Paw Paw Fruit or as they are known in some counties such as the Philippines by the name Papaya.
Its interesting to note that if we call papaya, paw paw the Philippines think its poo poo which signifies the laxative aspects of this delicious fruit.
Much of the paw paws that we import does come from the Philippines where you can see the trees growing wild.
A while back a Asian gardener contacted me in regards to his Paw Paws that he was growing in Wellington in containers, indoors, in front of a sunny window.
To assist with the problem I was emailed pictures of the plants which appeared to be doing ok in the circumstances except he was over watering for the time of the year.
I suggested that the light situation also was not so good indoors and they should be getting more light by been outside and protected.
I was told that they flowered and produced fruit alright which surprised me.
As I enjoy eating paw paws I often buy one or two when they are not too expensive and I am always taken back by the number of round black seeds that are in the centre of the fruit.
Thinking back to the chap in Wellington I decided a few weeks ago to take a few of the seeds and place them in a dish to dry out. After a couple of weeks they had dried down to about half their size and were ready to sow.
I placed the seeds into seedling trays with compost then onto the heat pad which I use for germinating more difficult seeds. Spray misted the growing medium every day now I have been rewarded with a strike of about half a dozen Paw Paw plants.
As soon as they germinated and as the first embryo leaves were forming I took them out to my glasshouse so they would receive maximum light. You never want to let any freshly germinated plants stretch for light as you will likely lose them.
So now they are still in their seedling trays and when the first true leaves are formed I will transplant them into small pots and grow them on individually. Maybe I can eventually get them to fruit, who knows and its a lot of fun having a go.
You might like to try doing the same and not only with paw paw but with any fruit you buy including tomatoes, capsicum, peppers, melon etc the seeds are free with the fruit and its a lot of satisfaction growing plants from seed.
I will tell you a little more about Paw Paws but firstly I would like to share some information with you that a reader sent me which was a news bulletin from CBS News.
The long and shot of it was that pure coconut oil can help people with health problems affecting the brain such as alzheimers disease.
The coconut oil needs to be pure and you simply add that to your diet.
In New Zealand you can get pure organic coconut oil from Organic type shops.
If anyone is interested email me and I will send you the link.
Back to Paw Paw or Papaya as my Philippino friends prefer.

The following is information from web pages on the Internet:

The fruit is very low in calories (just 39 cal/100 g) and contains no cholesterol; but is a rich source of phyto-nutrients, minerals and vitamins. Papayas contain soft, easily digestible pulp/flesh with good amount of soluble dietary fiber that helps to have normal bowel movements; thereby reducing constipation.
Fresh, ripe fruit is one of the fruit with highest vitamin-C content (provides about 103% of DRA, more than in oranges, or lemons). Research studies have shown that vitamin C has many important functions like free radicals scavenging, immune booster and anti-inflammatory actions.
It is also an excellent source of Vitamin-A (provides 1094 IU/100 g ) and flavonoids like beta carotenes, lutein, zeaxanthin and cryptoxanthins. Vitamin A is also required for maintaining healthy mucus membranes and skin and is essential for vision.
These compounds are known to have antioxidant properties; help act as protective scavengers against oxygen-derived free radicals and reactive oxygen species (ROS) that play role in aging and various disease processes. Consumption of natural fruits rich in carotenes known to protect body from lung and oral cavity cancers.
Papaya fruit is also rich in many essential B-complex vitamins such as Folic acid, pyridoxine (vitamin B-6), riboflavin, and thiamin (vitamin B-1). These vitamins are essential in the sense that body requires them from external sources to replenish and play vital role in metabolism.
Fresh papaya also contains good amount of potassium (257 mg per 100 g) and calcium. Potassium in an important component of cell and body fluids and helps controlling heart rate and blood pressure countering effects of sodium.
Papaya has been proven to be a natural remedy for many ailments. In traditional medicine, papaya seeds are anti-inflammatory, anti-parasitic, and analgesic, and they are used to treat stomach-ache and ringworm infections.
Its well worth buying papaya for both the heath aspects and the lovely flavour when the fruit is ripe which means Papaya skin slightly turning to yellow and skin slightly yielding to touch.
Unripe fruits can be kept at room temperature for few days but ripen ones should be stored in the refrigerator. Bring back the fruit to normal temperature when it is to be eaten to get their natural taste and flavor.
Wash papaya fruit thoroughly in cold running water to remove dust and any pesticide residues. Skin is bitter in taste and inedible. Remove skin by peeling, cut the fruit longitudinally in to two equal halves. Gently remove seeds and thin slimy layer loosely adhering to the flesh. Cut the fruit longitudinally like melon or cut into small cubes.
Ripe papaya can be safely used by pregnant women. Unripe green papaya should be avoided in pregnant women as it contains lot of papain, a proteolytic enzyme that used commercially to tenderize meat. Unripe papaya fruit, seeds, latex, and leaves also contain carpaine, an alkaloid which could be dangerous when eaten in high doses. Unripe papaya, however can be used safely as a cooked vegetable.
Plants grown from seed can produce both male and female plants which the males never fruit but the females apparently are self fertile.
They need to be protected against adverse weather and frosts and best grown in containers so they can be moved before winter. Keep the mix on the dry side in winter.
For fun and health reasons try germinating some Paw Paw seeds.
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The weather is playing havoc with gardens and plants in many areas through out New Zealand. Too much rain, not enough, too much wind and temperature fluctuations.
This does not make ideal gardening conditions and plants suffer as a result.
I have had a number of people contact me in regards to their tomato plants and there are 3 main things that has been happening so lets look at them and suggest what can be done to help or prevent the problems.
The temperature fluctuations can cause both types of blight in tomatoes and the prevention and control is the same for both.
Early blight: Finding small spots turning to a dark mould on older leaves will indicate the presence of this problem. It occurs in warm wet weather, but plants can be protected with a monthly spray of Perkfection Supa. If you know the disease recurs in your garden, give additional sprays of Liquid Copper and Raingard every 10 to 14 days.
Late blight: Here, you will notice brown, irregular patches on the plant's stem and leaves. This problem is particularly bad in cool humid weather, and it can be controlled using the same methods as for controlling early blight.
If you have not applied Perkfection Supa and the disease strikes, spray the affected plants immediately with Perkfection Supa at 7ml per litre of water. Add to this 3.5ml of Liquid Copper per litre, with 1ml of Raingard per litre, and spray the plants for total coverage of the foliage.
Two weeks later, reapply just the Liquid Copper and Raingard, then after another fortnight, apply the same again with Perkfection at 4ml per litre. That programme will normally be sufficient to see the problem off, but if either blight returns, re-start the spray programme.
Late blight is common later in the season, but under the right conditions will strike in the spring. Potatoes and pepinos are also affected by this disease, but you can give them a similar level of protection using the same sprays as outlined here.
Next we have the dreaded collar or stem rot disease where we watch a mature plant with lots of green fruit slowly collapse over a period of a few days:

The disease will make itself apparent with the development of a darker area on the trunk - that is where the rot will be happening, blocking the flow of moisture and nutrients from the roots. Little bumps of aerial roots will often appear just above the rot area.
If there is foliage below the part where the rot starts, particularly if it is producing laterals, then you can cut the top off and allow the good part to continue growing.
The chances are you will avoid this disease completely if you don't remove any laterals, and if the plant succeeds in avoiding any damage arising from being rubbed on a stake or something similar. One of the ways to prevent any problems is to remove the laterals when they are very small, which means checking the plant every day or two.
Remove them only on warm days when there is low humidity, and spray the cut area immediately afterwards with Liquid Copper. You can make up a solution of this product in a 250ml trigger spray bottle, and it will keep for some time.
Just remember to shake the bottle before spraying.
Removing older leaves might also make the plant vulnerable to disease. This is another job which should be done only in conditions of low humidity, and always remember to spray to protect.
Humidity levels will often be much higher in a glasshouse, which means special care must be taken to open up the greenhouse and remove some of the air moisture before taking off the laterals.
I have heard that if the rot on the trunk is not too far advanced then painting undiluted Liquid Copper onto that area may save the plant.
Finally the growing conditions may cause damage to leaves especially the lower ones which may twist, curl and be spotted, wither and brown off.
Two aspects here one is that a lot of tomato strains have a virus which does cause distorted leaves in maturing plants, there is very little that can be done about it other than removing those leaves when they are obviously not gathering further energy from the sun.
Weather damage can be reduced by giving the plants more protection by spraying with Vaporgard, erecting windbreak cloth, adding more stakes for support and applying potash once a month.
Another problem a couple of gardeners have mentioned is blotchy ripening fruit which additional potash is needed.
If you are using my Secret Tomato food and this happens then it would likely be the weather causing lock ups in the soil. Ensure that you have applied Organi-Bor to the area in the last 3 years (for Boron) and then drench the soil with Magic Botanic Liquid (MBL).
Sprays of MBL over foliage every two weeks will make for stronger plants with less health problems.
Neem Tree Oil can be added to the MBL which will then give further disease protection as well as a control for the insect pests such as white fly and the dreaded psyllid.
Talking about insect pests, this morning I was out inspecting what damage the wind had done to the plants and whether the plants in the glasshouses needed a drink or not.
On the cucumbers which are coming away nicely I noticed a few small aphids on the fruit that was forming. A closer inspection and the turning over a few leaves I found hundreds of aphid pests on the underside of several leaves, not good, so tonight they will have a bath in Neem Oil and Key Pyrethrum spray.
I had the same problem last year on zuchinni which because the pests are under the leaves and not readily seen nothing was done till the plants actually started to die off prematurely.
A spray of the Neem and Pyrethrum knocked them back and the plants started to recover.
So with your cubit plants which also includes melons and pumpkins check under the leaves now and then for pests.
Leaf hoppers (the young are called fluffy bums) vegetable beetles, psyllid and other pests must be controlled on plants now otherwise you will have a real battle in weeks to come.
Sprays of Neem Tree Oil with Raingard added can be applied late in the day, just before dusk to great advantage in keeping diseases and pests at bay.
If you do not add the Pyrethrum you will not harm beneficial insects and only add the pyrethrum when you have a out break of pests on a plant/s so the spray is focussed on the pests. Not a broadcast spray which will affect both good and bad insects.
Thats another of the problems with all the chemical insecticides they take out all beneficial insects and with some of them they don't even harm the pests ones, which have now gained resistance to the poisons. Waste of time and money not to say anything about your health aspects.
On the other hand Neem Oil is not a poison and it does not kill anything unless the oil smothers a few pests such as scale and thrips. Instead it either shuts off the insects ability to feed or grow and when that happens they will die after a few days.
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It is the beginning of a new calendar year, but we are now actually halfway through a gardening year. The day light hours are already beginning to shorten, though most of us will not notice the slow change until daylight savings ends.
The plants do and over the next few weeks the decreasing hours of light can for some plants be the trigger to flower and reproduce themselves before winter.
The weather forecasters tell us that we have a mild La Nina summer which can keep the normally dry areas wetter and the wet areas a bit drier.
That bodes well for gardeners that are having a nice amount of rain falling on their gardens regularly, good plant growth and less need to water.
The down side is with warmth and moisture there are leaf diseases that will run wild especially where foliage is dense and air circulation is reduced.
Powdery mildew, black spot and rust are 3 common problems that are likely to occur if they are not already giving you problems.
Baking Soda; about a tablespoon to a litre of water with a mil of Raingard added is a great control of powdery mildew and will help prevent it as well.
The same can be used for black spot as a preventive to the spread because the alkaline nature of baking soda helps prevent the disease getting started.
You can use the same to dehydrate the foliage of Oxalis to assist in its control without harming other plants. For this purpose use on a sunny day when the soil is on the dry side.
With black spot damaged leaves will remain till they are naturally replaced.
Leaves that have black spot on them should not be removed as the rest of the surface area will still collect energy from the sun to the plant’s advantage.
Rust is very unsightly and it can be prevented with sprays of potassium permanganate (Condys Crystals)
The dose is about a small quarter of a teaspoon of the crystals to a litre of water, no Raingard added and spray to prevent or control.
The same may also work ok on other fungal diseases as its an oxidizing agent. It is used for athletics foot as a cure.
Potassium Permanganate is available though better garden centres as most chemist shops that used to supply it now don't, as they have changed to more supermarket like stores.
Talking about more of the old natural type remedy's Borax is one that you can mix half and half with icing sugar as a great control for ants. Just put the mix anywhere there are ants and that will knock them back. You can also dissolve the borax in water (add some baking soda to help dissolve) and paint the mix on wood surfaces to control borer.
The surfaces applied must be out of weather otherwise the powder will just wash off.
Borer in trees can be controlled, I have found, by injecting Neem Oil into the borer holes of the tree. Dilute the Neem oil to 50/50 with water.
Neem Oil can also be used mixed 50/50 with dog shampoo for control of fleas.
A number of people have told me that the flea controls which are chemicals don't work so well any more and besides they are expensive.
I have also heard that some people use it in shampoo for head lice with apparently good results.
Rains can help reduce the insect problems but experienced gardeners know that the summer time is the time of the insects and they will do their best to keep the populations down.
Sprays of Neem Tree oil with Raingard added applied late in the day just before dusk will help keep pest numbers down. You need to spray for total coverage, under and over foliage and repeat about 7 days later, After that apply as needed to keep control.
Yellow sticky pads are also a good help to keep numbers of flying adult pests such as white fly and psyllids under control. Just hang the pads on or near the plants you want to protect. The psyllid problem is a real worry and one gardener that contacted me recently said that the pests had completely ruined her tomato plants.
You need to spray frequently all the plants that are host to the pest, tomatoes, potatoes, tree tomatoes, capsicums, peppers, egg plants etc. Use a combination of Neem Tree Oil and Key Pyrethrum sprayed just before dark.
Now is the time to plant your winter vegetable and flower gardens. Plants such as leeks should be planted now to ensure they will be ready in winter.
When planting brassicas for winter place Neem Tree Granules in the planting hole and sprinkle some on the soil. Repeat the soil application about every 6-8 weeks for reducing the problem of white butterfly caterpillars.
Weeds will be a problem if you let them get away on you when you don't remove them before they flower and seed. Weeding the garden early morning or late in the day when the sun is not a problem for you is best. Also after rain when the ground is moist makes the removal of weeds so much easier.
Difficult to control weeds can be taken out with the new Cut n Paste applicator. Xmas lillies that have finished flowering; do not cut back the green foliage until it naturally dies back.
Removing the foliage too soon will affect the flowering next Xmas.
I am always amazed at what a difference Mycorrcin makes to strawberries, a fortnightly spray will increase your cropping 200 to 400 % and make for larger berries with better flavor.
There is plenty to do in the gardens at this time so enjoy.

