It has been said that ‘Eternal Vigilance is the Price of Liberty’; this statement is also true of keeping a ‘relatively’ pest-free garden. In the past few weeks, my inbox has been inundated with questions concerning the ‘nasty white stuff’ appearing on many garden plants. Most have been concerned in particular with these woolly aphids attacking papaya, hibiscus, and frangipani.
In the previous issue (July 1 – 15, Page 16) I dealt with this subject in some detail recommending a soapsuds spray using soap with a 10% sulfur content. I refer my readers back to that article. I would also like to suggest that concerned gardeners clip this article out of the Bali Advertiser and keep it for future reference. It would also be useful to have it laminated as a protection against water damage.
This must be regarded as a constant ‘Battle of Attrition’ – one application will not be sufficient to keep the bugs in check. It is necessary to inspect the garden on a daily basis (at least the susceptible plants) so that it may be applied again at the first sign of re-infestation. It is best to apply the spray before 10am or after 4.00pm, avoiding the mid-day heat. I have had some leaves affected by ‘phyto-toxic burn’ which is caused by a reaction between the spray and hot, bright sunlight.
Most of my readers request organic solutions to pest problems and are reluctant to use chemical formulations, some of which are absorbed by the plant and stay in its sap stream for up to six weeks. If used on edible plants, there is a six week with-holding period before the crop may be safely consumed. This does not apply to the following recommendation as it is a surface spray only and is not absorbed by plant tissue.
Nicotine has been an effective pesticide in past years but has now fallen out of favor. I daresay that chemical companies in the past have synthesized nicotine because of the huge quantities they needed. There is a natural form available if you can cope with the bother of making it yourself and that is from tobacco. If any of your household is a smoker simply save the butts; when you have about 100g place into a one liter glass jar and add water to fill.
Allow this to steep until the water has turned a strong brown color. Strain the resulting liquid through a fine sieve to avoid clogging your spray. Add this to your soapsuds solution at the rate of 50ml per liter and apply. Of course the business of gathering cigarette butts is messy and disagreeable; neither is it possible if your household is non-smoking.
Just about any local market will have a stall that sells shag tobacco, both light and dark in color. Get your pembantu to buy half a kilo there (very cheap - usually smoked by local older men). Use 50g of this instead of the butts to make your brew and proceed as above. The darker color seems to me to be more extractive. As this is simply shredded, cured leaf directly from the plant itself, it is much pleasanter to handle and pretty much free from any contaminants.
Nicotine is also a stomach as well as a contact remedy and is effective against leaf-eaters as well as sap suckers. Look for the places where these chewers and suckers are most likely to attack first. This will be at the tips of twigs and branches where the new growth will be the most tender and juicy. It is also the place where they cause the most damage – deforming the young leaves and depriving them of nourishment. Older, tougher, plant parts are somewhat more resistant and if they show signs of attack, these are usually easier to deal with and in rather more isolated patches.
My information is that Bali’s last wet season was the wettest in ten years. Since the dry season has become established, it begins to look as if this may be a very dry season – at least on the coastal plain. Rainfall here has been negligible for weeks and many plantings are already showing signs of significant water stress.
Remember that even a brief shower of rain will wash away any spray residues which will mean re-application if there are still signs of infestation, or at least watching out carefully for evidence of re-infestation. Another problem is the way in which garden watering is done here by household staff.
All too often the hose is briefly waved over the top of plants. This certainly is cooling and refreshing in that the dust is washed away, but very little gets to where it is most needed: That is to give the soil a good soaking where the roots will take it up and keep the garden growing on strongly.
Please send all your gardening questions to
E-mail: gardendoctor09@gmail.com
