Today I went to Annie's Annuals in Richmond, CA for a talk on bugs by Annie Joseph who is a California Certified Nursery Professional and a master gardener and former pesticide company rep turned organic (at least with bugs).
I learned that when the temperature gets to be in to 70's (f) that's when aphids hatch, and about 2 weeks later the beneficial insect that eat them come out.
Spider mite and white fly outbreaks indicate an imbalance in the garden.
Products with imidacloprid (such as Bayer's Merit, or tree & shrub) stay in the plant for a long time and build up in the nectar, then when bees eat the nectar, they get confused and can't get back to their hives. it can also kills bees instantly if there is enough built up. check out biobees.com for more info.
Black beetles are OK they eat slugs!
If you fertilize with a fast release fertilizer with a lot of nitrogen, the plants grow fast, but that increases their suseptibility to insects as the cell walls are thinner from the fast growth.
Osmocote is a good fertilizer it releases slow and steady, also any organic fertilizer (Like down to earth).
If your dog likes to eat the stinky natural fertilizers, use liquid versions.
If you buy beneficial nematodes, refrigerate until use, then apply at dusk so they don't die in the sun.
for grasshoppers use insecticidal soap.
sluggo won't harm other animals like some slug products can.
the Safer yellowflag traps - use these to trap white flies, but DO NOT use near hummingbird attractors, as the birds will get stuck.
It was a pretty good talk, unfortunately, there were a few people who kept asking about non-pest management topics, so there wasn't enough time to go into detail about a lot of what Annie came to talk about. But what was covered was very informative.
Get more info about pests and managing them here:
http://www.ipm.ucdavis.com
Learn more about water and pesticide runoff here: http://www.ourwaterourworld.org/
Some suggested reading:
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I thought this guy was a goner - at the end of the winter it had died from either lack of warmth or lack of water (it was under the eaves and would not have gotten rained on), I don't remember which). But now it's back and healthy looking.
This guys is called 'Ice Cream Blueberry Fudge' I got it at Nauvlet's over a month ago . I have to admit, I bought it partially because it promised blueish blooms, and partly because of the name. The blooms are a lot larger than I thought they would be, and I find them funny, they almost look like they came out of a comic strip from the 1920's.
These gorgeous bulbs were actually planted last year and never came up, but apparently they were just chilling out waiting for this year. I'm happy they decided to join the party, as I'm getting quite a good selection of hummingbird-friendly plants in the front yard. and they love these.
Today I planted a pot up with three plants I've had since last summer. I've had the pot since then as well, but I just got around to putting them together today.
The plants have been in little 4" containers that were drying out quickly and needed water pretty much daily, and the pot has been sitting there with dirt in it, but no plants, and I just realized looking at all these things today that they would look great together.
The plants include a groundcover, Brass Buttons (Unchina 'Uncinata red'), a Grass, leptinella 'Squalida' and a Lobelia 'Queen Victoria' they all have a reddish/purple tone to their foliage, and the Lobelia blooms with a bright red bloom in the mid summer (soon!).
I've had this canna for a couple of years, it did well the first year but then didn't bloom last year ( I think I had it in full sun in a container, and didn't water it enough). This year I moved it into a shadier spot (part sun) and it looks like it's going to do very well. This might be the "lucifer' canna, but I'm not sure, I can't find the tag for it...
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