae) are tiny sap-sucking pests belonging to the Tetranychidae family that are barely visible to the naked eye, being only 0.3-0.5mm long, that live on the underside of leaves. Their body color varies, it can be pale […]
Whiteflies are small white flying insects around 1mm long that prefer to hide on the undersides of young plant leaves, and when disturbed fly up in the air around the plant in a cloud of white flying insects, often in large numbers. They belong to […]
Crane flies (Family Tipulidae) look like giant mosquitoes, being up to 3cm (1-1/4″) in length, with a long slender abdomen, very long thin legs, narrow wings, and long antennas with multiple segments per stalk. They can be brown, green or white in colour. They’re sometimes called […]
Non-native, feral rodents, such as the Black Rat, aka Roof Rat (Rattus rattus), Brown Rat, aka Ship Rat or Norway Rat (Rattus norvegicus) and House Mouse (Mus musculus) are destructive pests that can cause considerable damage to a home and garden if they’re not controlled. […]
How do you know if you have rats or mice, or some other pest problem? Correct pest identification is important for deciding on an appropriate course of action. Visual identification is not easy because rats and mice are nocturnal, meaning they are most active at […]
Despite the unfounded concerns of some gardeners, setting up Queensland fruit fly traps will not attract more of the harmful female pests into your garden. These traps do work effectively to reduce the numbers of the pest already there, and are best installed at the […]
Overpotting is a term used to describe the negative effects on plant health when a plant is grown in a pot that is way too big for it. While it might seem like a good idea to give a plant plenty of future growing space, […]
Burr knots (burrs or burls) are masses of small root initials, plant cells that are dividing and transforming into root tips, which appears on the above-ground portion of a rootstock, or on the trunk and limbs of apple trees. This is an inherited disorder where […]
Fruit cracking is a common problem in tomatoes when there is a wide fluctuation in soil moisture levels, which leads to inconsistent water content within the plant. This is usually caused by huge temperature variations and/or inconsistent irrigation. The cracking or splitting of tomato fruit […]
Introduced, non-native, feral rodents, such as the Black Rat (Rattus rattus), Brown Rat, aka Ship Rat or Norway Rat (Rattus norvegicus) and House Mouse (Mus musculus) are serious pests that need to be controlled. The danger with using commercial poison baits to control rats and […]
The European wasp (Vespula germanica) is a social wasp that lives in large nest colonies. It’s native to Europe, North Africa and Asia, and has now spread throughout the world. In the US, these wasps are known as German yellowjackets. Why Are European Wasps Considered […]
Tomatoes require a sufficiently long growing season and suitable temperatures in order to ripen their fruit, otherwise the fruit may stay green and fail to ripen. When growing conditions are less than ideal, there are ways for gardeners to turn things in their favour, to […]
Some houseplants are sensitive to the fluoride that is added to municipal tap water for the purpose of preventing tooth decay in humans. The symptom of fluoride toxicity in plants is leaf necrosis (yellowing, then browning, leading to dead, scorched areas on the leaf), which […]
One of the most damaging pests of fruit and vegetables in Australia is the Queensland fruit fly or Qfly (Bactrocera tryoni). To control this pest, you can make your own home made traps using empty clear plastic bottles, and also make the homemade bait lure […]
It’s quite disappointing for gardeners when healthy and vigorous tomato plants,drop their flowers and fail to produce fruit after a good growing season. Tomato plants have what are described as complete flowers, they contain both the male and female parts within the same flower. The […]
When houseplant (indoor plant) leaves turn yellow, it’s usually one of the first symptoms indicating that the plant is stressed. If the conditions causing the plant stress are not alleviated, the yellow leaves may eventually turn brown and drop. Plant stress can be caused by […]
Horticultural oil, also known as white oil, is an easy and inexpensive pesticide to prepare at home from readily-available materials. It is used to control scale, aphids, mealy bug, citrus leaf miner, mites and caterpillars on roses, ornamentals, citrus and other fruit trees. The commercial […]
Many warm-season crops, such cantaloupe, capsicums, chillies, cucumbers, eggplants, lima beans, pumpkins, squash, tomatoes, and watermelon, are native to subtropical climates, and are therefore very frost-sensitive. They prefer temperatures of 21°C (70°F) to 35°C (95°F), and need daytime temperatures above 15.5°C (60°F). A week of […]
Odor repellent (scent repellent) products are an effective way of deterring unwanted pest animals from visiting the garden and causing damage. They either contain ingredients which pest animals find offensive and objectionable, or those that evoke an instinctive reaction of fear in pest animals, because […]
The feijoa (Acca sellowiana), commonly known as pineapple guava, is an evergreen fruiting shrub or small tree from the Myrtaceae family, that is native to South America. It is widely grown in the subtropics and in warm temperate areas. This remarkably hardy plant is quite […]
One common gardening myth is that watering plants on a hot, sunny day will scorch their leaves. Is this a fact or a fallacy? There appears to be no information published by university agricultural extension agencies, or in the horticulture literature, to support this idea. […]