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The year is rapidly coming to an end and we have had one of the worst springs for gardening ever from my memory (which likely is not good at remembering horrible springs.)
I would normally be eating both tomatoes and cucumbers by this time and it does not look likely in the near future either.
Because of a forced move, to another location, has not helped matters either as my glasshouse produce would have faired a lot better than the open ground plants.
As good experienced gardeners say there is always next year which in this case next year is very close and I think the weather will settle making for a late season.
My suggestion would be to grab a few plants of tomatoes and cucumbers from your local garden centre while they are still available, pot them up and keep them in a sunny sheltered spot till the weather comes right.
Otherwise I hope you have a good Xmas and New Year with family and friends.
A couple of weeks ago I wrote an article entitled ‘When Agriculture Goes Mad’ which talked about the problems that GE or GO (Genetic fiddling) was causing in America, South America and India.
This week I received an email which linked to a clip of an interview with Dr Don Huber.
The email stated: Monsanto has unleashed a micro-monster that could kill us all.
That's according to Dr. Don Huber, an agricultural scientist and expert in microbial ecology, who's convinced that Monsanto's genetically engineered "RoundUp Ready" crops are responsible for a new micro-monster that's causing an outbreak of new plant, animal and human diseases.
The link is http://capwiz.com/grassrootsnetroots/issues/alert/?alertid=58601501
If you have access to the web I think it would be of interest to you and your family to watch.
What the itty gritty of the 57 minute interview is about is in regards to glyphosate the active chemical in Roundup and a number of other herbicides available currently.
It is my person belief that glyphosate will prove to be one of the worst chemicals that mankind has ever invented and the interview goes along way to proving this point.
I am sure that one day we will find that previously banned chemicals such as DDT, Agent Orange, Lindane etc were a fraction of the problem glyphosate is turning out to be.
Glyphosate does not bio-degrade in the soil it has a half life of about 6 months or more dependant of soil type. This means that land cleared of weeds by spraying glyphosate prior to planting, the chemical will still be present in the soil to be taken up by new plants. If these are food crops that means its in the food you eat and yet in New Zealand NZ Food Safety does not test for the chemical to my knowledge and there is no safety requirements.
As glyphosate is used extensively on farms it means the chemical is in our meat and dairy products also.
Glyphosate greatly harms soil life. Glyphosate restricts the uptake of valuable minerals in food crops, thus the reason that our food crops lack the mineral levels that they had 20 or 30 years ago.
If the minerals are not in our food crops in the levels that our bodies require then we are at a health risk.
This also applies to animals as well.
Home gardeners have a fantastic advantage of growing healthy crops without the use of glyphosate plus they can add all the minerals from the oceans and rocks to ensure great healthy food.
The problems with glyphosate are compounded overseas where GE crops of Roundup Ready are planted and consumed by humans and animals.
In the interview Dr Huber tells how some dairy farmers are now loosing 70% of their calves cause they abort early. Lab studies has found that glyphosate causes this problem in lab animals.
It is also interesting to note that in areas where glyphosate is used a lot, the birth problems of people nearby are well above national averages. It is also known that glyphosate affects the sperm count in mammals which includes us humans and as a general statement the average male sperm count in America is half of what it was 20 years ago. Thus the need for artificial inseminations.
It gets worse; in so much as, any scientists in America that try to determine the safety of glyphosate lose their funding or lose their jobs. The only information comes from the companies that have a financial interest in glyphosate and GE. Its these companies that now fund most of the research in Universities and they are not inclined to fund anything that is not inn their interest.
Even the Government Food Safety authority in America has obviously been hoodwinked by the chemical companies as they allow GE crops to be process into human and animal food chains.
In fact this is to such a stupid point now that food processors are sued if they have on their labels GE free.
Thus I urge you to listen to the interview and make sure this madness never happens in our country.
There is no reason that we should not have full labelling of our food, country of origin etc so we can make healthy choices. (now and in the future)
Your health is in your garden and in the soil that you have, look after the later and the former will be by far the better for it.
Have a great Xmas and holiday as I am going to do so and be back again with weekly articles next year.
Wally Richards

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The writer and staff of this Newspaper wish you all a very happy Christmas and a great gardening year for 2012.
Your gardens and plants should be looking very nice for the festive season and you can take pride in your efforts over the last few months, when family and friends visit.
Now the weather is starting to improve, you will need to keep your gardens watered and if going away, ensure that moist bare soil is covered with a suitable mulch to conserve moisture. Enjoy the time and have fun. Regards Wally Richards.

Ooooo THE PESTS OF XMAS GARDENS

With improving weather as we approach Christmas there are a number of insect pests that can spoil our plants if we are not careful.
Over the year I have endeavored to show you how to obtain healthy plants by caring for the soil life and using beneficial mineral products, rather than the harmful chemical sprays and fertilisers.
Many of you have reported back, after following my advice in these columns or from reading my book, that your gardens have never been better. That is great stuff to hear and visual proof of the methods which you can relate to. Keep up the good work.
Healthy plants maybe more disease free but they are still vulnerable to some insect pest problems, though often far less than unhealthy plants.
In Nature the balance is achieved through beneficial insects called predators keeping the populations of pest insects low. It takes time to build up populations of predator insects in your gardens and the past use of chemical sprays has greatly reduced their populations. Some gardeners who have taken care to look after the predators in their gardens report good populations which keep most pests under control.
Remember the saying, ‘The enemy of my enemy is my friend’ which is very true in our gardens. Ladybirds, praying mantis, predator wasps and small birds are our friends as they will keep the pests numbers low. To this end, it is important that we do not kill off all their food sources and allow a few pests to live and provide food for our friends.
At the same time we do not want to allow the pests to run amok and damage our plants so let’s have a look at the safe control methods for keeping pest numbers down without harming our friends.
Neem Tree Granules has to be one of the easiest methods of control for pests on a number of plants.
Simply sprinkle the granules on the soil in the root zone of the plants you wish to protect, as the granules breakdown they release the Neem properties, which are taken up by the plant’s roots.
The properties translocate through the foliage and when a pest eats/sucks a little of the foliage they get a small dose of Neem and stop eating, to die later. This works very well on some plants and to a lesser degree on others. The granules are perfect for the control of whitefly and caterpillars on tomato plants, outdoors or in a glasshouse.
They are also very effective on caterpillars that attack brassicas.
Pest soil insects such as root mealy bugs and carrot fly are easily controlled by applications to the soil. The granules need to be replaced about every 6 to 8 weeks and you can experiment with them on any garden plants which are attacked and eaten by insect pests. If you find the granules do not have the desired control on some types of plants or if you have large pest populations already on the plants, then you will need to spray occasionally with safe sprays such as Neem Tree Oil and Key Pyrethrum. These two sprays can be mixed together but should only be sprayed just on dusk because the pyrethrum is very quickly deactivated by UV.
Key pyrethrum is a quick knock down spray where the Neem Tree Oil gives extended control through its anti feeding and growth regulator properties. The normal spray program would be two sprays 7 days apart then followed by one 14 days later and a final spray a month later.
If problem persists then keep spraying about every 7 to 10 days. Neem oil is considered safe in regards to predictor insects but pyrethrum is not as it will kill all that come into contact with it.
Spider mites can easily and quickly controlled with a spray of Liquid Sulphur and Raingard. Normally, one complete coverage spray is all that is needed but a word of warning never mix with Neem Tree Oil as the two will burn foliage. In fact a period of at least 2 weeks should be applied to any plants where the oil or the sulphur has been used before using the other.
Liquid Copper with Raingard added is very effective in controlling cherry/pear slugs on plum, pear and cherry trees. The same copper spray will also protect plants from snails and ordinary garden slugs while the copper is present.
Leaf hoppers are a big problem pest for many and a number of sprays 7 days apart, using the Neem Tree Oil will be needed to obtain control.
The Neem Tree Oil sprays will cover all pest insect problems (not pear slugs or garden snails/slugs) and by adding Raingard to the spray will extend its control period.
The combination of Neem Tree Oil spray and Neem Tree Granules is needed to control mealy bugs on any plants. The granules get the mealy bugs in the root zone and the oil takes care of the ones on the plant’s foliage.
The new pests such as the potato psyllid can be controlled with regular sprays of Neem Oil ensuring total coverage of host plants.
As mentioned previously in articles the felt pads soaked in Neem Tree Oil and wrapped around the trunks of Rhododendrons is an effective control for thrips on larger rhododendrons which are difficult to spray. Bands are left on for only one month. Neem Tree Oil can be applied to tanks in hydroponic systems to control pests on plants growing in these systems.
I have been told of some people that have used it for head lice diluted down to normal spray application strength I presume.
A farmer told me he used it for maggot control and other pests on sheep. Fleas n dogs can be controlled by adding Neem Oil to their shampoo. I do know of trials where the Neem tree Oil has proved successful in the control of a number of leaf diseases such as black spot and rust. Some rural gardeners have also told me that their garden plants sprayed with Neem Tree Oil has prevented/reduced possum and rabbit damage.
Likely as time goes by we will find many more uses for the Neem Tree and its extracts.
One thing for sure is that Neem Tree Oil and Granules are far safer and better to use than poisonous chemicals.
Have a great Xmas. Wally Richards
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Its becoming a mad world with the many upheavals around the globe including changing weather patterns, political unrest, finance instability, populations at record highs, polar caps melting and so the list goes on.
As well as all these global problems, I received recently an email from the Institute of Responsible Technology containing their Newsletter called, Spilling The Beans. The newsletter has sighted three extremely bad problems that GE crops have caused in the world.
I would like to share these with you and hope and pray that we never have any GE material released in our country.
From the newsletter above:
The introduction of GM Roundup Ready alfalfa has been a disaster for the US seed industry, writes farmer Phillip Geertson, as it has lost overseas markets. The US alfalfa seed industry was the world's major producer of alfalfa seed and historically has exported more than half of the alfalfa seed produced.
Geertson points out, "Export data would be very useful in determining the amount of damage that was done to the US alfalfa seed industry by the release of RR alfalfa into US agriculture.
But such data is not available. 2007 was the last time the USDA reported the size of the US alfalfa seed exports.
Perhaps not coincidentally, this was also the year that seed producers found that seed lots produced in Montana and Washington had been contaminated with the Roundup Ready gene.
The only winners in this farming catastrophe are Forage Genetics and Monsanto, who own the patent on the gene that is now contaminating non-GM alfalfa.
(Full story at http://www.truth-out.org/roundup-ready-alfalfa-damages-us-seed-industry/1319042829 ) Next:

Farmer suicides rising in India as GM Bt cotton crops fail
The record suicide rate among farmers in India continues to rise, with one farmer now committing suicide every 30 minutes. Many media reports blame failed GM Bt cotton crops for the crisis.
More than a quarter of a million farmers have killed themselves in the last 16 years in what is the largest recorded wave of suicides in history. An article for Sky News reports that one farmer who committed suicide "had been persuaded to use genetically modified seeds by the possibility of a better harvest. What he wasn't told was that they needed more rain than the region provided."
Farmers who grow GM crops also have to borrow money for expensive pesticides and fertilizers. When the crop fails, they cannot repay their debts. The article comments, "Across rural India there is now widespread despair. The fields are also filling up with widows."
Bt cotton was first released for commercial growing in India in 2002, and the data on farm suicides show clearly that the last eight years were much worse than the preceding eight - which is alarming since the total number of farmers is declining.
India's Bt cotton "revolution" has lost its sheen over the past five years, with government data showing a consistent decline in cotton yield. Even as the area under Bt has grown to 93 per cent of the total area under the cash crop, the overall yield is estimated to decline to a five-year low this year.
Farmers and activists who oppose GM crops argue that none of the promises made during the introduction of GM seeds have come true. In certain cases, the opposite has happened. Some farmers report that crops failed to flower, producing no yield at all.
Others report low yields and high cost of GM seed and chemical insecticides, which farmers still have to spray in spite of marketing claims that Bt cotton reduces or eliminates the need for them.
As for GM proponents' claims that if GM seeds were so bad, farmers wouldn't buy them, it's clear that the consolidation in the seed market means that GM seeds are all that's available.
(More at http://ibnlive.in.com/news/bt-cotton-fails-farmers-in-state/204257-60-118.html ) Finally at this time:

