TheGardenLady received this question from Ben about pests problems with indoor planting.
I know you have answered a few questions on dormitory planting before, and I have settled on starting with an Aspidistra and branching out once I’m comfortable with what seems to be a relatively easygoing plant. I’m simply looking to spruce up my room aside from the obvious posters and lights, so a plant and a small fish tank are on my to-do list this summer.
However, no one seems to address any kinds of pest problems related to indoor planting. Are there any major bug issues I should watch out for when dealing with dorm room plants? I have a room to myself as a Resident Advisor next year, so a south-facing window sill will be available year-round in Midwest temperate weather.
I like to keep the window open during the day so stagnant air should not be a problem, but I worry that circulation will increase the risk of infection either to or from the plant(s).
If I have missed anything or made some kind of gross assumption, your input would be much appreciated. Thanks!
You want to be prepared. Though you are correct to be concerned about raising plants indoors, most people have plants indoors and get away without serious problems. Raising plants indoors would not be such a popular hobby if there were that much to worry about.
Since all living organisms can have problems, I hope you are aware that fish can have health problems in their tank. I remember how sad we were when our fish developed a disease known by its abbreviated name, ich. We knew something was wrong in our first aquarium when we saw all those white spots on the fish. But raising fish is still popular and fun. You just have to be vigilant to see that everything in the tank is healthy.
Colorado potato beetle larvae dining on nightshade leaves by imarsman
July is the time to work in the garden - so get up early before the sun gets brutal. A few of the jobs to be done in July are:
Water plants: If you live in an area that is having a drought, you will have to water. With the heat of summer and the drought,depending on your plants, many will need to be watered frequently. How to water correctly is often misunderstood. A good site for information on proper watering is this. And because water is becoming more and more of a rare commodity, with a drought might come prohibitions from your township on using it outdoors on your grounds. So you will have to check with your local government to see if watering outdoors is being allowed.
In times when water is rationed you might want to use what is called gray water to keep the plants alive. Gray water is the water used in your house for washing, etc. – all but toilet water. The proper usage of gray water is explained here.
It is best to water before the sun comes up. It is best to soak the soil around the roots of the plants rather than to spray water over the tops of the plants. First, it saves water. Less water evaporates when you soak the root area. And for some plants, especially roses, watering the leaves can cause fungal problems like black spot – if the plants are susceptible to the disease.  When you water it is best to soak the plants deeply so that the roots stay down in the soil. Shallow watering can cause roots to more upwards. See here. Continue reading “Things To Do When Gardening in July”
TheGardenLady has invited people with horticultural interests and expertise to contribute posts to this blog. The following post about the importance of pest control in the greenhouse was submitted by Ahmet Korkmaz.
In the last decade the field of agriculture has undergone many important changes and improvements. People from all over the world are interested in implementing the new ideas that are being advanced by researchers in this developing field.
Greenhouse plantation is one of the exciting advancements that that has been adopted by farmers from all over the world. Some of the the fruits and vegetables that are commonly planted in a greenhouse include cherries, drupes, radishes, cabbages, and tomatoes. These fruits and vegetables require unique ambient conditions, which a greenhouse can facilitate.
In a greenhouse, sunlight is amplified for the plants because it gets trapped under a glass cover with four walls, which shield the plants from the heat that is generated. This extra sunlight and controlled heat promotes plant metabolism and provides nice returns in the form of vegetables and plants.
There are other advantages of growing of plants in a greenhouse. The leaves and other shoot parts of the plant can be protected from different kinds of chemical attacks that are air-borne. Also, many pests and insects can be avoided to some extent in a greenhouse. But a greenhouse does not prevent all pests.
Common pests in a greenhouse
Spider mites (see photo above), weevils, white flies, aphids and leaf miners are common pests in a greenhouse, the most common of which are the spider mites. Weevils cause a lot of damage to the surface of leaves. White flies tend to attack the major part of root and shoot systems. Aphids can be deadly to the green parts of a plant by feeding on a pigment called chlorophyll. This drastically affects the plant’s overall metabolism. Leaf miners cause damage in tomato plantation. These pests tend to bore into the leaf’s vegetative part, which renders the leaf unable to take advantage of sunlight.
What would you recommend for an organic bug spray? I found an organic bug spray online called Tomato and Vegetable Insect Killer that’s made by Safer Brand. Have you heard of it? Here’s the organic bug spray I’m referring to:
Safer brand organic products are highly respected and are recommended by horticulturists. TheGardenLady has not used the specific product that you ask about. But she’s very confident that you cannot go wrong with the brand.
