Pests, Diseases and Cures

Aw heck, yup, definitely whitefly ... they're hatching now !

The thing about nasturtium, and one of the reason they are sometimes grown as a 'decoy' plant to protect your crops, is that they are very popular with pests like slugs, snails, caterpillars and aphids. They can usually survive pretty well though because they grow so vigorously once established,...

My entire strawberry crop was killed this year. I have about 50 plants and the whole lot developed normally then shriveled and withered just as the berries were starting to form.At the time I thought it was because I had moved them in the winter and they suffered because of the severe...

Is this the type of Slug you are fighting? Field Marshal Slug Notice Board and Comments ~ cult rock punky glam band ~ 1982-1986 I can fully understand

Yep, keep the infected plants out of the compost system, grade them category 1 under the Torchwood system and incinerate.

I heard that Dithane was being banned, but I saw some in the garden centre a couple of weeks ago. It is a bit better than Bordeaux Mixture (the only other alternative) in my opinion for controlling blight. Which ever you bought you will need to keep applying it as per the instructions to keep...

There's been more good advice here than in any gardening book, with the exception of the excellent 'Garden Plants for Scotland' which gives a list of rabbit resistant plants. (And no, I don't live in Scotland but as we can see Scotland just across the Solway from our windows, and share many of...

just at the back of our run is a elder tree it is in a neighbours garden but over hangs our run,when the wind blows leaves off I have noticed they are crawling with insects some which look like mite grey and small.Pigeons roost in this tree so am i right in thinking this is where my pen gets...

Thanks for the link Dave - I'll have a look at it.

looks like greenfly. Give them a spray of insecticide which is OK for use on edible plants.

I like that reply because it's a little jewel in my garden and would hate to have to remove it . Thanks

This is intersting Ziggy, I've got carrots growing, they are in a homemade cloche made from sticks from this years "great stick harvest" (the back hedge was out of control) :D anyway being a neebie I covered the cloche in fine netting just to keep the birds and dog off, then I read a bit about...

Simple really, do they work and if they do, do they work on bees? We like having bees in the garden, but wife is allergic to them so they are not welcome indoors. Rather than kill them we were wondering if these gadgets were of any use.

I found the first of the next generation today - removed about 30 larvae of various sizes with a kitchen towel. Yurghh.The one good thing about lily beetle is they do make themselves easy to spot at most stages of their lives.I put the pot on it's side and gently roll it around to get a...

I'm not sure how effective netting would be, Kristen The red gent is quite mobile and a good climber, it also flies, but the real problem is the fact that it pops it's head up in around March/April and continues until the end of October or beginning of November and you couldn't keep the...

have just spotted my first copulating couple.... we have a lot of rosemary and lavender at work, but maybe not for much longer, does anyone know what can be used and when?thanks

Hi Shiney, Many thanks for putting up the photos for us to see The devastation looks really bad and I don't blame you for resorting to using sprays to try to save your bushes and hope that it solves the problem :yess: All around our village the landscapers have put in hedges that have been...

They are a true beetle so they can definitely fly. They only have one generation a year which is good news. This place has a little info: It looks like the damage is largely superficial - but that's what they said about the the Horse Chestnut leaf miner!

Oh they really are a pain I know... You could try companion planting Carraway as that is supposed to deter them.They can cause serious damage. They can kill young plants and eat holes in the leaves of larger plants. Time plantings to avoid peak populations, or plant under cloches or...

Thanks Cajary, I think my last resort will be a systemic bug killer but I have a lot of different kinds of bees, hoverflies and butterflies in the garden So I have to be careful how I spray and when. I spray and then try to deter any would-be suicidal beneficial insects bent on landing where...