European earwigs are usually considered to be garden pests, but they rarely damage leafy green vegetables. When they do, they leave many rough irregular holes with a shredded, jagged appearance in the leaves, much like snail and slug damage. They also chew leaves around the […]
Snails and slugs are one of the most destructive garden pests, causing extensive damage to seeds, seedlings, leaves, fruit and tubers. They go about unseen because they only come out at night or on rainy days to feed, and hide during the day. The damage […]
Spring is the time when the weather warms up, and nature springs to life. Fruit trees flower and put out their new leaves ready for the growing season. Sugar rich sap rises from the roots of fruit trees to fuel the new season’s growth. Gardeners […]
The European earwig (Forficula auricularia) is one of our most common earwigs found worldwide in gardens. These insects are scavengers, and they are omnivores – they are voracious feeders on soft-bodied insects such as aphids and insect eggs, they also prey on mites, spiders, and […]
Glyphosate (chemical compound N-phosphonomethyl glycine), also known by the trade name of Roundup, is a non-selective, post-emergence, broad-spectrum systemic organophosphate herbicide used for control of annual and perennial plants. This weedkiller is the largest selling herbicide chemical in the market today, and the most used […]
The active ingredient in herbicides used specifically for killing trees and tree stumps is triclopyr butoxyethanol ester (triclopyr BEE), which is NOT safe to use around ponds, lakes, rivers, streams, any other waterways or bodies of water. The product leaflet for Triclopyr 600 Herbicide issues […]
Over the last decade, there have been increasing reports from gardeners that their vegetables and flowers have been damaged or killed after adding manure or compost to their gardens, or when they’ve planted into new soil they had delivered. In fact, the problems of contaminated […]
The annoying little flies often seen flying around indoor plants are fungus gnats. The adult flies are just a nuisance, but their larvae, which mainly eat fungi growing in decomposing organic matter (such as over-watered plant potting mix!) will also eat the roots of houseplants, […]
When leaves of a citrus tree curl evenly along their length, this is a protective response to minimises leaf surface area in order to reduce moisture loss. It indicates that the roots of the tree can’t supply enough water to support the leaves. This form […]
Tightly curled, yellowing, distorted, and diseased-looking young leaves at the tips of the branches on stone fruit in spring, mainly on cherry and plum trees, is a sign of damage caused by aphids. What are Aphids? Aphids are small sap-sucking pests insects around 2-4 mm […]
Ants can be a major pest in the garden because they ‘farm’ aphids and scale – they safeguard them in their nests over winter, then bring them out in spring and carry them onto the new plant growth, then collect the honeydew that aphids and […]
When cabbages are first planted they initially produce lots of large broad leaves, but in the latter part of their growing season the inner leaves at the centre of the plant begin curling inwards and cupping around a short-thick stem, growing tightly together to form […]
Land Cress (Barbarea vulgaris) and American Upland Cress (Barbarea verna) are biennial, edible leafy-green vegetables from the Brassicaceae (cabbage) family. The young leaves, which are spicy in flavour, are often used as a substitute for watercress in dishes, and can be cooked, or used fresh […]
Many gardeners are familiar with the experience of lifting the lid off a compost bin and seeing a cloud of small flies rise into the air in front of them. These little flies are vinegar flies or drosophila, and the reason why they’re found in […]
Citrus vein enation (CVEV), also known as woody gall, is a viral disease which affects various lemon and lime trees and citrus rootstocks. This disease is caused by the CVE virus, a luteovirus which is transmitted by aphids, including the black citrus aphid (Toxoptera citricidus), […]
Tomatoes grow well during warmer weather, and that is expected since they are subtropical plants native to western South America and Central America. In cool to temperate climates tomatoes are grown as annuals, since they start to decline as temperatures drop in late autumn to […]
White leaf spot is a fungal disease of cruciferous vegetables (brassicas) caused by the pathogen Mycosphaerella capsellae, which is also known as Pseudocercosporella capsellae. The distribution of this disease pathogen is worldwide, it can be found in many countries with temperate climates, where brassicas are […]
Nutrient imbalances and deficiencies can adversely affect the quality of citrus fruit. Excess nitrogen combined with low phosphorus will cause citrus fruit to be misshapen, with thick peel, a coarse and roughly textured rind, coarse pulpy flesh without much juice, and an open centre. The […]
Aloe vera is a hardy, succulent, semi-tropical plant native to North Africa and the SW Arabian Peninsula, which can tolerate quite harsh conditions. It will grow in poor soils in hot, dry sunny locations with very little water, but can also tolerate dappled sun or […]
Queensland fruit fly or Qfly (Bactrocera tryoni) is one of the most damaging pests of fruit and vegetables in Australia. This insect is native to eastern Queensland and north-eastern New South Wales, but has extended its range due to transport of infected fruit, the planting […]