The company that sells Safer brand products also sells other products that might interest the gardener.
TheGardenLady just bought their Perky – Pet 48oz Hummingbird feeder #220 was recommended to me by someone who has lots of hummingbird feeders and thinks it is the best design because it is easy to clean. See here.
They sell mouse and other rodent traps – some are humane – under the Victor brand and they make the Havahart traps to trap animals live, like groundhogs, racoons and squirrels, humanely.
The company seems to make environmentally friendly products and is very helpful. I called them at 1 800 800 1819.
In the last post, TheGardenLady explained one reason why this time of year makes her sad. Here’s another reason, the fear of bringing in plant pests.
Whitefly is of special concern. See here. Whitefly can get on your plants when they are outdoors. But it is a major problem of greenhouses or homes. One of the plants that I bring in for the winter is my Brugmansia or angel trumpet. This is a plant that is prone to whitefly. Friends have thrown out their Brugmansia plants because of the infestation of whitefly on them. Sometimes one has to get rid of plants when the infestation is extremely large but there is no room to properly care for the plant. My house is not very large and some of these plants have become enormous trees which I can’t really spray indoors should they have an infestation. Or you might have to get rid of a pest ridden plant if you fear the infestation will spread to other plants. This is also a fear I have with two dozen other plants in my relatively small place. I have been lucky. In all the years that I have had plants indoors and in the three years I have been bringing my Brugmansia indoors, my plants have never had any pests.
Think this belongs in LOTR - a fungus gnat by Lord V
TheGardenLady received this question from Devon.
Do you have any tips on controlling fungus gnats. I have some in a herb planter, so i don’t want to use chemicals because I’d still like to be able to consume the herbs.
Fungus gnats look like tiny mosquitos that are about 1/8 inch in length. They lay their eggs in cracks on the soil surface which hatch into larva within 6 days and begin feeding on plant roots. After feeding for about 2 weeks, they pupate in the soil and emerge in less than a week as adults, to begin the cycle all over again. Usually when you first get them they are in the egg stage- in the soil of plants that have been outside for the summer or in damp bags of potting soil or from the nursery where they were bought. It is the larva stage that can do damage to young plants and seedlings by feeding on the new, tender roots. Their feeding stresses the plants and provides an entryway for disease pathogens.
Fungus gnats are usually a problem in the house or greenhouse. When you buy herbs, you should check to see that the soil is free of this problem. Fungus gnats can be a real problem to eliminate. Hopefully, you are finding them early so that you can eradicate them. If you have a really bad infestation, it might be easier to get rid of the plants and get new, healthy plants.
It is smart to practice IPM – which stands for Integrated Pest Management- as this is the most user friendly method of getting rid of pests on your plants. Stay away from chemical pesticides if you can. With fungus gnats, it is not really necessary for the home gardener to use any chemicals.
First of all fungus gnats like dampness. Are you over watering your herbs? Most popular herbs are native to areas that are dry. These herbs like sunny dry conditions when raised in your garden or when in pots. Herbs do not like over watering. Many herbs are drought-tolerant. Moisture is needed especially when the herbs are seedlings and moisture is needed to maintain active growth but don’t over do it. Water herbs thoroughly and then allow the soil to dry out somewhat before watering again. Plants should be watered early enough in the day that leaves can dry before nightfall.
It is advisable to get yellow sticky traps. For some reason insects are attracted to the yellow. You can see from the number of fungus gnats sticking to the traps just how bad the infestation is to plan your next step. Commercial greenhouses keep these traps all over to monitor their insect problems. Yellow sticky traps are sold in hardware stores.
Always keep plant areas clean. Get rid of weeds and dead debris which can be a breeding place for pests like fungus gnats. If the plants are in pots, see that the weeds and debris are discarded and not left near the pots. Don’t use fresh composted organic matter or potting mixes that contain fresh compost unless it was pasteurized first. In addition to feeding on plant roots, fungus gnat larva will consume organic material in the soil. Don’t use mulches or moist and decomposing grass clippings or organic fertilizers on the soil. Clean up free- standing water and eliminate any plumbing or irrigation system leaks. And be sure that the soil is well draining.
Put a moist slice of potato and keep it moist- on the soil. The potato surface sometimes attracts the feeding larva which can be used to collect and dispose of larva and to gauge when the larva are actively feeding.
