PESTS AND DISEASES

Holes in the leaves, chew marks and slime trains are all signs of pests making a meal of your plants. While you can apply organic treatments, a little bit of hands-on work often does the trick.

• Pick caterpillars off plants and feed them to the birds.

• Tip over upturned pots, buckets or abandoned bricks to pull out snails and drop them in soapy water.

• Hose off sap-sucking aphids with jets of water.

• Mildew can be caused by watering late in the afternoon or the evening, so water in the mornings. Also, be sure to water the soil and not the plant.

SLUGS AND SNAILS FEED OFF THE LEAVES AND STEMS OF SEEDLINGS. WITHERING CAN MEAN AN INFESTATION OF TINY SAP SUCKERS.