Argentine doctors report major medical problems with GM soy
An important report by Argentine physicians documents a big rise in birth defects, up in parallel with expansion of GM Roundup Ready (RR) soy and the spraying of the Roundup herbicide it is engineered to tolerate. It also notes a high incidence of DNA damage, confirming laboratory research on Roundup - and neurological development problems.
The report was originally published in Spanish in 2010 but has just been translated into English. The report arose from the 1st National Meeting of Physicians in the Crop-Sprayed Towns, at the Faculty of Medical Sciences at the National University of Cordoba.
More at http://www.gmwatch.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=13474%20 ; I have sighted many other reports over the last few years which makes one shudder at the lunacy that chemical companies and Governments have displayed in creating and promoting GE and GM.
It is a fact also that animals have far more sense that us two leggeds and they will avoid eating any thing that is disagreeable to their well being and in some cases would rather starve to death than eat a GE produced vegetable.
I have read many such cases and as an example there was a farmer in the US who at winter time would put out a cob of corn for the squirrels to eat. The local squirrels would wait each day for a cob or two to turn up, to tide them over the cold days.
One day the farmer thought I will see how they go on a GE grown corn cob and so he placed two GE cobs out in the same place as previous normal cobs had been placed. He then watched from his window what the squirrels would do expecting the cobs to be devoured as normal.
The squirrels bounced up to the cobs sniffed them, hopped around them then went away without touching them. The farmer thought maybe they were not so hungry so left the cobs out.
After several days the cobs were still not touched and the squirrels were noticeably loosing condition.
So the farmer removed the GE cobs and placed instead normal cobs which were quickly consumed by the starving squirrels.
It a pity that us humans do not have more sense.
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In my recently updated book, ‘Wally’s Down to Earth Garden Guide’ the very first chapter is on roses, because if there is one garden plant that I am asked more about, over all other plants, it is roses. Gardeners and even non-gardeners just love their roses, going out of their way to have great looking roses.
Roses do best by far if you throw away all your chemical rose foods and sprays and give them the more natural things that make them healthy and preform well.
You need a little Key Pyrethrum and Neem Tree Oil for the aphids and any other pests that might attack the roses..
Ensure that the roses have sufficient minerals by applying a little Ocean Solids and Rok Solid to the soil in the root zone.
The Ocean solids is applied once a year and the Rok Solid twice a year in spring and autumn.
. A two weekly spray of Magic Botanic Liquid (MBL) will make a big difference and if you have been using chemical fertiliser or sprays in the past drench the soil with it also now and then again in about 3 moths time.
Avoid using any herbicides near your roses as it is another factor that can reduce the health of plants because of the chemical’s effect on the soil food web. Also deadly to roses if a whiff of spray drift.
I believe that the soil food web is vital to plants and should be nurtured more than one would nurture the plants growing in the soil. Hence no rose fertiliser or Nitrophoska would ever be applied to have their acid nature damage the web. The non use of herbicides, chemical fertilisers and sprays means my soil is teeming with worms which are the sign of a very healthy soil.
Also water should only be done with non chlorinated water. Get a filter to remove the chlorine from the tap water if it contains chlorine.
If you do not have chicken manure or animal manure such as horse manure available then you can provide natural base foods such as sheep manure pellets, blood & bone and animal manure based composts.
Every week I receive emails and phone calls from gardeners who have adopted the natural methods I write about and they all tell me that they have never had such great gardens as they now have.
Many tell me that after years of struggling to obtain healthy looking roses (and other plants), using rose sprays and rose fertilisers to no avail, they have changed to the natural foods and health giving products.
Within a season or two all the past problems have disappeared and now their roses are even better than they had ever hoped for. There is no secret to this, just work with Nature, not against it.
If you try to work against Nature all you end up with is chemical warfare, both you and the plants are the losers.
So what should you be doing with your roses at this time? Ensure that they have a little potash and magnesium each month. This can be applied as Fruit and Flower Power (mix of both in balance) or alternatively a little potash and Epsom salts. Dolomite and Gypsum can also be sprinkled every couple of months for the calcium/sulphur/ magnesium that these products supply.
Calcium is very important for the health of soil food web. When aphids or other insects are around a simple spray of Key Pyrethrum and Neem Tree Oil, just prior to dusk, will keep them under control.
Roses that repeat flower through the season should be dead headed as the blooms finish.
With newly planted roses just nip off the dead flower head without the removal of any leaves.
A new rose needs all its leaves to gain energy from the sun. Established roses, second year or older should be cut further back taking some stem and leaves with the dead flower head.
This encourages new growth and your next lot of buds and flowers. Established roses can be cut for vases but not first year roses.
Gardeners that have roses that they are not proud of can follow the following procedure to obtain those desired healthy roses;
1/ Stop using any chemicals any where near or on the roses.
2/ Drench the soil with Magic Botanic Liquid (MBL) and Mycorrcin combined and spray the plants with the same.
3/ Sprinkle a little Ocean solids, Rok Solid, Dolomite, sheep manure pellets (or animal manure) plus blood & bone, around the root zone then cover the products with compost. Water in with MBL and Mycorrcin.
4/ Twice a month till mid autumn spray the soil and the plants with the same two products. Use the key Pyrethrum and Neem Tree Oil if insects attack the plants.
5/ In autumn (March) apply the Dolomite, blood & bone, sheep pellets and cover with more compost.
You should see improvements this first season but more so next season.
For those that do have nice healthy roses a monthly spray of MBL and Mycorrcin over the foliage and soil should be sufficient. Feed the roses the natural foods as required, covering with compost.
In the late autumn early winter your roses will start preparing for their winter rest and you should not be concerned about any blemishing of the foliage at that time. It is just nature taking out the foliage and converting it to food for the soil food web. A clean up spray of Lime Sulphur in winter is all that is needed.
It is a successful easy approach to gardening and should be also applied to your vegetable and fruit crops as they are going to provide you with the vital healthy food our bodies need.
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I have a suggestion for a Xmas gift that can be given to a family member or friend this year.
Purchase a citrus tree from your local garden centre along with a larger container (about 45 litres) and a bag of compost.
Total cost would be somewhere between $30 to $50, depending on the type of container you select. Plant the citrus tree in the container using the compost with some blood & bone and Sheep Manure pellets along with a hand full of soil mixed in the lower part of the container, where the tree’s roots are going to sit.
Back fill with more compost. Ensure that there is about 30 mm between the top of the compost and the rim of the container which allows for easy watering.
Place outside in full sun till you are ready to wrap and present.
If you would like to add a little more to the planting then place say 4 lettuce seedlings, one at each of the cardinal points of the container. Alternatively 4 herbs such as thyme, sage, marjoram and chives can be planted at the 4 points.
This makes a wonderful gift that will bring years of pleasure to the receiver.
Any type of citrus will do but choose a type that the person does not have a specimen of already.
I have several citrus trees growing in containers this way and they produce a good harvest of fruit each year.
For a young couple setting up home it can become an annual gift, of a new different type of citrus every year. Start with a lemon and work your way through all the different types such as the oranges, grapefruit, tangelos, ugly fruit etc.
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For those of us that do not have a good range of native birds visiting our gardens it would be a real joy to have a Tui or two as regular visitors.
I loved it at my previous residence when at certain times of the year, then over a few weeks thereafter, I would hear a Tui calling, but as hard as I tried, I never ever saw the bird. Just the other day in the Supermarket while waiting in line a gentleman that I recognised from the past joined the que and we struck up a conversation.
During the talk about gardening (what else) he told me that about 4 years ago he planted a Kowhai tree which had grown well.
His home is in Palmerston North is in the Hokowhitu area and he found on Google a method of attracting Tui to their garden.
The method is so simple, you take a cup of sugar (raw would be best) and add a little water to turn it into a sugary syrup and then you add some red coloured food dye.
The trick is that Tui are attracted to the colour red and my informant told me that the container they put out (likely hung in the Kowhai) has to be refilled just about every day.
I understand that once the Tui know of a sweet delight which is readily available they would form a pattern of visiting.
You might need a Kowhai tree or two to make this work and you definitely need to be in a area where Tui do pass by occasionally.
Well onto other matters and most importantly the problems that gardeners are having in many areas of the country with their tomato and other plants.
The weather is unseasonal and till it settles most heat loving plants will not do so well.
This may cause blotches on foliage and foliage that does not have nice green leaves.
In most cases when the weather improves so will the plants. The benefit with the poor weather is that a lot of insect pests are also affected and their populations remain low.
You should take advantage of this fact and spray preferred plants with Neem Tree Oil late in the day.
It will help further reduce populations which will be a great advantage later on.
Unlike all the other insecticides, Neem Oil does not kill the beneficial insects so their populations can grow and they will work on eating up the pest insects.
Back to our poor struggling tomatoes, cucumbers etc you can do a few things to help the plants do better.
Firstly give them a side dressing of potash which helps strengthen growth. Avoid giving higher nitrogen feeds till weather settles as nitrogen causes soft growth which will damage more easily.
Some gardeners tend to see that a plant is not doing as well as expected and they think the answer must be lack of food and so they pour on the tucker.
Not at all good and likely does a lot of harm as the plant maybe forced to grow causing more damage.
Of course the other common aspect is; it must be dry so lets drown it. Both aspects are bad news for the plants. You can besides the potash water some Magic Botanic Liquid (MBL) into the surrounding soil as this will help unlock minerals and elements that the plant maybe needing.
Also spray the plant with the same product. Then to give the plant its own external protection against the elements, diseases and pests spray all over with Vaporgard.
This will not only protect the plant but will allow the plant to gain more energy from the sunlight.
Strawberry plants should be producing fruit now and looking good. Don't forget your 2 weekly spray with Mycorrcin to increase the seasons fruit harvest by 200 to 400% and make for bigger tastier berries too.
The time of curly leaf in stone fruit trees is just about past so a spray all over with Vaporgard will help restore vitality and protect the good foliage.
The grass grub beetles are on the wing about now and they will eat the foliage of plants such as roses beans and citrus in the early evening.
Use the light trick that I described in my Book, Wallys Green Tips for Gardeners to catch and kill the pests. This will also save your lawns from so much damage next year.
Talking about books its getting close to Xmas and any of my three books would make ideal presents for family or friends.
Visit your garden centre for gift ideas for Xmas.
Its easy to pick out a few plants a nice container or two some good compost and plant up your purchases so they have a bit of time to settle in before you wrap them and give them away.
Gift vouchers on gardening are always great value for the receiver also.
Well there is lots to do and for a change the weather is looking a bit better this Saturday morning in Palmerston North so happy gardening.
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We need to encourage our children and grandchildren to appreciate Nature by including them in some gardening activities. I believe that young children have a natural infinity with plants and insects when they are allowed to explore our gardens.
Children learn many things by mimicking their parents and are often keen at a young age to assist in various gardening activities.
I remember as a toddler spending many hours in the garden collecting caterpillars off the cabbages and feeding them to our chooks. I was given my own little spade and wheelbarrow when I was about three and had a lot of fun moving the weeds my mum removed from gardens to the compost bin or to feed them to the chooks.
I can still remember how good it felt to be part of Nature back then and the same feeling pertains today when I work or wander around gardens.
It was about that time, when I was given my own little plot of ground to grow plants in.
Seeds would be planted and I would be taught which seedlings were weeds and which were plants.
My own little watering can would nurture the baby plants till maturity. A great ado would be made when one of my cabbages, silverbeet or lettuces was harvested for the evening meal. Even though I hated eating silverbeet back then, I had to enjoy my own grown silverbeet, because I grew it!
It was the fuss that the adults made, that gave me a feeling of importance and likely kept me gardening for the rest of my life.
Plants that move have a fascination for children and a great one for this is Mimosa pudica, the Sensitive Plant, which folds up its leaves when touched.
They are easy to grow from seed, as a pot plant for a windowsill. Nice pink flowers also. As the plant matures it has thorns on the branches which incidentally are another attraction for children. (Available from Kings Seeds)
Cacti with their prickles often appeal to young boys and I had a small collection when young and still keep a few.
Two awesome plants for children to grow are the super giant sunflowers and pumpkins.
Called ‘My Giant Sunflower’ these extra tall sunflowers will grow up to 5 metres tall.(17 odd feet) Grown in full sun in soil that has excellent drainage and lots of manure.
The giant pumpkin is called ‘My Giant Pumpkin’ and these monsters can weigh over 1000 pounds at maturity. (Half a ton)
Niche seeds have the two giants on their seed stands in garden centres through out New Zealand.
Designed for children but may also be open to big kids like me. The seed packets contain information on growing and recording the progress of your plants.
Another interesting aspect is to encourage the children to give their giant plant a personal name after it is established.
Naming the plant makes the giant more personal and helps the children to have respect for plants and nature.
If I was going to grow either of these giants, here is what I would do: In an all-day-sunny area, I would dig a hole about a spade depth and width, chop up the bottom of the hole, so the soil is loose, then fill the hole with chook manure to about two thirds full. (Other manure could be used if chook manure is not obtainable, but chook is best)
Fill the rest of the hole with a good compost and soil mix, 50/50 making a small mound about 12cm tall above the filled in hole. Place one seed in the middle of the mound and wet it down with Magic Botanic Liquid (MBL), (20 ml of MBL to 1 litre of water.)
Water the mount to keep moist with plain water and then every 2 weeks with the MBL.
Overseas the biggest record vegetables have been achieved with products very similar or the same as MBL. Spraying the foliage of your Giants every 2 weeks with MBL (10 ml to a litre) will also assist in a bigger healthier plant.
After your plants are established and growing well, give them a drink using Cucumber Booster, once a week. This is a high nitrogen product that is a combination of sulphate of ammonia and potassium nitrate, which you diluted in water.
Cucumber Booster is excellent for any plants that enjoys a boost of nitrogen after establishment.
It is used for growing cucumbers, pumpkins, zucchini and gourds.
The MBL and Cucumber Booster can be combined for watering into the soil near the base of the plant.
Because of the weather patterns we are experiencing, after you plant your seed, cut off the base of a 2 to3 litre plastic fruit juice bottle and place this over the mound, with the cap removed.
This will give your seed and seedling its own little glasshouse.
This is removed once the seedling starts to fill the bottle and needs more room. With the Giant Sunflower a tall strong stake should be put in the ground at seed planting time on the edge of the mound. This will be needed later to give extra support to the plant.
Another interesting thing to do is once the sunflower gets up about a metre tall, plant 3 or 4 climbing bean seeds at the base of the plant.
These will grow up the sunflower and also provide extra nitrogen for the sunflower. It is a lot of fun plus a great way to get the children way from the TV and video games, showing them there is more to life than a screen.
Some garden centres run competitions for the tallest sunflower and the biggest pumpkin with various prizes for the winners.
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Aphids are likely to be found on your roses at this time and they can easily be controlled with a safe spray of Key Pyrethrum and Neem Tree Oil combined. Spray very late in the day just before dusk to obtain the best results.
Stone fruit trees that had the curly leaf disease will now be producing new leaves free of the problem. The damaged leaves will fall off over time. You can if you like, spray the newer leaves a couple of times with Liquid Copper just to be sure, but if the disease has finished for the season the sprays will not make much difference. A spray of Vaporgard without the copper would be more effective in allowing the tree’s remaining leaves to gain more energy from the sun, which is needed to produce a good crop.
Codlin Moths will start to be on the wing about now so obtain a pheromone trap from your garden centre so you can monitor the best time to spray. A number of gardeners have found that a spray of Neem Tree Oil over the young apples, applied about 5-7 days after an influx of moths into the traps, has resulted in only a very small scar on the mature apple, where the grub took its first and only bite.
Repeat spray 7 days later and then wait for another influx of moths before repeating.
Add Raingard or MBL to the spray to assist and extend the control period.
Tomatoes should be doing well if in a sunny, sheltered spot. Only remove laterals on a sunny day when it is not humid or moist. Spray the wound immediately with Liquid Copper to prevent disease entering the wound resulting in the possible loss of the plant. Ensure that the tomato plants are well supported on stakes during windy times. If you are concerned about blights spray the plants with Perkfection as a preventative, once a month. The same applies for your potatoes.
For general health of any plants, especially roses and food crops, a two weekly spray of MBL and Mycorrcin works wonders. Spray both the soil and the foliage.
Avoiding the use of chemical sprays and fertilisers is a must for healthy plants.
Had the case of a lady this week that used a common chemical rose spray on her roses for aphids and found that the roses shed many of their leaves a few days later. Plants hate poisons as they kill all the beneficial things in nature.
I have a saying that if you work with Nature, you will have great gardens, if you try to work against nature, you have chemical warfare.
Happy, Healthy Gardening.
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Growing vegetables and fruit has always been one of my main concerns in gardening since I was a tot. If you can eat it, grow it, all other plants are for show. This does not mean that I don't like my roses, annuals, ornamental trees and shrubs. They all serve a good purpose which I can enjoy, when my belly is full of my own, home grown produce.
This thinking dates back to over fifty plus years ago, when many New Zealanders used to grow most of their own fruit and vegetables. In the last 50 years things changed, we started to depend on others to grow the produce that we put on our tables.
Initially this produce was healthy, grown with compost and similar natural products. It contained nutritional value and fed a growing nation.
Progressively things changed as super phosphate and other chemical fertilisers were used by the market gardeners. Nutritional values dropped, the crops were attacked by diseases and pests, chemical sprays were applied and the health of the nation declined.
The heartening news is; many gardeners have woken up to this problem and are now taking more notice of what harmful substances are in the food we eat.
I have spoken to a number of garden centre owners and they all report that they have never sold as many vegetable seedlings and seeds, this new season, than ever before.
I believe that people do not want to have illnesses such as cancer and that they realise that cancer and several other health problems are largely resulting from the chemicals in our food chain.
The answer is simple; grow as much as you can of your own produce so that your body receives a reasonable amount of wholesome goodness. The food tastes that much better and your health will be far better off as a result.
Dig up some lawn and make a plot for vegetables. Build raised gardens, grow in containers, remember where there is a will, there is a way and its your health we are talking about.
There are some basic rules to grow healthy produce;
1/ Remember that whatever you put into the soil will be in your food.
2/ Avoid all chemical fertilisers, sprays and chemical weed killers.
3/ Use only natural composts, sheep manure pellets, blood & bone, liquid manures, lime, gypsum, dolomite etc.
4/ Enhance the number minerals and elements in the soil by using mineral rich products such as Ocean Solids, Rok Solid and Magic Botanic Liquid (MBL)and Sea Weed Extracts.
5/ Feed the beneficial microbes and fungi with Mycorrcin and MBL.
Doing the above will build an excellent soil food web which is the key to the health of all living things on the planet.
The next question is what vegetables to grow? This depends on the amount of garden room you have or alternatively grow in containers such as the polystyrene trays. I grow the following in these trays; lettuce, silverbeet, spring onions, beetroot, dwarf beans, radishes, parsley, chives, garlic and my favourite ‘Bright Lights’ silverbeet. The same trays are perfect to grow wheat grass for juicing which in my mind is the ultimate in nutritional value and health giving properties.
Lacking room? ‘Space Savers Vegetables’ are the answer, which are part of the Niche Seed’s range. These allow you to plant in small gardens and containers a number of vegetables such as the following:.
Mini Cabbage, which has conical heads, sweet and tender ideal for summer salads, coleslaws and cooking; maturing in about 2 months.
Mini Cabbage, Red, an early red cabbage with smooth, round, medium sized heads with superb flavour. Leaves are tender, crisp and pleasantly peppery.
Mini Cabbage, Savoy cabbage Alcosa, Small deep blue-green crinkled heads with very light cream interior leaves, ideal for growing in cooler temperatures.
Other Space Saver vegetables include; Baby Corn, Mini Pumpkin (Teddy Bear), 3 types of Rock Melon, Mini Leeks and Mini Onions. Besides not taking so much room in the garden these vegetables are quicker to reach maturity from seed. For one or two person households, they are perfect for fresh use, without the waste of a larger item that needs storing in the fridge.
Capsicums and Peppers are great for your health and the Niche range of seeds provides 11 varieties plus a 4 pack that has two hot and two sweet peppers in separate packets on the main packet.
In fact the Niche range includes a number of multiple packets of seeds in one packet which gives you a greater selection to grow.
Many gardeners like my self, are always looking for something different to grow and those of us that like to do our Chef thing in the kitchen, when entertaining, just love a vegetable that is not commonly available. Not only can you skite about say, the purple carrots you have included in a dish, you can also say they were grown by yourself with no chemicals to contaminate them.
Carrot Rainbow Selection has carrots of purple, white, yellow and red. These carrots have existed for hundreds of years and recent research has suggested that the natural pigments of the carrots may help prevent heart disease, cancer and reduce cholesterol. These are the types of vegetables we need these days and though they grow with different colours, they still taste like carrots.
Another root crop is Salsify (Black Salsify) which is sometimes referred to as the vegetable oyster having a flavour that is oyster like.
Burdock Root Minto Shirohada, is grown like parsnips and has a crisp nutty flavour. Used in a number of Japanese dishes and stir fries.
For the unusual try any of the following also;
Gherkin Mexican Sour, vines produce masses of 50 to 77 mm fruits like miniature watermelons, which fall off the vine when ripe. They taste like a sweet cucumber which is contrasted by a surprising sourness as if they were already pickled.
Asparagus Pea is a true connoisseur’s vegetable producing copious quantities of delicious winged pods for about 10 weeks if picked regularly and kept well watered. Commence harvesting when pods are about 25mm long and cook lightly (steamed) to bring out their unique flavour. (bit like asparagus)
Okra Burgundy is a colourful, decorative plant with flashy red pods which turn dark purple when lightly cooked. Pods remain tender up to 175mm long.
Shallots can be grown true from Niche seed for their mild onion flavour.
Zucchini Super Kumi is an interesting one to grow, developed from the original Kamo Kamo (Kumi Kumi). Picked when the fruits are 120 to 180 mm long they are zucchini, allowed to keep on growing they become 2kg Kumi Kumi instead of the traditional marrows that one obtains off normal Zucchini.
Is that enough to wet your appetite? You will find the full range of Niche Vegetables seeds in most garden centres.
To obtain the best flavors and results follow the information supplied above and remember you can only get out of your gardens what you put in. ooooo
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Gardeners that have followed my columns and books over the years, will know that I strongly disapprove of using chemical herbicides in gardens because of the damage they do to the soil and preferred plants.
Yet I am also a realist and some weeds are very difficult to kill and eradicate by non chemical means. Thus I sometimes give tips about how to use a chemical weed killer in a more safe manner to clean up a problem.
An example of this is convolvulus coming through a fence line from next door.
What you do is place a dish or container with a systemic herbicide such as Roundup into the container and you then place the growing tips into the solution.
The plant is forced to take up the solution and this flows back along the entire root system of that bit of convolvulus killing it out completely. You repeat the same with all new growths and then you should be free of the problem for sometime.
Simple, effective and less damage done when compared to spraying.
Thus chemical herbicides do have a place and should only be used sparingly and try to avoid any use in food growing areas.
About a month ago I received an email from Andy Spence and this is what he had to say about Cut n Paste a new weed control weapon:

“My product was developed over a a few years when I was the Park Ranger at Whakanewha Regional Park on Waiheke Island and the Biosecurity Officer for the island. Waiheke is laughingly called WeedHeke by those in the know and with good reason. We have many people here who are very anti chemicals and sprays.
My experience with trying to kill persistent weeds with non systemic herbicides led me to develop my product.
It is Glyphosate based but puts the active ingredient in a gel form that is very safe and easy to use and so many people who previously were very reluctant to use sprays feel fine with using the gel.
You put the gel exactly where you want it and it stays in the plant and doesn't migrate through the soil unlike a competitive product.
It also kills problem grasses and almost everything else including some things that Glyphosate as a spray won't touch, like ginger and ivy's and some bamboos.”
I was very interested and I told Andy that I would write about Cut n Paste so gardeners could try it out for themselves.
As I have been very busy relocating to another residence in Palmerston North Andy supplied me with the following:

"I'd like to introduce a new product to all you keen gardeners.
We all struggle with perennial weed problems in our gardens. Plants that just wont' go away!
Now you know that I try to stay as organic as possible but we also know that the organic weedkillers don't actually kill the roots of these hard to kill weeds.
Well I'd like to present this new product called appropriately Cut'n'Paste.
It's a very low toxicity (9.1D), glyphosate based, brush on weedkiller gel that if very effective.
Sprays are just not the way to go if you can avoid them so this product gives the answer to effective weed control.
Because it's a gel applied with a brush it's highly targeted.
It just goes into the plant that you want to remove and that's where it stays. The plant dies in situ and you can just leave it to rot away.
It won't translocate through the soil to affect other plants. It's very reasonably priced and comes in a generous 450ml bottle.
The bottle is a bright blue which is very smart as it's hard to lose in the garden whilst you're working away. The bright orange brush top is so convenient to apply the gel and the cap prevents the gel from getting on your hands and clothes. You need very little pressure on the bottle and brush to make the gel go on.
To deal to a large weed like gorse or Chinese privet you need a pair of good loppers or a garden hand saw.
Just cut the plant as low to the ground as you can and immediately apply the gel to the freshly cut stump. The plant will suck in the herbicide and not re-sprout again. Very simple can convenient.
When the weed is still small it's simple to just paste a little gel onto the underside of some of the top leaves. The gel is then slowly taken into the plant through the stomata over a few hours.
Plants that are very resistant to sprays are affected by the gel because the gel holds the herbicide in place for much longer forcing the plant to take it in. When you're painting onto leaves it makes sense to wear a pair of rubber gloves to get the gel off your fingers.
How simple is that to just go weeding with a bottle and loppers! For those that understand a bit about herbicides, this one uses a glyphosate formulation that was chosen especially for it's mild detergents (surfactants) what are much less toxic to animals but just as toxic to plants.
The trials of the product have all shown that it's effective on a very broad range of plants including really tough ones like ginger and agapanthus, all the broadleaf weeds and grasses too. There is another product out there that's similar but it's more toxic and doesn't kill grasses.
With Cut'n'Paste even large pampass grasses can be killed by pasting the gel into a number of the growing shoots (the large the plant the more shoots that need to be treated). Gorse is a doddle, just cut and paste! It's much easier to get rid of the branches of a live gorse bush that a dead one after it's been sprayed.”
If you want to try out the product ask for it at your local garden centre and if they don't know about it tell them to contact me for details.
I think that this product will solve a lot of weed problems for gardeners in a safer manner than spraying.

