Here's another shot of my garden. The pictures are lousy, but you can see it's getting pretty lush.
Thanks again for your help.
Bonnie
Container Garden Pests - 2
Hey Bonnie,
Welcome to DG and your garden looks great. I'm a fairly recent transplant from Laguna Beach, where I gardened only in containers on the deck for nearly 20 years. Even though I'm on more than a quarter acre now, I find that my container growing experience serves me well as I have the most voracious gophers in the world. So I'm still putting everything in containers! Costa Mesa is a great place for growing in containers. I had a friend who had a jungle in containers on his deck (he lived real close to Newport Blvd on Avocado). As far as bugs go I think the biggest problem there was moist soil/dry air......insect paradise. Try misting the plants every morning early to keep the humidity up a little. I'm still experimenting with Neem myself so I won't try to advise you on that, but the plants in shade definitely have benefited from it. Also, remember that plants in containers use up the nutrients much faster than in the ground so you'll need to supplement them more often. I'm pretty much only organic and can say that bat guano, fish emulsion and kelp with a dash of my compost which is heavy in egg shells and coffee grounds help a lot. And mulch is imperative for keeping the soil cool. Hope that helps.
Thank you Stellapathic for your advice and encouragement. No white flying invaders today. Could be it's too hot. It's well over 90 and I'm guessing even hotter on my deck. My space is very small (approx. 10' x 11' - south facing with sun coming from the east and west). Fortunately I have an alternate gravel area at a bit lower level that enables me to pretty much shield my pots from the heat. I'm between two condo buildings with the sun shifting by the hour enabling me to move my pots around enough to keep them from expiring. I'm also misting a lot and watering a bit more in this heat. After yesterday's invasion, I'm on the lookout for bugs, but now with this heat I'm watching that nothing burns or wilts too. It's going to be hard when I go back to work because I won't be able to baby sit my plants. But for now I'm paying close attention. Moist soil-dry heat is bug heaven? Ick! I know I have some aphids, but mostly I spray them off with the hose and once I used the soap and water recipe. Neem I'll stay away from until I'm certain I know what I'm doing. Which currently is not the case.
I have to say I envy you're living in Cambria. It is so beautiful there. I visited last spring and loved the place. Stopped for a bowl of chowder down by the water, watched the sea otters playing in and out of a couple of row boats, and watched a mama seal park here baby near shore in a kelp bed, while she (mama) I assumed went hunting. It was a great day. Watching the fog lift and the sun come out over the harbor was spectacular.
Anyway, thank you again for answering my question about bugs.