Winter is the traditional time to prune and spray deciduous fruit trees and vines. Spraying is carried out at this time to eliminate pests and diseases which can overwinter and emerge in spring. Two separate treatments are usually employed in winter. Oil sprays are often […]
The problem of garden pest control is as old as agriculture itself, which started when humanity first cultivated plants for food more than ten thousand years ago. Modern conventional pest control methods often use chemical controls as the first option, and usually ignore the real […]
Is your citrus tree dropping its fruit before they reach full size, or even worse, dropping the flowers before fruit even begin to form? This problem can happen to oranges, lemons, lime, grapefruit, mandarins and all other citrus. Trees photosynthesise to produce carbohydrates such as […]
Sun scald is not a disease, but damage caused to apples and many other fruit, caused by high temperatures and strong sunlight in summer. Typically, sun scald damage appear on sun-exposed side, which is usually towards the direction of the midday to afternoon sun. The […]
If leaves are yellowing on a citrus tree, it may be a sign of nutrient deficiency, but it may not be, depending on which leaves are yellowing. Older leaves yellowing are quite normal as long as it’s only happening to a very small number of […]
Why do apparently healthy looking citrus trees suddenly start deteriorating in a matter of days, with leaves curling then dropping, branches dying back, eventually resulting in the loss of the tree? There are several causes, often caused by common gardening mistakes, which are easy to […]
Glue-banding of tree trunks is an effective technique for controlling various pests of fruit trees. A waterproof band covered in horticultural glue, an aggressive long-lasting adhesive, is wrapped around the trunk of the tree to create a sticky barrier which prevents climbing insects from making […]
Crown gall is a bacterial disease caused by Agrobacterium tumefaciens (syn. Rhizobium radiobacter), which produces tumour-like swellings on the bark of trees and plants. It can infect a wide range of dicotyledonous (broad-leaved) plants, particularly members of the Rosaceae (rose) family such as roses, raspberries, […]
If you’ve ever been digging in the garden and discovered plump, pale coloured grubs beneath the soil that curl up into a “C” shape when disturbed, these are Curl Grubs. Curl grubs are the larvae of various species of cockchafers or scarab beetles (family Scarabaeidae). […]
Various cultivars of Navel and Valencia oranges, mandarins and mandarin hybrids are prone to fruit splitting, a pre-harvest physiological rind disorder. Gardeners often wonder if this phenomenon is caused by a nutrient deficiency. Actually, there’s another cause, but plant nutrition can play a part in […]
Growing apple trees can be a rewarding endeavor, but it comes with its share of challenges, particularly when it comes to managing pests and diseases. Woolly aphids, fungal infections, and other issues can threaten the health and productivity of your trees. While sprays and treatments […]
One of the most common nutrient deficiencies seen on citrus is the yellowing of the leaf with dark green veins. Citrus are heavy feeders and are prone to nutrient deficiencies in autumn when they’re fruiting heavily and maturing their fruit, and magnesium deficiency is a […]
Are your citrus leaves turning green with yellow veins in winter? When gardeners see this colour change in their citrus leaves, they often wonder if this is due to a nutrient deficiency, and if so, what they can do to fix it. Leaf Chlorosis The […]
Sometimes we need to cut down trees to remove them, but chopping trees down to the ground does not stop them putting out new growth from the stump or from the roots and eventually turning back into full sized trees again. In fact, the technique […]
Weeds growing on path and driveways, though crack or gaps in concrete and paving, or in empty garden beds are very easily taken care of without chemicals or digging. How is that possible you may ask? Go put the kettle on, then come back here […]
What are Citrus Galls? Citrus galls are unsightly swellings caused by a tiny female citrus gall wasp (Bruchophagus fellis) which lays her eggs in the soft new growth of citrus trees in spring. As the new growth hardens off, a woody gall forms around the […]
Natural pest control techniques such as companion planting can control most of your small garden pests such as insects, but what can gardeners do about birds and animals? The seasonal event of birds and other critters stripping fruit trees clean is nothing new for farmers, […]
The great thing about gardening with annual vegetables is that it’s very cheap to get started and the plants grow very quickly, so gardeners get to see (and taste) the results of their efforts in a very short time. Some gardeners get discouraged after a […]
In Permaculture we like to do things naturally, and we like to exercise our initiative to make use of the resources at hand to achieve our ends. What better way to do this than to brew up your own DIY garden natural pesticides, fungicides, plant […]
Good Companions Bad Companions Apples Chives, Horsetail (Equisetum), Foxgloves, WallflowersNasturtiums, Garlic, Onions Grass, Potatoes Apricots Basil, Tansy, Southernwood Tomatoes, Sage Asparagus Tomatoes, Parsley, Basil Basil Tomatoes, Asparagus, Parsley, Apricots Beans Carrots, Cucumbers, Cabbages, Lettuce, Peas, ParsleyCauliflower, Spinach, Summer Savory Onions, Garlic, Fennel, […]
What is Companion Planting? Companion planting is the practice of planting two or more types of plants close together for some kind of benefit, such as the control of pests, increased health and vigour, resistance to disease, or higher yields. These are termed “good companions”. […]
