Food Gardening

[wide eyed and legless]

Looks a bit like black spot but its not black, it will be some kind of fungus, maybe take a leaf to a garden center and get a spray.
I usually spray my fruit trees with lime sulphur spray before they bud and I only did it to the nectarine tree this year as that is the one which suffers the most, and guess what, the only tree to get leaf curl was the nectarine my apple, pear, plum and peach trees are all fine so far.

 

[Camo6]

To all you citrus lovers on board, I have a small Imperial mandarin planted last year that is getting a lot of new growth but the existing leaves are curling. There's no obvious signs of pests. Should I worry? Any remedies?

 

[Ducatiboy stu]

Leaf curl is caused by trace element deficiency or a leafminer.

Best thing to do is cut off the affected foliage

 

[Spohaw]

Leaf curl with some yellowing ?

I get that and a dose of copper sulphate clears it up in a couple weeks .. It's not an instant fix and the leaves that are too far gone won't come back green but the new growth will be fine

Pics ?

 

[LiquidGold]

Did a quick search and it looks a bit like pear leaf blister mite damage.

https://www.rhs.org.uk/advice/profile?pid=661

 

[Curly79]

Thanks LG. Only other thing I came up with was Red blister mite. Looks pretty similar. Hope it won't affect the fruit too much. Cheers lads
https://www.google.com.au/search?q=red+blister+mite&client=safari&hl=en&prmd=isvn&tbm=isch&tbo=u&source=univ&fir=zDP1tJA6aK3AEM%253A%252CM2HIUU8XG_qu3M%252C_%253B518D8_JC7i_5wM%253A%252CieKBWAdnOoY0WM%252C_%253BPon248R0AP4N4M%253A%252CsQrCNtYVbdvJ8M%252C_%253BBuVO8ulr0xtzZM%253A%252CMMgXuWwdd9Q9uM%252C_%253BLMge0Q3481zNvM%253A%252CCSLrLRZt7rwb3M%252C_%253BM3oscs5bK6j7-M%253A%252CcbKb-JeS_SmB8M%252C_%253B29sGT5DRqpzm2M%253A%252CPv3Qr_ps5RbwKM%252C_%253BuFxuUkT6x5lUbM%253A%252CVIgFgPhZii8ifM%252C_%253Bhyq8yBw2cHBWpM%253A%252CcmeuqTW8TTulSM%252C_%253ByEJbbJw4Pd8zyM%253A%252COll5EpFNUdGC1M%252C_&sa=X&ved=0CD8Q421qFQoTCOCwnJOOwMgCFUM4lAodnK4Aig&biw=375&bih=559&usg=__up4MZINNzk9NjhvpuJ0ZZ3X3nVY%3D#imgrc=6YHHIehb940wdM%3A&usg=__up4MZINNzk9NjhvpuJ0ZZ3X3nVY%3D

 

[Camo6]

I'll try giving my mandarin a bit of fertiliser this weekend. Cheers

 

[Ducatiboy stu]

Citrus also like a foliar application of epsom salts solution

 

[Camo6]

Maybe some whale song and a couple of scented candles too Stu?

 

[sponge]

A little OT, but I've got little flying insects living on all of our indoor plants. They mainly seem to hang around the soil which all have pebbles over the top. I've tried some pesticide but just seems to annoy them temporarily then come back a day or so later.

There seems to be a fair few folks with green thumbs on here so hoping there may be another solution or pesticide to try? I can get a couple of photos of the insects this evening if need be.

 

[Danwood]

Here's a few pics of my little crop.

Seed spring onions, snow peas and broad bean jungle.


Strawberry patch


Two 2yr old limes which will be espaliered when they get a bit taller.


A few Burnley Surecrop toms in the big pot, two Jalepenos in the smaller ones.


And the rest of the toms. Rouge de Marmande, Grosse Lisse, Moneymaker and more Burnleys.


Capsicums and maybe more toms will go in when the broadbeans are done. They went in a bit late this year. Should be harvesting beans in a week or two.

Also have seedlings of Marigold, Pyrethrum, Allysum and Bergamot in pots to dot around to try and dissuade pests. Everything is looking fine so far though.
I love Spring !

 

[wide eyed and legless]

A little OT, but I've got little flying insects living on all of our indoor plants. They mainly seem to hang around the soil which all have pebbles over the top. I've tried some pesticide but just seems to annoy them temporarily then come back a day or so later.

There seems to be a fair few folks with green thumbs on here so hoping there may be another solution or pesticide to try? I can get a couple of photos of the insects this evening if need be.

Would re potting be feasible, seems as though whatever they are, they are coming out of the growing medium.