Ordering information

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There are two seasonal pests that are going to emerge over the next few weeks and start off another cycle of damage. The pests are the Codlin Moth and Grass Grub Beetle. When these adult pests actually emerge, will depend on the weather and the amount of warmth with November and December been the normal months of activity.
The codlin moth emerges after apples, pears and walnuts fruit have set on the trees.
Coming out from their cocoons and becoming active at dusk, when temperatures are over 15 degrees. They mate and the female lays eggs (up to 300) on the foliage of the host trees. The eggs hatch after 10-14 days and head for the nearest young fruit, where they eat a hole and tunnel into the centre, doing the damage they are well known for. Knowing the above gives one a good indication of when best to use a control.
The first method to to obtain a codlin moth pheromone trap that lures the male moths to its sticky pad. (Many garden centres stock the traps.) The traps themselves are likely to reduce the instance of damage if set up about now. If in a perfect world, you were to catch all the male moths before they had a chance to mate, then the females would lay only infertile eggs. But as we see, only one female needs to mate, to ruin up to 300 fruit! So the trap is not a perfect control but it is a fantastic monitor.
A tin of treacle hanging in an onion bag will also work as a trap for the male moths. By checking the trap every couple of days one can determine when the moths are active and then start spraying about 7 days later.
Neem Tree Oil, sprayed about every 7-10 days to cover the young fruit will help to reduce damage.
Spraying starts 7 days after an influx of males is noted in the trap. (Without a trap start once the temperatures are about 15 degrees) Spray late in the day after the sun is off the trees and repeat every 7-10 days. Add Raingard to the spray to prevent washing off in rain and to give additional UV protection. (MBL can be added too)
If totally successful one should only find a pin prick scar on fruit, at maturity (where the grub took its first and only bite)
If you have an apple, pear or walnut tree that has not had the problem in the past, then don't worry about any controls. If the problem develops in time to come, then you can do the above.
Next our arch enemy the Grass Grub Beetle. These are emerging from October through to December in most parts of the country. Two signs can be observed to determine their activity; 1/ you will notice the foliage of a number of plants such as roses, beans and citrus being eaten but no pest present. (Holes are noted during the day when the beetles are away resting.) 2/ You will hear after dusk, the thump of the beetles hitting un-curtained windows of rooms, with lights on.
The more beetles that you can kill will reduce the damage to lawn grasses and the roots of other plants. (Each female can lay up to 40 eggs)
Knowing that the beetles are attracted to light makes them an easy target for control.
Secure a wall-paper trough (or similar) right under a window pane, fill two thirds with water and float a small amount of kerosene on to the water. Turn a strong light on in this window prior to dusk and leave till activity has stopped for the night.
The beetles will fly to the light, hit the window, fall down into the trough and not be able to get out because of the floating kerosene. Do this too, one or more windows, facing each lawn area. Your competition will be any other lights, which if under your control should be turned off (especially outside lights) Pull curtains on other windows.
Street Lights will reduce the effectiveness of this method in the front of your home, if you are near a street light. Lawn areas near street lights are always the worst effected by the grass grubs.
You don't want a lot of holes in your rose’s leaves and other plants so you will need to spray their foliage with Neem Tree Oil and Raingard mixed, about every 10-14 days.
You spray the leaves, a beetle comes along that night, takes a munch on the leaf and stops eating. The beetle then starves to death. This can also be an effective control in reducing the number of grubs that are going to eat your lawn’s grasses. So watch closely for plants that have holes in their leaves and no sign of a culprit. Soon as noticed, start spraying.
The female beetles that mate and lay eggs, lay the eggs 70 to 200mm deep in the lawn.
The larvae hatch about 16 to 21 days later and start feeding on the roots at that depth.
Far too deep to have any effect from chemical or natural controls so don't waste your time and money trying to kill the grubs till next autumn when they have eaten their way up nearer to the surface.
You can however do your best to keep the lawn in good health and actively growing by applying adequate moisture, slow release food such as Bio Boost. De-thatch with Thatch Busta. Do a monthly spray with MBL, Perkfection and Mycorrcin mixed together. Only mow the top third off the grasses, on any one mowing and adjust the mower to mow at a height of about 30 to 50 mm for normal mowing.
Lawns that are growing on heavy soils should be top dressed with Gypsum a couple of times a year and watered in. This breaks up the heavy soils and allows for better root penetration and production. There is nothing nicer than a green carpet of lawn, flowing between paths and gardens.
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Growing plants in a soil-less media, is a fascination for many gardeners and the term Hydroponics arose from this activity.
A number of Hydroponic Shops popped up some years back selling all sorts of equipment to enable both home gardeners and commercial operations to grow plants by this means. We now have hydroponic-grown vegetables, especially lettuces, available in many supermarkets and vegetable outlets.
Growing plants by hydroponic methods is very easy and is only as expensive to set up as you wish it to be. A fun automatic system will cost you a small pump, some piping, plastic containers and plastic fittings, put together with common sense.
Or if you have the time to pour some solution 2 or 3 times a day, very minimal costs are involved.
Try the following bucket method to grow say 3 lettuces, a tomato plant or a potato plant.
Obtain a 20 litre plastic bucket or container, at about 40mm up from the bottom drill a hole of a size suitable to place a simple plastic tap. The tap should be the type that has lock nuts, washers and thread.
Glue a piece of fine mesh over the nut end of the tap. (Prevents the tap blocking) Next obtain a bag of pumice granules, these should vary in size from fine to course. Fill your bucket to near the top with the pumice and with the tap turned to on, pour in clean water till the tap flows freely.
Next take say three lettuce seedlings and wash the mix off their roots by rinsing them in a bucket of water. Plant them into the pumice in a triangle formation near the rim of the container. This means that they will grow well enough apart and over the edge of the container as they mature. You now need a complete liquid food that will give the lettuces all the nutrients that they need to grow and mature.
In the past, Hydroponic foods have been two parts, A & B which you would mix together. A few years ago a Hydroponic Company produced a new nutrient formulation called Matrix Reloaded.
It has all the goodies and you simply put 10 mils into a Litre of water to use. Another big advantage of this food is its in balance for both growth and flowering so you don't have to switch to a different type of nutrient when flowering starts on tomatoes and other flowering fruiting plants.
With the tap still on, pour a little of the diluted Matrix Reloaded over each of the seedlings. When the tap starts dripping turn it to the off position. Pour a few more mils of the solution onto each of the plants.
Thats all you need to do at this time. Make sure your planted container is in a sunny, sheltered situation and somewhere where you do not forget to check it every day. A glasshouse is perfect. When the pumice looks dryish, open the tap and slowly add more mixed up solution till the tap starts to drip. Turn off the tap and add a little more solution.
There is a reservoir of moisture/solution below the tap line and this moisture will be drawn up as the level of moisture above decreases. (Capillary action)
As our plants grow the amount of moisture/nutrient needs increase and we will need to add more nutrient or water once or twice a day. Salts will build up in the bucket which is not desirable. Its a little trial and error but once you reach the point where you are adding nutrient every day then every second/third day just add plain water. Nutrient one day, plain water next two days and then nutrient.
At 14 days run plain water, with the tap open to flush out system. Following day use nutrient, next day water etc. Flushing is important.
If growing a tomato make sure you have a stake in the container for support. Tomatoes need more nutrient than lettuces so one day nutrient next water and third day nutrient.(Once again at the time when moisture has to be added every day)
To grow a potato you don't fill the container with the pumice instead you plant the seed potato just above the tap level and cover it. As the foliage grows you keep adding more pumice to cover. Do so till you are about 70mm from top of container. As the new potatoes form they will displace the pumice which may eventually spill over the sides of the container. Fairly simple and a bit of fun.
If you want to use a pump system then you set up a length of plastic spouting with stops on both ends. Obtain 30mm thick polystyrene sheet and cut into a strip so it fits neatly into the top of the spouting.
Obtain some grow-tubes or small plastic pots which sit into the polystyrene when you cut suitable holes for them, spaced apart for allowing the plants room.
A hole is drilled low on one end of the gutter stop and a hose connector secured there with grommets. Set the guttering up on blocks with about a 10 degree fall to the hose connector end, with a holding tank below to collect the nutrient.
Sit your pump in the tank with a pipe running up to the higher end of the spouting. Use with an adaptor to 13mm common irrigation tubing so that you can put a adjustable on/off in this line. (So you can adjust flow rate.)
Place pea metal in the base of the guttering to slow and spread the flow of liquid. Place your plants with clean roots into each of the pots holding the plants secure with sphagnum moss.
Fill the tank with clean water and run the system for a day. Empty tank and fill with Diluted Matrix Reloaded. Run the system. For the next 7 to 14 days top up tank with plain water as needed. After this time take solution and water into gardens or pot plants and start a fresh solution off.
You can enhance either method by adding some MBL (Magic Botanic Liquid), Mycorrcin and Ocean Solids (dissolved), for all the benefits these products give to plants.
If slimes or algae happen put in a few drops of Moss Control or spray the same over areas that the green is building.
You can add some diluted Neem Oil to the solution to help with insect pests.
The guttering method is great for growing strawberries, dwarf beans and lettuces where tomatoes, cucumbers etc will require extra support.
A frame can be made to support two or three levels of guttering and piped so one flows into the other downwards to the holding tank The guttering is stepped outwards so they don't shade each other.
Smaller growing plants on the bottom, with taller plants supported on the top. Its a lot of practical, productive fun with Matrix Reloaded making it easy to do. Matrix Reloaded is available from many Garden Centres and its a wonderful liquid plant food for gardens and containers as well.
When using it as a plant food you mix Matrix with water and leave it for half an hour before using.
This allows the mix to adjust.
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Labour Weekend puts us about bang in the middle of spring, which is the time deemed historically in New Zealand, as the best time to get your gardens planted out for the summer and autumn.
Keen gardeners have already made significant progress in their gardens so likely they are into the final touches and the daily care patterns of watering, along with nipping out weed seedlings that pop up.
Even people that do not normally do much more gardening than mowing the lawn and spraying some herbicide around, tend to become more motivated about now.
It must be the spring thing which is often referred to as ‘Spring Cleaning’
This term actually came about in days gone by when the weather warmed in the spring and people would take out the old hay, which was used to cover the earthen, kitchen floor. Fresh hay would be spread and likely the old hay would be dug into the vegetable plot.
Spring is the time for renewal and all around us birds are sitting on their nests of hatchlings and causing a bit of havoc in gardens as they search for tidbits to feed the young. In fact I had a call from a gardener that had the problem of blackbirds chucking around his garden mulch in their quest for food.
To solve this problem supply the birds with ample food for their young. This is best done by obtaining a bit of liver and chopping it up into small bits. Place these in a pot with 3 cups of rice and sufficient water to cook. Stir occasionally till the rice is cooked. Place spoonfuls of the mix out in suitable spots for the birds to eat. Do this 2-3 times a day and again after dark so the birds who wake up before most people in the morning, have the food for breakfast. The rice mix keeps well in the fridge for a few days.
To keep the birds off the areas where you don't want them you can string some Bird Repeller Ribbon which is available from most independent garden centres.
The desire to nurture their young is so great that the ribbon will be of little use unless you supply a good amount of food. Besides the rice, you can feed them bird seed, bread etc, but protein is what the birds want for their young and that comes from the liver and rice mix. I feed my chooks this mix every day for their lunch and they love it.
It is this ‘spring cleaning’ come nurture aspect which motivates our non gardening friends to get out and plant a few shrubs, flowers and even vegetables at this time of the year. If these plantings are successful they take pride in their efforts and start to become true gardeners in their own right.
When weather conditions or lack of knowledge results in failures, they consider that their thumbs are not green and carry on with their other normal pursuits.
Planting out of seedlings is one of the main tasks at this time along with germinating seeds for planting out later. Seedlings face three dangers that can decimate the young plants. Birds, which we have already mentioned. Cats, which just love freshly prepared soils as toilets. Slugs and snails that like seedlings.
To keep cats away from your new gardens obtain a product that is called ‘Cat Repellent,’ sprinkle some of the crystals around the area to protect, and over 95% of the local cats will stay away. As the crystals evaporate sprinkle a few more till the cats have formed new habits.
Slugs and snails also can attack seedlings and the best method of dealing with them is to spray Liquid Copper with Raingard added over the seedlings and surrounding soil. The slugs and snails cannot go over copper without being effected so they stay away from treated areas. Repeat treatment about every 10 to 14 days.
This method is far better than using poison baits which can kill pets and birds and are also dangerous to have around with small children. Slugs and snails are an advantage in the garden as they aid in the breakdown of decomposing organic material and are an important part of the soil food web. We just need to keep them off our living plants.
Germinating seedlings is a frustrating experience for many gardeners because they do not provide sufficient natural light for the new seedlings. The seeds sown in trays or punnets can be started off indoors but as soon as the first show of germination takes place they must be moved to a place where they have full light but not strong direct sunlight. Ideally a glasshouse with a bit of shade cloth is perfect.
Alternatively take an old drawer and place it in a morning or late in the day sun situation.
Place your trays in the drawer with panes of glass over the drawer to protect the young seedlings from the elements. Raise the glass slightly for ventilation. Seedlings on a windowsill will stretch to the window and become weak and dampen off. When the seedlings have natural light from above they do not stretch, growing as natural, stocky plants.
Use potting mix for germinating seedlings as it is better and cheaper than special seed raising mixes. Fill the tray two thirds full of the potting mix, sieve some more mix over this to obtain a layer of the finer particles. Sprinkle the seeds over the fine particles and sieve some more mix to slightly cover the seeds.
With a fine rose watering can or a mist sprayer, moisten down the sowing with Magic Botanic Liquid (MBL) mixed with water at 10 mls per litre. This aids the germination. Keep the seeds moist but not over wet.
Once the seedlings have reached the second true leaf stage the tray should be soaked in the MBL and water mix and then the seedlings are pricked out into cell trays or small pots for later planting into the gardens.
When planting out a garden plot remove all the weeds by hand and hoe up the soil to loosen it, if compacted. Cover the area with a layer of compost which can be obtained these days from garden centres in bags or by the trailer load. Before spreading the compost over the prepared ground, you can enhance the mineral content of the soil by sprinkling Rok Solid and Ocean Solids. Sheep Manure pellets, Blood & bone, dolomite & gypsum can also be applied at the suggested rates on the containers.
Then an inch or two of the compost is used to cover these goodies. Now the seedlings can be planted into the compost and watered in with MBL and Mycorrcin. The later along with the MBL will start assisting the microbe populations to build up making for better healthier plants and gardens.
You may like to spray your seedlings with Vaporgard an hour or two before transplanting. This reduces moisture loss and makes a big difference in reducing transplant shock. The seedlings not only stand up quicker and start growing faster but it also protects them against cold snaps and late frosts.
Once planted and watered in you can sprinkle the Cat Repellent around if need be and spray the seedlings and mulch with Liquid Copper and Raingard to keep the slugs and snails at bay.
It is important that you water your new plantings lightly and frequently, such as every day while they are establishing.
Here we bring in an interesting point; tap water in some areas has chlorine added to the water which is not good for the soil or plants. The tap water will get dry soil moist, but it also kills beneficial microbes in the soil and on the plants, slowing down the plant’s growth and health. Some areas have greater amounts of chlorine in the water that others and you can smell this poison when you turn on the tap. Also not good for your own health either.
When it rains you will notice that plants really come away as the rain water is much more beneficial for the gardens than the chlorine doctored tap water.
I overcame this problem several years ago by investing in a low cost water filter which is connected to my garden hose. An excellent investment, which removes another toxic chemical from our gardens (along with any other pesticides/chemical traces that are in many tap water supplies)
Another step towards having healthy plants and gardens. Have a great Labour Weekend.
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A reader, in their email a while back, asked if I could write an article on Companion Planting.
As many of us are busy planting out seedlings into our gardens, it is an opportune time to have a wee look at what can be planted next to each other for some benefits and what should not. In fact this latter aspect of what should not be grown near each other is in my mind more important. Anything that reduces good growth or creates other problems is a negative and as some gardeners do have problems anyway why add to them?
To start with let’s look at our gardening friends that live in the soil, microbes (bacteria) and fungi.
There is a ratio that forms in soils where one group of these will be more dominate that the other while both will provide vast benefits to your plants. We find in natural forests that the fungi are kings, where on natural grass lands the microbes rule. Thus our trees and shrubs (small trees) prefer lots of the many various fungi to do best. Our lawns, vegetables and flowers want their mates the microbes.
There are exceptions to this rule as nature is not finite in its preferences such as woodland plants like strawberries live and perform best in soils with ample beneficial fungi and fewer microbes.
We notice that grass and a number of other plants do not do well near trees and shrubs. Certainly it can be the aspect of shade and the trees taking out moisture and nutrients from the soil.
When we apply ample moisture and nutrients, as well as removing the lower branches to afford reasonable natural light to these plants and grasses they still do not do as well as the same plants a bit further away.
The added moisture and food certainly makes the trees grow bigger and faster. It is to do with the balance of the soil life. I love trees for the shelter and shade they provide but have always found my vegetables growing near the trees are never as good as the same ones a bit further away.
There is a certain amount of proved science about some companion planting and the rest is unproven. Much has been noticed by gardeners over hundreds of years and this is termed traditional knowledge.
One of my favourites is the planting of corn seeds and once these plants are up a foot or so then bean seeds (or peas) are planted next to each corn plant.
Later when the beans have started to climb up the corn squash seeds are planted in amongst them. This is a traditional planting by the North American Natives in some tribes. One can see the immediate benefit of the beans or peas having the taller corn plants to climb up or support and the larger leaves of the squash aiding in the retention of soil moisture.
But another aspect pertains, beans and peas are nitrogen fixers and corn and squash need heaps of natural nitrogen to grow well. This same planting can be applied to tall growing sunflowers too.
We have in these two cases very beneficial companion plantings. Clover is also a great nitrogen fixer.
Here is an interesting case I was told about in regards to clover and Roundup. The group of farmers who use the mineral rock dust they call ‘Probitas’ did a trial in two paddocks next to each other. One paddock was sprayed with Roundup to kill the grasses and weeds then ploughed. The other paddock was just ploughed with no herbicide used. Probitas (Mineral Rock dust) and lime were applied to both paddocks and then tilled.
Then clover seeds were drilled planted in both. The clovers grew in both paddocks but the non Roundup treated paddock had better looking plants. Later some clover plants were lifted in both paddocks to check the root nodules which fix the nitrogen. In the Roundup treated paddock the nodules were small and sparse.
Where in the non Roundup treated paddock the root nodules were large and like bunches of grapes.
A very interesting result which shows how much harm is done to the soil with these types of herbicides.
Another reason for planting different plants together is insect pest control.
The African marigold releases thiopene which is a nematode repellent, making it a good companion for a number of garden crops. There are plants that attract beneficial insects because they provide a nectar source for them. Phacelia Lacy has proved popular with some for this purpose attracting bees and predictor small wasps.
(The wasps kill the aphids by laying their eggs in the aphid’s body) Another way is to plant a Shoo fly plant which attracts white fly and helps keep the pest off your other plants.
(I don't know how well this works in reality but the Shoo fly plant certainly gets covered in whitefly)
Now lets look at a few examples of common vegetables and what can be planted next to them and what should not.
Asparagus likes tomatoes, parley and basil: Climbing beans like corn, summer savory and radish but not onion, beets kohlrabi and sunflowers. Dwarf or bush beans don't like onions but like potatoes, cucumber, corn, strawberry, celery and summer savory.
Brassicas (cabbages etc) like aromatic herbs, celery, beets, onion family, chamomile and chard but not dill, strawberries, climbing beans and tomatoes.
Carrots like peas, lettuce, rosemary, onion family, sage and tomatoes but not dill.
Celery is happy with onion & cabbage families, tomato, dwarf beans and nasturtium.
Corn likes beans, pea, pumpkin, cucumber and squash but not tomatoes.
Cucumbers like beans, corn, peas, sunflowers and radish but not potatoes or aromatic herbs.
Eggplant likes beans and marigolds. Lettuce prefers carrot, radish, strawberries and cucumber.
Onions do well with beets, carrots, lettuce, cabbage and summer savory but not beans or peas.
Parsley prefers tomatoes and asparagus. Peas like carrots, radish, turnip, cucumber, corn and beans but not onion family, gladiolus or potatoes. Grow your spuds along side of beans, corn, cabbage family, marigolds and horseradish avoiding pumpkin, squash, tomato, cucumber and sunflowers.
Pumpkins get on well with corn and marigolds but not potatoes. Radish like peas, nasturtium, lettuce and cucumbers but avoid hyssop. Tomatoes prefer onions, nasturtium, marigolds, asparagus, carrot, parsley and cucumber but not potatoes, fennel and cabbage family. Turnip like peas but not potatoes.
Likely there are many others but this is a good starting point for those that wish to use the system of companion planting.
I remember once that I converted some waste land for a crop of potatoes and found that mint was growing in the area. I left the mint to grow hoping that I would not need to mint the potatoes when boiling. It didn't work the potatoes never gathered the mint flavour.
Another interesting aspect is gardening by the moon phases. For instance it is said that you should plant seeds when the moon is ascending and harvest when descending. I understand that when the moon is up and especially around full moon time on a clear night that the sun light reflected off the moon gives plants some light which allows them to grow when compared to a no moon time.
When I was a nurseryman I was planting seeds virtually everyday and never noted a better response to ascending or descending moon. I also asked other nurserymen the same and they also said it appeared to make no significant difference. (Moon light or artificial light at night will make sprouted seeds grow bigger quicker) So is there any truth in gardening by the moon to obtain better results?
I believe so because of our own conscious thoughts. If we believe something is going to grow better because of an X factor and hold that thought in mind while gardening the plants will respond.
It is like growing two identical plants in pots near each other. One you tell how much you love it and the other you say how bad it is. Do this daily and the bad one will fair poorly and likely die where the good one will grow lush and happy. Now if we could only apply this to our weeds it would solve a real problem.
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Wow its October already and Labour weekend is only a few weeks away.
Daylight saving has started which means you have extra time in the late afternoon/early evening to potter around the gardens and get things organised for the summer.
It is a busy time if you have not been keeping up with the gardening chores and even if you have, there is still ample to keep your fingers twitching, whether they are green or not.
The important aspect to remember this season is to garden the soil instead of the plants which means you put most of your efforts into producing great soil and then the plants will look after themselves much better.
Don't water your garden with chlorinated tap water, place a filter on the outside tap to remove the chlorine. This costs about $140 to set up and then about $40 dollars every year or two to replace the filter depending on your water usage.
Avoid using cheap chemical fertilisers and if using any man made fertilisers do so sparingly so there will be minimal damage to the soil.
Avoid using chemical herbicides around food and preferred garden areas such as rose beds.
The chemicals from these weed killers do affect soil life and the health of your plants.
Feed the soil with natural products such as animal manures, compost, blood & bone etc..
For pest and disease control there are several natural products such as Neem that can be used when required.
Don't waste your money on the chemical ones which have got so expensive now and can do more damage than good. They damage the health of the plants, the health of the soil and the health of your wallet.
Mineralize the soil as our soils are now thousands of years old and they have lost the goodness/minerals they had a million years ago. Where did those minerals go?
Easy they went out to sea, got locked up in fossil deposits and have also survived in rocks.
To return them to our gardens we can use Ocean Solid, Rok Solid and Magic Botanic Liquid (MBL) Follow these guide lines above and you should see a noticeable difference in your gardens this season.
Before you do anything in the garden ask yourself this simple question; Is this good for my soil?
If yes, do it; if no then avoid it.
I have reports coming in regularly from gardeners telling me that their gardens have improved out of sight since using those simple methods. Their wallets have been a lot fatter too.

