Garden guru has bug solutions

If you don’t like spraying chemicals on plants, garden guru Wally Richards’ talk on Saturday at the Dannevirke Community Market was the place to be.

Wally explained how to use his products to counter insect and disease problems.

He advocated using natural products such as:

Neem granules to counter bugs (thrips in rhododendrons which create a silvery surface on leaves and insects on lemons, including borer).

Super Pyrethrum to counteract more insects.

Mycorrcin to cleanse soils of pathogens.

Sticky white fly traps, and yellow pads to protect tomatoes.

Vapour Guard to protect against frosts.

ROK Solid to return natural goodness to the soil lost by watering with Dannevirke’s chlorinated water.

Wally talked about the specific way the products interrupted the life cycle of bugs and diseases.

He also had practical suggestions for protecting plants from insects. Using alkathene piping and dense mesh netting gardeners could protect brassicas from white butterfly at this time of the year while creating a micro-climate which promoted growth and a barrier to birds and dogs, he said.

He suggested spraying warm soapy water onto pot plants to break up soil surface tension which causes water to slip away down the sides of the pot.

He said spraying against pests should be done in the late afternoon about dusk to reduce its effects on bees.

And he had a suggestion for Dannevirke’s perennial problem of oxalis. One audience member suggested “shift” but Wally said removing the foliage consistently starves the bulbs.

“Then get in the chooks,” he said.