There are some predators that you can buy. Two types of beetles feed on fungus gnat larva – rove beetles and ground beetles and there are some nematodes that will destroy the larvae. You will have to check for these products on line or in catalogs. And then there is a biological insecticide Bacillus thuringiensis subspecies israelensis (Bti) (the product is sold as Gnatrol) that can be applied to control fungus gnat larvae in container media. Bti applied as the label tells you to provides temporary control and is toxic only to fly larvae, such as mosquitoes, black flies, and fungus gnats. Repeat applications are needed for long-term control. See here.
I have a peace lily indoor plant which has sentimental value to me and over the past winter it has contracted a leaf condition – the leaves die from the tip towards the stem. It’s as though a critter is “sucking” the life from it. It still flowers, but I am afraid as more and more leaves are infected I will lose the battle. Any suggestions?
TheGardenLady has to assume from your brief email that you have not changed anything in your plant’s environment- you haven’t moved your plant or changed the lighting, temperature, humidity or care. Usually most brown tips are caused by low humidity. And I also have to assume that you had not re-potted your Peace Lily Spathiphyllum improperly or put it in poor soil.
Or your Peace Lily might have to be re-potted. Sometimes a plant that has been in the same pot for a long time has a build up of salts in the soil from fertilizers and alkaline tap water. When you re-pot your plant, be sure you do not re-pot it too high or too low and use good potting soil (see here).
A reader of TheGardenLady blog wrote this column about an exciting happening in California on Sat., March 28, 2009.
If we were questioning the calendar, residents in the Bay Area of California knew for certain that Spring had arrived on Saturday, March 28. By late morning, it was well into the 70s and supposedly some thermometers hit low-80s mid-day. The balmy weather, blue skies, and gentle breeze sparked our mass exodus from behind TVs to local parks where all were eager to hit the hiking trails on the East Bay hills. But aside from the hoards of people on the trails, it was for the most part a typical day; while unseasonably warm it was the kind of day that we Northern Californians expect for the next 8 months.
Every reader of TheGardenLady knows the importance of pollinators to pollinate (pol·li·nate- definition of the verb; To transfer pollen from an anther to the stigma of (a flower) flowers, vegetables and other plants, shrubs and trees.)
All agriculture depends on pollinators. “Pollinators are essential to Life.” We’ve read numerous articles about the problem called bee Colony Collapse Disorder (see here and here). Or the drastic decline, globally, of butterflies (see here and here). There is even a global bat decline (see here and here and here). All pollinators seem to be on the decline around the world.
TheGardenLady and her readers should try to do everything they can do to help the pollinators. One of the ways to do this is to grow plants that pollinators like and need. If the pollinator is an insect, the plants you grow should encourage insects from the egg stage through the end or their lives. If the pollinator is a bat, the plants that bats would need are crucial.
Toward that end, a new website is out there. This is a new Ecoregion planting guide to attract pollinators from www.pollinators.org. On the website, the co-founder of the Pollinator partnership says “Farming feeds the world and we must remember that pollinators are a critical link in our food systems.”
This website is for the US. TheGardenLady hopes that this type of website would expand for the rest of the globe. She wishes readers would let her know what similar websites are available in your part of the world.
Check out the website:Â www.pollinator.org/guides.htm for plants you can put in your garden or farm.
                         Photo taken by urtica
One of the subjects TheGardenLady has been planning on writing about is invasive plants. Today she received this notice of a seminar at Rutgers on this very topic. If you are interested in learning how you can help in preventing foreign plants and insects from crowding out our natives, please contact the number below to see if you are eligible to attend.
On Saturday August 23rd, Middlesex County’s Extension Agricultural Office will be presenting a Garden Workshop from 10:00 AM to 1:00 PM at the EARTH Center in Davidson’s Mill Pond Park, South Brunswick. The workshop will be on “Invasive Species”, and how homeowners can do their part in helping prevent foreign plant & insect species from crowding out more desirable native species in their landscape. While some of the more nationally know invasive species include, the snakehead fish, fire ants, nutria, and kudzu, in the Northeast we have been impacted by organisms like the Asian Longhorned Beetle and the Hemlock Wooly Adelgid.
This workshop will be hosted by Bruce Barbour, Environmental Program leader for Rutgers Cooperative  Extension of Morris County. Coming from graduate schooling in weed science he served as Chair of the Department of Agriculture & Resource Management Agents at Cook College and serves on two committees of the NJ Invasive Species Council.