 

[wide eyed and legless]

Capsicums and maybe more toms will go in when the broadbeans are done. They went in a bit late this year. Should be harvesting beans in a week or two.

I noticed in the Italian neighbours garden his broad beans were over 180 cm tall and solid with beans, I can't stand them personally, about the only vegetable I don't like, its just the mouth feel of them. Do love the Rouge De Marmande though.

 

[Dave70]

At Danwood - How effective do you find the Marigolds etc at keeping the pests at bay?
I don't particularly like dusting or spraying my leafy greens to keep the ******* green caterpillars off but that seems to be the only current option.

 

[sponge]

Would re potting be feasible, seems as though whatever they are, they are coming out of the growing medium.

I was afraid that might have been the answer.. I didn't really want to but if that's what's required then I'll definitely be doing it.

 

[wide eyed and legless]

Before you do re pot, try a mixture of 50-50 white vinegar and water near the plants as that can attract the flies into the mixture but you would probably have to keep that going for a while as there will be more eggs and larvae in the medium.

Keep spraying Dave, Pyrethrum spray or the Chili garlic & Pyrethrum spray and a dust buster for the white fly.

 

[Dave70]

Ive got a batch of home made Tabasco I used w-a-y to much bhut in that would be just the ticket I reckon.

 

[Ducatiboy stu]

Maybe some whale song and a couple of scented candles too Stu?

Oh dear



Epsom salts cure magnesium deficiencies

 

[wide eyed and legless]

FOLIAR FEED FOR CITRUS AND OTHER FRUIT TREES AND LEAF VEGETABLES

To 10 litres of water – an almost brimming bucket - add the following:

½ a cup of fish emulsion – mainly as a rich source of nitrogen.
1 cup of seaweed concentrate – contains a wide spectrum of trace micro-elements.
3 teaspoons of zinc sulphate.
3 teaspoons of epsom salts (magnesium sulphate)

Mix well. This is a very strong mixture – far too strong to apply directly to the foliage of plants. In fact it could damage or even kill young plants if applied at this strength.

To use as a foliar feed, dilute one part of the mix by adding ten parts of water. (For example - add 1/2 litre of mix to roughly 5 litres water),

Spray this weakened mixture over and under the foliage of citrus trees, most other fruit trees and leafy vegetables such as cabbage, cauliflower, broccoli and silverbeet. Also over only well developed sweetcorn, pumpkin, zucchini and tomato plants.

Never use at a greater strength than suggested. If in doubt apply an even weaker mixture. Always thoroughly water trees and other plants both before and after a foliar feed. The best time to apply is during the cool of the day, preferably late afternoon and always during the main growing season. Apply every 3 weeks where soils are impoverished or sandy.

Valuable mineral elements are absorbed through the leaves while any mixture that drips on to the soil will increase fertility.

Any unused concentrate can be stored in child-proof containers and kept in a secure place, out of reach of children. It should be marked as a concentrate to be used only after being heavily diluted with water.

Peter Cundall's Recipe, Gardening Australia.

 

[Danwood]

At Danwood - How effective do you find the Marigolds etc at keeping the pests at bay?
I don't particularly like dusting or spraying my leafy greens to keep the ******* green caterpillars off but that seems to be the only current option.

Short answer...dunno !
This is my first season trying it, with flowers anyway. Hence I've gone for the American tactic of 'shock and awe' and planted various repelling species. There's no harm if they're not too effective, the extra colour will look good. Plus basil is going in very shortly, mainly around the toms.
The Pyrethrum is a bit tricky to find (found my seeds on Ebay from WA). It's in the Chrysanthemum family and will repel and eventually kill all insects and is obviously used in the commercial sprays. I'm going to trap a few flies in a plastic bag with one when they flower to see how effective they really are.
I also made up a super-strong garlic water spray last season, which smashed the greenfly. That's in reserve.
I'll report back in a few weeks.

I noticed in the Italian neighbours garden his broad beans were over 180 cm tall and solid with beans, I can't stand them personally, about the only vegetable I don't like, its just the mouth feel of them. Do love the Rouge De Marmande though.

Before they get that tough skin is when I like to harvest. Super quick blanche, then blitzed up with softened onion and garlic, olive oil and a touch of creme fraiche or sour cream makes the BEST dip. Or on toast, fried up with smoked bacon lardons, onion and thyme.
But each to their own, WEAL. I personally wouldn't give a **** if every last filthy mushroom were to be fired into the centre of the sun !

But yeah, really looking forward to the toms this season. I'm trying a black plastic cover for the in-ground ones as they're in a part-shade spot. They love warm soil.