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It is about the right time to get your tomato plants either potted up or planted out depending where in the country you are.
The new pest call the tomato/potato psyllid and the old pest called whitefly will affect your crop this season unless you protect the plants and keep the pests numbers low.
What is likely to happen is the first fruit when they ripen will be of good size and about normal but as the season progresses the fruit will get smaller and smaller.
In some cases plants will be lost due to heavy infestations of the pests feeding on the plants.
You can liken this to having lots of blood sucking parasites on your body sapping your energy and not only that injecting into your body toxins which will make you sick and eventually kill you, unless you take remedial action. Its a real thought when it happens to ourselves and a very unpleasant one so imagine how your plants feel when it happens to them.
The plants do have defense mechanisms far better than our own antibodies and immune system but these systems only work in plants when the plants are in a healthy state as a result of very healthy soil. See the reason for gardening the soil?
Anyway a bit about the dreaded psyllid from my revised book, Wallys down To Earth Garden Guide;
The tomato/potato psyllid is going to be a big concern for many gardeners this season as well as commercial growers.
(From Crop and Food Research web site) The tomato potato psyllid (Bactericera cockerelli) is a pest attacking tomatoes and capsicums (both indoors and outdoors) and potatoes in New Zealand and can cause a reduction in fruit yield and quality.
The nymphs cause plant damage but adults also feed on the plants.
While feeding, the tomato potato psyllid (TPP) nymphs inject toxic saliva into the plant, causing the condition known as "psyllid yellows” in potatoes and tomatoes.
In capsicums young plants can be severely damaged by direct feeding of the nymphs.
Psyllid sugar is the symptom that you are most likely to see on your plants. Nymphs and possibly adults inject a toxin into the plants when they feed.
The toxin causes discoloration of leaves and the plant to become stunted exhibiting psyllid yellow and purple top. Leaf edges upturn and show yellowing or purpling.
The plants internodes shorten and new growth is retarded.
If the psyllids are removed, the plant may start to grow normally.
In tomatoes, psyllid feeding can cause plants to produce numerous small poor quality fruit or prevent fruit forming.
Solanaceous species (capsicum, egg plant, potatoes, tomatoes and black nightshade) are the preferred hosts, but it may breed on species of Convolvulaceae, including kumara, especially if high populations are nearby.
As from my earlier articles on this pest some gardeners have found that the use of Neem Tree Granules placed in the planting hole and sprinkled on the soil surface has assisted in the pest’s control.
This should also be supplemented by spraying Neem Tree Oil and Key Pyrethrum just prior to dusk, over and under the foliage of crops affected for a complete coverage.
The same spray can be applied over the Neem Granules on the soil to increase their potency.
The granules should be refreshed about every 6 to 8 weeks to keep a continual supply of the active ingredients entering the root system of the plants.
Originally I was under the impression that only tomatoes and potatoes were affected but now it has been shown that capsicums, (peppers) egg plants, Cape gooseberry and possibly kumara can be damaged.
Refer to the above for other plants and ornamentals that can be hosts to the pest such as nightshade.
The removal of these plants or controls as suggested should also be applied to them to prevent re-infesting on your target plants (tomatoes etc)
If there are host plants growing nearby such as in neighbouring properties then your control sprays will need to be increased in frequency.
The facts as I see them are; they are hard to spot and many gardeners will suffer crop losses thinking their crops are ok and not apply any controls, a female laying up to 510 eggs in 21 days makes for massive population increases which means they become harder to control.
Your best bet is preventative controls used from the time of planting and right through the growing season.
If you had the problem last season, then as sure as apples you are likely to have the problem again.

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Codlin moth in fruit such as apples can be a problem for many gardens that still like growing their own apples.
I wonder if the growing of apple trees is still as popular as they were many years back.
The early settlers were very keen apple tree growers and they had an amazing range of varieties some of which are still available as heirlooms. Nurseries such as Koanga (Just put Koanga into Google and you will be into their site info)
The reason that early settlers favoured apples was because they could be stored easily for winter use. I often have gardeners that contact me to say they have an old apple tree on their property which has lovely apples but often ruined by codlin moth grubs.
There are several methods that can be employed to control the problem but often gardeners not familiar with them get them mixed up and apply the right methods at the wrong time.
In my book, Wallys Green Tips For Gardeners, I wrote the following about the subject:

CODLIN MOTH : Codlin moths attack apples, pears, walnuts, quinces, crab apples and stone fruit such as plums and peaches. The females lay their eggs on the foliage near a young fruit and when the grub hatches it crawls to the fruit and eats its way inside. Once inside it is very hard to control.
After a period of time of feeding it emerges and forms a cocoon in the loose bark or under the tree where it will winter over to emerge as a moth in the spring/summer and start the cycle again.
A female moth can lay up to 300 eggs during her short life.
There are numerous ways to control the pest and for bad infestations it is worth using several of them.
The interesting thing is that you can have an apple tree, as I have and never have the problem.
This will be the case if you plant a tree in a situation which is of a good distance from any other infected tree/area. The only chance of a non infected tree becoming infected is to have a female blown in from an infected area.
Recent Hint: Place a tin partly filled with treacle in each infected tree early in the season when the tree starts to flower.
Top up the treacle as need be. The best way is to place the tin in an onion bag and hang from a branch at a height where you can easily monitor it.
The treacle gives off a pheromone smell similar to the female codlin moth and attracts the males where they will come to a sticky end.
This achieves two aspects; if all the males are caught then they cannot fertilise the females and dud eggs will be laid. Secondly by monitoring the treacle every few days you will be able to determine when the moths are on the wing and take further action.
Once a number of male moths are noticed, spray the young apples with Neem Tree Oil about every 7 days till activity in the tins stops.
Some gardeners have also informed me that the scattering of Neem Tree Granules under the apple tree at the very beginning of the season has reduced damage considerably.
The granules need further applications about every 4 to 6 weeks till activity has finished for the season.
(I think its the smell of the Neem Granules that works in this case)
Older methods include; wrapping corrugated cardboard around the trunk of the tree and on main branches in summer which the emerged grubs can crawl to pupate and winter over.
New types of corrugated cardboard like products are not so suitable. The down side of this is that some grubs will not crawl down the tree, instead drop to the ground on a silken thread.
The cardboard is removed in winter and burnt.
Placing grease bands around the trunk to catch and stick the moths crawling up the tree in the spring/summer period.
The sticky band has to be one that stays sticky and currently I don't think there is one on the market that does that.
Not all moths will climb the tree and a number will fly up so once again not foolproof.
If you have chickens then in the winter let them free range under the affected trees so that they can scratch out and eat the cocoons in the soil.
Pheromone traps with sticky pads are sold by garden centres to do the same job as the tin of treacle does. If you clean up all the codlin moths from on and under an infected tree then you will be free of the problem till re-infestation occurs from elsewhere.
Another possible control would be Professor's Macs 3 in 1 as a soil drench applied in winter to zap the pests in the soil while in their winter state.
While listening to Radio Live a lady rang in with the following recipe.
1 ltr warm water
100g sugar
1 tsp marmite
1/2 Tbsp cloudy ammonia
1/2 Tbsp vanilla.
Mix well and divide between 2 plastic milk or soft drink bottles. Punch holes just above the level of the mix and hang in tree.
The person reporting it said: I did this just as the tree was starting to flower and am amazed to see the bottles full of the darned things.
Now would be the right time to sprinkle Neem Granules under the tree from the trunk to the drip line.
When the tree has just about finished flowering use the treacle or other recipe as a trap.
Then when activity is noted spraying can commence.
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There are many advantages in having raised gardens to grow your vegetable and herb plants; though with most herbs a good size pot is a better choice.
Raised gardens should be really raised and not just a few cm above soil level; in fact even 30 cm is not a good raised garden. We are talking about a raised garden 80cm tall.
This means you are not doing a lot of bending and if used correctly they are fairly free of weeds.
In my 3rd book I wrote about building a perfect raised garden so here is an extract from Wallys Gardening & Health.
A few years back I came up with an idea to build a raised garden using corrugated roofing iron and 100 x 100 posts to secure the iron to. The structure would not be set into the ground, instead it would sit on top of existing soil. It could be sitting on gravel or concrete if need be.
I selected new roofing iron 1.8 metres long and thus needed 3 sheets to make up the raised garden with one sheet cut in half for the two ends. (900cm wide) Sheets of galvanised iron are 85cm wide so this would be the height of the raised garden.
I obtained some treated 100 x 100 fence posts and cut them to 4 lengths of 85cm. As the wood was treated and I did not want any chemicals leaching into the garden I gave each post two coats of acrylic paint to seal in the chemicals.
Once they had been left for a few days to dry completely I laid two of the posts on the ground 1.8 metres apart and placed one full length sheet of iron over the posts so that it was all square and the iron completely covered the posts. Next a drill was used to drill suitable sized holes in the iron to take the roof type screws. (That’s the ones with washers) The holes were drilled into the iron on most of the corrugations that were touching the posts.
This is opposite to how you would affix iron for a roof as on a roof you want the water flow to go down the corrugated channels with no holes to allow the water to enter the building.
Then it was a simple matter of screwing the iron to the two posts. The same was then repeated for the other two posts and the long sheet of iron. Now I had two long sides and only need to stand them up and drill and screw the two ends made by cutting one sheet in half.
It is best to do this final operation in the spot where you want your raised garden to be.
Ideally one long side should be facing as near as possible to the north so that side will be in full sun for most of the day to warm up the mix used. To fill the raised garden I started by laying a few sheets of cardboard over the soil at the base. This can go over existing grass if in a lawn area or over existing weeds in a garden area. If there are any tall weeds these should have been cut down prior to assembly.
The cardboard creates a temporary barrier and is loved by earth worms to encourage them into our raised garden.
Next I used a lot of organic rubbish to cover the cardboard which included trimmings of shrubs, leaves, grass clippings, food scraps, animal manure, saw dust or shavings of non-treated wood, weeds and straw. You can use any of the above in layers to build the height up to over half the height of the structure.
Trample this down and add most of the above till the garden is a bit over half filled after the final tramping. Then a good dose of garden lime can be sprinkled over the rubbish.
Next I placed a couple of thicknesses of cardboard over the rubbish.
Having a good amount of my own compost and spent mix from containers this was then applied over the last lot of cardboard. I also spread more animal manure into this layer along with vermicast and worms from a worm farm. If you do not have a worm farm then use a little top soil instead.
If you do not have your own compost and old mix from containers then I would suggest you purchase mushroom compost or purchased compost.
As this layer may contain weed seeds I then covered it with a few thickness of wet newspaper.
Over the newspaper I applied Rok Solid, Ocean Solids, Gypsum, Lime, BioPhos, Bio Boost, dry chook manure, Neem Tree Granules and dolomite. If the area is to be used to grow potatoes or tomatoes leave out the Lime.
Sheep manure pellets and Blood & Bone can also be used.
The final layer will be purchased compost and would recommend Daltons or Oderings for this.
So what should the layers be in depth? Seen we start of with a structure that is 85cm tall I would recommend the following;
First layer of organic material about 35cm deep compressed.
Second layer of homemade compost and spent mix about 15cm deep.
Third layer of purchased compost about 10cm deep.
This leaves about 25cm between the height of the last layer and the top of the iron.
You are now ready to either sow seeds or plant seedlings.
Because of the 25cm gap between the last layer of mix and the top of the garden we have created a natural wind barrier which is great protection for the establishment of the vegetables.
If you notice a problem with either birds or cats getting into the raised garden then simply place a sheet of small gauge wire netting over the whole structure.
This can be stretched into place and held secure at each of the 4 corner posts with a nail in each post.
Later on, when the plants have matured, to the point where they are touching the netting, then remove it.
Now all you need to do is keep the top layer of mix moist by watering with non chlorinated water.
This can simply be achieved by placing a 5 to 10 micron filter and housing onto your outdoor tap.
A two weekly spray of MBL and Mycorrcin will help keep your vegetables healthy and produce better crops faster. If planting different types of vegetables in the raised garden then ensure that the tallest ones go to the rear or southern aspect and the shorter ones to the front or northern aspect so they all gain their share of sun light without shading each other.
When harvesting a crop do not pull the plants out, instead cut them off with a sharp knife just below the mix’s surface. This of course does not apply to root crops where you have to disturb the soil to lift.
Leaving roots intact is additional food for the raised garden and does not disturb the beneficial fungi in the soil.To replant all you need to do is apply the products mention above prior to the last layer of mix and about 40mm of fresh purchased compost.
As the organic material in the bottom layer breaks down over time the level of your mix will drop.
The fresh compost applied will make up for the drop at re-planting time.
The system is like growing on a compost heap which many will have noticed that pumpkin seeds and potato peelings grow into great plants from a compost heap.
Another advantage of this type of raised garden is if you move house you can unscrew the iron sheets and take the posts and iron to your new home.
The materials used should give you many years of satisfactory gardening.
The walkway area around the raised garden can be kept clear of weeds by laying a strip of black plastic film and covering with stones or bark.
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Now is the time to start looking at your stone fruit trees and dependant on where you are in New Zealand, will depend on the movement (Bud swell and leaf emergence) for the new season.
Often gardeners miss the critical time to control annual problems and because of this they have limited success.
Last November I had a number of gardeners requesting information about the curly leaf problem on their trees, unfortunately it was a bit late to do much about it then.
Now is the right time... So here is a copy of that earlier article: (Note; as with the November article some of the content is from the Internet)
Peach leaf curl, also known as leaf curl, is a disease caused by the fungus Taphrina deformans.
Peach leaf curl affects the blossoms, fruit, leaves, and shoots of peaches, ornamental flowering peaches, and nectarines, and is one of the most common disease problems for backyard gardeners growing these trees. The distorted, reddened foliage that it causes is easily seen in spring.
When severe, the disease can reduce fruit production substantially.
Peach leaf curl first appears in spring as reddish areas on developing leaves. These areas become thickened and puckered, causing leaves to curl and severely distort. The thickened areas turn yellowish and then grayish white, as velvety spores are produced on the surface by the leaf curl fungus.
Later affected leaves turn yellow or brown and can remain on the tree or may fall off; they are replaced by a second set of leaves that develop more normally unless wet weather continues.
The loss of leaves and the production of a second set result in decreased tree growth and fruit production. Defoliation in spring may expose branches to sunburn injury.
The peach leaf curl pathogen also infects young, green twigs and shoots. Affected shoots become thickened, stunted, distorted, and often die. Only rarely do reddish, wrinkled to distorted (or hypertrophied) areas develop on fruit surfaces. Later in the season these infected areas of fruit become corky and tend to crack.
If leaf curl infection builds up and is left uncontrolled for several years, the tree may decline and need to be removed.
Leaf symptoms appear about 2 weeks after leaves emerge from buds. The fungus grows between leaf cells and stimulates them to divide and grow larger than normal, causing swelling and distortion of the leaf.
Red plant pigments accumulate in the distorted cells. Cells of the fungus break through the cuticle of distorted leaves and produce elongated, sac-like structures called asci that produce sexual spores called ascospores, which give the leaf a grayish white, powdery or velvet like appearance.
The ascospores are released into the air, carried to new tissues, and bud (divide) to form bud-conidia. The fungus survives the hot, dry summer as ascospores and bud-conidia (these are asexual spores) on the tree’s surfaces. When the weather turns cool and wet in fall, the ascospores germinate to produce more bud-conidia.
The new and old bud-conidia continue to increase in number by budding. Eventually a film of bud-conidia is formed on the tree’s surface. In spring, the bud-conidia move by splashing water from irrigation or rain and can infect new leaves.
Periods of cool, wet weather, when leaves are first opening on the tree, favor the disease. The optimum temperature for fungal growth in laboratory cultures is 20C, the minimum is 8.88C, and the maximum is 26C to 30C. Budding of bud-conidia occurs at or above 95% relative humidity.
Wetness from rain, dew, or irrigation for over 12.5 hours at temperatures below 16C is needed for infection. Maximum infection occurs when trees are wet for 2 or more days. Although leaves may be infected, symptoms may not appear if temperatures remain above 20C. Cool weather prolongs the period of disease development by favoring the pathogen and slowing leaf growth.
Development of peach leaf curl ceases when young tissue is no longer developing or when weather turns dry and warmer 26 to30C.
To prevent peach leaf curl, treat peach and nectarine trees with a fungicide every year after leaves have fallen in early winter. (Use Lime Sulphur or sprays of potassium permanganate)
Generally a single early treatment when the tree is dormant is effective, however, in areas of high rainfall or during a particularly wet winter it may be advisable to apply a second spray late in the dormant season, preferably as flower buds begin to swell, but before green leaf tips are first visible.
Copper. The most commonly used treatment, the greater the amount of copper particles, the more effective the product will be. (Use copper hydroxide such as Liquid Copper rather than copper oxychloride) However, other factors like coverage, use of additives like stickers and spreaders, (Raingard) and frequency and duration of rain, which can wash off the copper, will also impact product effectiveness. In all cases, the copper is active only when it is wet, when the copper ions are in solution.
This season I tried a different treatment for one of my stone fruit trees, instead of using the copper sprays.
I kept an eye on the developing leaves and when the first sign of any curly leaf appeared I then sprayed all the leaves within reach with Vaporgard, ensuring that both sides of the leaves were covered with the film.
Next a couple of days later I gave the tree and surrounding soil a good spray of potassium permanganate (Condys Crystals).
Since then I have done nothing but observed the results which is only about 20% of the leaves are affected by the disease. Most of the original leaves with the Vaporgard are good and its the ones that I had difficulty spraying that are most affected.
Another advantage with the Vaporgard is its UV shield aspect which protects the chlorophyll and allows the leaves to produce more energy from the sun.
The result is a better crop.
What to do if your tree has heaps of curly leaves and not too many good ones?
Well you could spray the good leaves with Vaporgard to improve their energy gaining potential.
The badly affected leaves will fall off to be replaced by new good leaves and these too could be sprayed with Vaporgard. This will assist in improving the size of the potential crop.
If the tree is too badly damaged then likely no crop this season.
After leaf fall in the autumn spray the tree all over with Lime Sulphur.
Leave for a while and in the middle of winter spray with potassium permanganate.
In the new season at the first sign of the disease on the new foliage spray with Vaporgard and then start a program with Liquid Copper sprays mixed with Raingard on a frequency of every 7 to 10 days.
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Some gardeners strive for perfection while others toil to produce reasonable gardens. No matter which category you are in, there is much satisfaction to be gained when your plants are looking good at the end of the day.
Its also great to go out to the vegetable plot and pick a nice head of broccoli, a few stalks of silverbeet, a lettuce, celery and some tomatoes for the evening meal.
You have real fresh vegetables (not ones days old from the green grocer) the taste is so different and you also know what has gone into the soil and how chemical free your produce is.
I like to cook a stew every now and then and I usually buy a swede from the supermarket to add to the mix.
Last season I threw a couple of swede seeds into one of my raised gardens and they germinated, then matured to good size. The amazing thing I found was when I cut into them they were juicy, not dry like I was used to from purchased ones.
The taste was divine.
The recent food survey showed that our fruit and vegetables have risen in price to the point that they are too dear for many families on lower incomes or with heavy commitments.
This makes for a another great reason to grow as much of your own fruit and vegetables as possible.
The easiest way to achieve this is with raised gardens using sheets of corrugated roofing iron The details on how this is done is in previous articles on my web site or in my third book ‘Wallys Gardening and Health’.
To have great gardens, produce, roses and flowers you need to garden your soil, forget the plants, they have been growing for thousands of years very happily till man came along and upset their life’s blood; The Soil.
When you garden the soil you feed it with all the natural things that are non acidic and not harmful to the soil life (Soil food Web)
That means no or very little man made fertilisers, no chemical sprays, no chemicals, no herbicides and no chlorinated water.
Last week we talked about putting minerals and elements back into our soils. The source of these are the Ocean (Ocean Solids) and from rocks (Rok Solid) There is another which is in liquid form called, Magic Botanic Liquid. (MBL)
How does this relate to you and your garden? There are many applications that MBL can be used for, some of the most interesting include; Unlocking chemicals in the soil. (If you have been using fertilisers in your garden for sometime you will have a lot of fertiliser locked up in the soil.) Drench the soil with MBL and these come available to plants.
You could have a lot of dollars locked up in your gardens and lawns. It will also clean up many undesirable chemicals in the soil and in one trial, contaminated land was transformed into certifiable organic in 12 months.
MBL is a growth booster for plants, it makes for much bigger root systems, stronger and healthier plants. It is been used with balanced NPK fertilisers to create world record vegetables in America such as 26.7 kg Celery and a 14 kg cauliflower to mention two of many.
If you are into growing record breaking vegetables for shows this could be for you. More benefits include; Aids and speeds up germination of seeds. Helps to release locked up fertilisers from past applications especially phosphates. Helps increase availability of chemical fertilisers and organic foods for plants. Helps reduce many common plant disease problems. Cleans up many toxic compounds, chemicals and oil spills in soil.
Helps to establish plants in areas where they cant or struggle to establish. Stimulates growth of soil micro organisms. Increases root respiration and formation. Increases availability of micro nutrients. Increases permeability of plant membranes, which enhances nutrient uptake.
Increases vitamin content of plants. Improves seed germination. Accelerates root development. Stimulates plant enzymes. Contains a number of trace elements such as Si, Mg, S, Mn and more. Increases photosynthesis. Contains silica which strengthens cell walls, helps block disease and regulates cell temperature which increases drought and frost tolerance.
Increase pH buffering properties of soil. Retains and releases water soluble fertilisers for plants when needed. Increases soil aeration. Improves soil structure. Makes soil more friable.
Has a capacity to detoxify chemical residues and heavy metals. A powerful, natural chelating agent. Improves taste and shelf-life. Fulvic acid (Part of MBL) can promote prolonged production, as it tends to delay the aging process. Fulvic acid increases the metabolism of proteins.
MBL used at the rates of 20 mils per litre as a soil drench as required and 10 mils per litre as a foliar spray once or twice a month.
A must for roses, tomatoes and all vegetable and fruit crops. Green keepers are using it for better turf so onto the lawn for better healthier lawns.
If you have brown patches on the lawn where dogs have urinated use MBL to restore or re-establish grass. Use on your flowering annuals for bigger displays and you will need less plants to fill beds. (with balanced NPK or organic mulches etc)
Whether you use chemical fertilisers or organic preparations, MBL will give you better results and you need to use far less chemical fertilisers and so saving you money.
Put it in your weed killers for better results. Can be mixed as a foliage spray with most garden sprays to advantage. The commercial trade name is Liquid Good.
I believe this is one of the greatest gardening products since we invented the spade. Because it has so many uses and advantages, thats why it was called, MAGIC.
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The recent cold snap had a lot of us shivering with the arctic chills and in Palmerston North it was the very first time I have witnessed a decent fall of snow.
The cold snap will have done a lot of good in gardens, killing pests that were hanging on till warmer times and also may have helped with some plant diseases as well.
A good freezing does wonders for gardens in winter.
There will be a number of pests and diseases that has survived the cold and they will cause problems in the coming season.
One aspect which is very common sense is; If you have very healthy plants then they are less likely to have much in the way of pests or diseases.
So what makes plants un-healthy? Stress would be one of the major problems and this can be caused by several things including; too wet, too dry, rapid changes to temperature, too hot, too cold, too humid wrong pH, incorrect growing conditions and lack of vital elements in the right proportions.
Unhealthy soil also is a big problem for plants and a unhealthy soil is one which has low soil life this includes worms, microbes and beneficial fungi.
If you feed acidic, manmade fertilisers to the soil, use chemical sprays, including all chemical herbicides, water with chlorinated water, then you harm the soil life then your gardens and plants are unhealthy. This results in greater attacks of insects and diseases which if you use chemicals to control the problems you actually increase the problem.
The problems get worse and the more you treat the worse they become and you spend a lot of wasted money. I have witnessed in the past gardeners spraying regularly with a once popular rose spray and never beating the problems. When they stopped using this chemical spray then after a few seasons the roses regained their natural health and looked 100 times better.
The alternative is to use only natural products to feed the soil such as; animal manures including sheep manure pellets, blood & bone, composts, BioBoost, Dolomite, Gypsum and garden lime along with many other natural products.
That is the first step to having healthy plants.
The next aspect is minerals and elements. There are 114 known minerals and elements on the planet and these are found in the right proportions in the blue water of our oceans.
About 95% sodium chloride (salt) the balance is the other 113 elements.
If you go out in a boat and collect a couple of containers of this mineral rich water and then dilute it to about 1 part to 10 and spray/water that over your gardens about every 3 months you will be putting all those natural elements into your gardens for your plants.
If you don't have the ability to obtain the ocean water then you can use a product called Ocean Solids. The second source of minerals is from ground up rocks of various types.
Rocks hold a vast amount of minerals and elements and when the rocks are crushed to power then the goodness is made available to the gardens.
Do you need both and I think the answer is yes as they perform in different ways.
Rok Solid is designed to work in the soil, increasing the mineral content to the benefit of the health of the soil and plants growing there.
Used on food crops means your produce will have greater nutritional value and taste.
Rok Solid contains over 60 minerals and elements and is specially selected for its natural energy (paramagnetism), this energy is what gives the soil it’s vitality assisting in the nutrient uptake of plants.
The high silica content (43%) helps in plant formation.
Rok Solid is blended with Organic 100 liquid fertiliser concentrate made from fish and seaweed, which contributes a further array of minerals, together with microbial stimulates.
These organisms being necessary to hold soil balance, regulate nutrient to the plants, build humus and help detoxify the soil.
Rok Solid is used at 100 grams per square metre for new plantings.
Alternatively about a level teaspoon into each planting hole for seedlings or a sprinkling along a row of seeds, with the seeds at planting time.
Larger plants about a level tablespoon in the planting hole.
For existing gardens with plants 100 grams per square metre twice a year (spring and Autumn) for fruit trees, shrubs, vegetable and flower gardens and lawns.
Roses an application of one to two teaspoons per rose spring and autumn.
For the home gardener Rok Solid is available in 1kg and 3 kg jars.
Analysis of Rok Solid (Averages)
Nitrogen [N] .15%
Phosphorus [P] .8%
Potassium {k} 1.4%
Sulphur [S] .14%
Calcium [Ca] 4.4%
Magnesium [Mg] 5.69%
Sodium [Na] 2.95%
Silica [Si] 43.0%
Iron [Fe] 39,000ppm
Manganese [Mn] 1,100ppm
Boron [B] 55ppm
Copper [Cu] 90ppm
Zinc [Zn] 142ppm
Cobalt [Co] 59ppm
Molybdenum [Mo] 2ppm
Selenium [Se] 3ppm
Plus many other trace elements.
Another big benefit from putting minerals into your gardens is that the food plants you grow will be brimming with goodness and that is how you make your body healthy also.
Our health begins along with all things in the soil. Healthy, mineral rich soil means great health for you and yours.
Why do 22 people in NZ die of cancer every day, with that number increasing each year?
The answer is very evident to anyone with a bit of grey matter between their ears.
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Lawns could be summarized into one of 3 groups, The Immaculate Lawn which is perfect in every way, even turf, always mowed frequently to an exact height, weed free and not a blade of grass out of place.
At the other end of the scale we have the Tatty Lawn, this is not really a lawn but a number of various weeds with the odd struggling bit of grass. It is never mowed but scalped with a rotary mower every now and then when the owner feels it should be cut down.
In between we have the Every Day Lawn which the owner tries to make into a better lawn but often because of other commitments the improvements are often haphazard.
To have that Immaculate Lawn takes a good amount of time, patience and money.
It can create a great sense of pride but also become a tomb stone around ones neck.
Recently a reader sent me this little story which puts another perspective on lawns.
Entitled: God,on Lawn Care

