Gardening in North Otago NZ December 5th 2009

Well this week we were back to a winter chill, no wonder the night beetle has not made an appearance yet, they are usually dive bombing around now along with the big fat moths, long may they both stay away. I have only just started to notice green fly about, and I am hoping this recent bout of cold weather will have given a few a short shift as it did a month or two back. I am keeping up the fish emulsion but have had to use a nasty on the underside of my hellebore leaves. This is where they love to hide and breed ready to make a bee line to roses and other ornamentals so zap them before they do.

If you have orchids it is the time to repot them now, use the orchid mix for the best results, it takes the guess work out wondering what to feed them.

The wind has been cool since the rain so the ground is still holding some moisture, scatter grass clippings around if your lawns have not been sprayed, they become good humus but don't pile them on to thickly because they are inclined to form a shield that stops the rain reaching the soil beneath. I throw them on to empty the catcher and the rake them out later.

It is probably a good time to attend to the vegetable garden as things are growing so fast and needing food we need to keep the food up to tomatoes, currants an berries, lemons and fruit trees... it takes a lot out of a plant to fruit.
Now day's there are specially prepared fertilisers for most things with instructions for how much to apply and when. Blood and bone is a good all rounder but can attract fly's at this time of the year so water it in well.
All fruiting trees and plants need lots of water now to create juicy plump fruit, that small amount of rain we had this week will have been perfect for them but it's the winds that have followed that do the damage so keep the water up.
Remember to cover your strawberries to keep the birds from eating them as soon as they show any sign of red. Strawberry netting stretches out to cover a large area and does the job well, the birds are helping themselves to my gooseberries so I have thrown some frost cloth over them until I get a chance to pick them.

As tomatoes grow be sure to remove laterals of the taller growing variety and stake them to keep them upright as the fruit gets heaver. They should be flowering now waiting for the bee's to pollinate them, if they are in a glass house and you do not see many bee's you can spray with a product call tomset.
Early morning soaking on the vegetable garden keeps moisture up to them all through the day and helps with the germination of seeds and successive planting can be kept up right through the Summer.
If you must use spray's on your vegetables make sure you read on the container to know how long the with holding period is before you can eat the vegetables. Why not try an organic option there are more on offer every year, or try companion planting.

Some plants have been proven to help and enhance others so I will list what has worked.

Carrots and onions together, the onions help keep the carrot fly at bay and carrots the onion fly.

Celery and the brassica family, i.e.: cabbage, caulis, and broccoli. the celery will confuse the white butterfly when wanting to land and lay it's larvae eggs.

Marigolds and beans/brassicas, the marigold emits a natural gas which protects surrounding plants from insects like aphids and white fly.


Make your own natural sprays: The following plant leaves can be boiled in water and the resulting liquid used on plants.

Basil will eliminate aphids

Chives prevent mildew occurring on cucumbers, squash and pumpkins.

Coriander also for aphids and spider mite.

Eucalyptus is a good general purpose insecticide.

Rhubarb has been found to help prevent black spot.

These may be only plants but in liquid form they can be harmful to children so keep marked bottles high up.
I found out that it is not a good idea to breath in fumes when bringing to the boil, and to keep doors and window open. the fumes from some of them can certainly make you feel really off colour.

Get corn and pumpkins in as soon as possible because they need a long growing and ripening season Cheers Linda