God said: "Frank, you know all about gardens and nature. What in the world is going on down there on the planet? What happened to the dandelions, violets, milkweeds and stuff I started eons ago? I had a perfect no-maintenance garden plan.
Those plants grow in any type of soil, withstand drought and multiply with abandon. The nectar from the long-lasting blossoms attracts butterflies, honey bees and flocks of songbirds. I expected to see a vast garden of colors by now. But, all I see are these green rectangles."
St. FRANCIS: It's the tribes that settled there, Lord. The Suburbanites. They started calling your flowers 'weeds' and went to great lengths to kill them and replace them with grass.
GOD: Grass? But, it's so boring. It's not colorful. It doesn't attract butterflies, birds and bees; only grubs and sod worms. It's sensitive to temperatures. Do these Suburbanites really want all that grass growing there?
ST. FRANCIS: Apparently so, Lord. They go to great pains to grow it and keep it green. They begin each spring by fertilizing grass and poisoning any other plant that crops up in the lawn.
GOD: The spring rains and warm weather probably make grass grow really fast. That must make the Suburbanites happy.
ST. FRANCIS: Apparently not, Lord. As soon as it grows a little, they cut it-sometimes twice a week.
GOD: They cut it? Do they then bale it like hay?
ST. FRANCIS: Not exactly, Lord. Most of them rake it up and put it in bags.
GOD: They bag it? Why? Is it a cash crop? Do they sell it?
ST. FRANCIS: No, Sir, just the opposite. They pay to throw it away.
GOD: Now, let me get this straight. They fertilize grass so it will grow. And, when it does grow, they cut it off and pay to throw it away?
ST. FRANCIS: Yes, Sir.
GOD: These Suburbanites must be relieved in the summer when we cut back on the rain and turn up the heat. That surely slows the growth and saves them a lot of work.
ST. FRANCIS: You aren't going to believe this, Lord. When the grass stops growing so fast, they drag out hoses and pay more money to water it, so they can continue to mow it and pay to get rid of it.
GOD: What nonsense. At least they kept some of the trees. That was a sheer stroke of genius, if I do say so myself. The trees grow leaves in the spring to provide beauty and shade in the summer.
In the autumn, they fall to the ground and form a natural blanket to keep moisture in the soil and protect the trees and bushes. It's a natural cycle of life.
ST. FRANCIS: You better sit down, Lord. The Suburbanites have drawn a new circle. As soon as the leaves fall, they rake them into great piles and pay to have them hauled away.
GOD: No!? What do they do to protect the shrub and tree roots in the winter to keep the soil moist and loose?
ST. FRANCIS: After throwing away the leaves, they go out and buy something which they call mulch. They haul it home and spread it around in place of the leaves.
GOD: And where do they get this mulch?
ST. FRANCIS: They cut down trees and grind them up to make the mulch.
GOD: Enough! I don't want to think about this anymore. St. Catherine, you're in charge of the arts. What movie have you scheduled for us tonight?
ST. CATHERINE: 'Dumb and Dumber', Lord. It's a story about....
GOD: Never mind, I think I just heard the whole story from St. Francis
Well Suburbanites what do you think of that?
Nature has a way of looking after itself and its only mankind that may try to change the natural course of events. Which brings me to suggest a very interesting book that I have been reading about an early sheep station in NZ written just over a 100 years ago.
It an internationally acclaimed classic of ecological writing, William Herbert Guthrie-Smith's Tutira: the story of a New Zealand sheep station (1921). This was New Zealand's first major environmentalist publication.
William Herbert Guthrie-Smith talks about the changes that occurred on the sheep station over the years in regards to wild life, weeds climate and introduced species.
A very observant man and a well written book which is completely free to down load from the NZTEC web site and available as a free E-book.
From a Internet search:

Lake Tutira is an idyllic picnicking and camping spot fringed by weeping willows. It was declared a bird sanctuary at the instigation of farmer/author/ornithologist William Herbert Guthrie-Smith (1861 - 1940) who farmed neighbouring Tutira Station.
The Tutira Walkway, steep in places, passes through Tutira Station and the adjoining Lake Tutira Domain.
There are splendid views of coastal Hawke's Bay from Table Mountain Trig.
Allow five hours for the full round trip of nine kilometres.
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While I was away on holiday I received an email that is of great concern to all people that use Glyphosate for killing weeds. Even more so for public works that use the chemical in parks, play grounds and road sides.
I have strongly believed for some years that Glyphosate is likely to be one of the very worst chemicals that man has made and use commercially and domestically.
Here is a copy of the email which you should read and also share with anyone that is pregnant or breeds animals........

The pesticide industry knew from its own studies (including one by Monsanto) as long ago as the 1980s and EU regulators knew since the 1990s that the best-selling herbicide Roundup causes birth defects.
A new report by international scientists now exposes the 30-year cover-up, including efforts as recent as last year by the German government's consumer protection office to rebut a 2010 study showing Roundup causes birth defects in frogs and chickens at tiny doses.
The study was prompted by reports of high rates of birth defects and cancers in areas of South America growing GM Roundup Ready soy, which is sprayed with high doses of the herbicide.
Read a lengthy article on this in the Huffington Post, a summary in The Ecologist, or the full report "Roundup and birth defects: Is the public being kept in the dark?" (See http://www.scribd.com/doc/57277946/RoundupandBirthDefectsv5 ) Monsanto responded to the report, but the report's authors pick apart the company's statements, showing how they are unsupported and unscientific.
The chemical at the heart of the planet's most widely used herbicide -- Roundup weedkiller, used in farms and gardens across the U.S. -- is coming under more intense scrutiny following the release of a new report calling for a heightened regulatory response around its use.
Critics have argued for decades that glyphosate, the active ingredient in Roundup and other herbicides used around the globe, poses a serious threat to public health. Industry regulators, however, appear to have consistently overlooked their concerns.
A comprehensive review of existing data released this month by Earth Open Source, an organization that uses open-source collaboration to advance sustainable food production, suggests that industry regulators in Europe have known for years that glyphosate, originally introduced by American agricultural biotechnology giant Monsanto in 1976, causes birth defects in the embryos of laboratory animals.
The Earth Open Source study also reports that by 1993 the herbicide industry, including Monsanto, knew that visceral anomalies such as dilation of the heart could occur in rabbits at low and medium-sized doses. The report further suggests that since 2002, regulators with the European Commission have known that glyphosate causes developmental malformations in lab animals.
As recently as last year, the German Federal Office for Consumer Protection and Food Safety (BLV), a government agency conducting a review of glyphosate, told the European Commission that there was no evidence the compound causes birth defects, according to the report.
The agency reached that conclusion despite almost half a dozen industry studies that found glyphosate produced fetal malformations in lab animals, as well as an independent study from 2007 that found that Roundup induces adverse reproductive effects in the male offspring of a certain kind of rats.
For its part, Earth Open Source said that government approval of the ubiquitous herbicide has been rash and problematic.
"Our examination of the evidence leads us to the conclusion that the current approval of glyphosate and Roundup is deeply flawed and unreliable," wrote the report's authors. "What is more, we have learned from experts familiar with pesticide assessments and approvals that the case of glyphosate is not unusual.
"They say that the approvals of numerous pesticides rest on data and risk assessments that are just as scientifically flawed, if not more so," the authors added. "This is all the more reason why the Commission must urgently review glyphosate and other pesticides according to the most rigorous and up-to-date standards."
While Roundup has been associated with deformities in a host of laboratory animals, its impact on humans remains unclear. One laboratory study done in France in 2005 found that Roundup and glyphosate caused the death of human placental cells and abnormal embryonic cells.
Another study, conducted in 2009, found that Roundup caused total cell death in human umbilical, embryonic and placental cells within 24 hours. Yet researchers have conducted few follow-up studies.
"Obviously there's a limit to what's appropriate in terms of testing poison on humans," said Jeffrey Smith, executive director of the Institute for Responsible Technology, which lobbies against genetically modified food. "But if you look at the line of converging evidence, it points to a serious problem.
And if you look at the animal feeding studies with genetically modified Roundup ready crops, there's a consistent theme of reproductive disorders, which we don't know the cause for because follow-up studies have not been done."
The Argentine government helped pull the country out of a recession in the 1990s in part by promoting genetically modified soy.
Though it was something of a miracle for poor farmers, several years after the first big harvests residents near where the soy cop grew began reporting health problems, including high rates of birth defects and cancers, as well as the losses of crops and livestock as the herbicide spray drifted across the countryside.
Such reports gained further traction after an Argentine government scientist, Andres Carrasco conducted a study, "Glyphosate-Based Herbicides Produce Teratogenic Effects on Vertebrates by Impairing Retinoic Acid Signaling" in 2009.
The study, published in the journal Chemical Research in Toxicology in 2010, found that glyphosate causes malformations in frog and chicken embryos at doses far lower than those used in agricultural spraying.
It also found that malformations caused in frog and chicken embryos by Roundup and its active ingredient glyphosate were similar to human birth defects found in genetically modified soy-producing regions.
"The findings in the lab are compatible with malformations observed in humans exposed to glyphosate during pregnancy," wrote Carrasco, director of the Laboratory of Molecular Embryology at the University of Buenos Aires. "I suspect the toxicity classification of glyphosate is too low."
"In some cases this can be a powerful poison," he concluded. End

I leave you to draw your own conclusions. Wally Richards

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A month ago I wrote about spud time as it was a good time to buy the new seasons seed potatoes and start sprouting them for planting out.
The time for planting out is mostly governed by frosts and the damage they can do to a early crop. Now days we face an even bigger danger and that is a new pest, the potato psyllid, which is causing total loss of crops in many areas.
One key factor is that a very early crop of fairly quick manuring potatoes will suffer only minor damage in most gardens. Later in the season when the pest numbers increase, which makes it is more difficult to control, there is a noticeable increase in damage and crop failure..
Potato crops planted say in November or December will need a lot of protection to produce good spuds for storage.
In the worst affected areas of New Zealand plantings in October will also need ample protection.
Tomatoes on early plantings will produce good size fruits relative to type planted, but as the season progresses then the fruit size is likely to decrease.
MAF New Zealand has placed a web page on their web site and forwarded the same information to garden centres through out NZ.
Here is part of that information:
What does the tomato/potato psyllid look like?
The adult tomato/potato psyllid is about the size of an adult aphid but looks like a tiny cicada under magnification. The female lays yellow eggs that are attached by stalks to plant leaves, usually to the leaf edges. Psyllid nymphs hatch from these eggs and after five moults become adults.
The nymphs are flat scale-like insects which are mostly inactive but move when disturbed.
Nymphs and adults feed by sucking plant juices, which is how they are thought to spread Liberibacter. (The toxin that does the damage)
Nymphs and adults secrete plant sap as white granules called ‘psyllid sugars’ which can be seen on the leaves.
In humid conditions and where there are large numbers of psyllids, black sooty mould fungi can grow on the sugars. Dense sooty mould on leaves may reduce photosynthesis, but this is rarely a problem on outdoor plants as the psyllid sugars are usually removed by wind and rain.
How will the tomato/potato psyllid/Liberibacter affect my plants?
On tomato the symptoms of psyllid yellows are the yellowing and stunting of the growing tip and a cupping or curling of the leaves. Many flowers may fall off the trusses of infected plants and fruit may be small and mis-shaped.
On potato, psyllid yellows disease causes a stunting and yellowing of the growing tip, and the edges of the curled leaves often have a pink blush.
The stem may have swollen nodes and show a browning of the vascular tissue. After a while, infected potatoes develop a scorched appearance and plants collapse prematurely. Potato plants that are infected at an early stage develop numerous small tubers.
The tomato/potato psyllid breeds mainly on plants in the Solanaceae (potato and tomato family), but can also attack some species of Convolvulaceae (kumara and bindweed family).
Other host plants of the tomato/potato psyllid include Apple of Peru, capsicum, chilli, egg plant, kumara, poroporo, tamarillo, pepino and thornapple.
Why is the tomato/potato psyllid a problem? Tomato/potato psyllid adults and nymphs cause damage to host plants through feeding on leaves and by transmitting a bacterial pathogen, Liberibacter, that lives in plants.
The bacterium is believed to cause diseases such as ‘psyllid yellows’ in tomatoes and potatoes, and ‘zebra chip’ symptoms in potato tubers. These diseases can drastically reduce the quality and yield of your crop.
So the problem is greater than just protecting your tomatoes and potatoes as you are likely to have other plants and weeds growing that will also host the pests which means they will re-infest your crops which will require continued protection.
It also answers another question for my garden last summer as my tamarillo produced a very poor crop, capsicums and chilli were also poorer than usual.
A number of gardeners will likely have convolvulus growing on their land or nearby and this common weed is also a host.
A plant not mentioned but of the same family as tomatoes is pepinos and my pepino plants were also poor producers this last season.
What to do?
My advise has been to place Neem Tree Granules in the planting hole of all crops affected by the psyllid. With potatoes a further sprinkling as a side dressing once mounding up is completed.
With other crops a side dressing after planting out and this repeated at 6 -8 week periods.
Sprays with Neem Tree Oil and Key Pyrethrum applied on a regular program starting at say once a month early season and increasing to about 7-10 days later in the season.
Spraying late afternoon ensuring coverage of undersides of leaves.
Spraying should involve all host plants of the pest including weeds as mentioned unless these are removed safely.
The winged adult psyllid has been reported to be able to fly for 1524 miles so re-infestation from other gardens nearby will be a ongoing problem.
The female laying 510 eggs in a 21 day period is another reason for good controls.
The yellow sticky cards available to home gardeners should be employed near the tops of growing plants and in doorways and ventilation entrances of glasshouses.
The cards catch adults flying into a crop and that also helps to keep population levels low.
It has been found with tomatoes that if an effected plant is cleared of he pest then new fruits will be normal. This is a little late for potatoes that have formed when plant is infected.
The psyllid is a much bigger problem for the home gardener than previously thought.
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