Help Red Pierrots breed this summer!

Red Pierrots are gorgeous butterflies with wingspan measuring about 3 -4 cms.  The caterpillars feed on the leaves of the bryophyllum.This plant is a quick growing plant.



 
 

So plant a bryophyllum. It grows well in a mid-sized pot. Even 2 feet of the plant is sufficient.

For more information and my experience check this link. 

Ready to eat!

The tomatoes that I had mentioned in one of my previous posts ripened and turned an inviting red. Photo taken before removing them from the plant. Tasted delicious!

Feels good when something you've tried out succeeds. Small steps but give great joy.
Good news is there are more on the way. Fingers crossed.

Vegetable waste composting

This is an update on my previous post on this blog about wet waste composting in a balcony.

 

Currently there is a whole bucket purely made up of composting vegetation. Pea shells are put in directly. Pumpkin, banana peels have to be chopped a bit. Harbhara, methi stems, leafy veg stems have to be chopped. I don't use mixer grinder to crush the waste though some people do. Every week or so Yours Truly turns the waste in the bucket using a couple of stout sticks. A mucky job! J The rotting and ready compost at the bottom is what is put into the plant pot. Again, right now am not putting any soil into the bucket, but a thin layer once in a while is recommended.

If you are the impatient kind, then there are also bio products available to hasten composting. You can try looking for those at your local gardening centers.

Keeping the waste bucket in a sunlit area helps. Occasionally there are a few tiny ‘chilta’ (tiny brownish harmless flies) that sit on it but so far no smell. No rodents either.  

 

Bucket to which veg waste is added

Tomato plant pot to which composting veg waste is added

Bugs and insects on plants

It is not always smooth sailing in our little balcony garden. While the plants are happy with the wet waste inputs and show it in the profusion of flowering, there are insects and bugs that are attracted to such healthy plants. 

Some of these that have visited the plants:  

         ·            Mealy bugs – these are white oblong shaped and appear to be soft and fluffy. They latch on to the plant in clumps, and probably suck the juices. Plant dies if neglected.

         ·            Tiny black flies- seen these for the first time this year. Once infested, the leaves begin to wilt, crumple, and then die. Experienced this with my once blossoming chilli plant.

         ·            Tiny snails with screw shaped shells- these are in the soil, and boy, the rate at which they multiply would give the hamster and rabbits a complex.

         ·            Ants- from very tiny ones to large ants. They come to generally live in the soil, on the plant, lay their eggs, etc.  

         ·            Tiny spiders- these too cause drying and wilting of leaves.

(The operative word is tiny, to distinguish them from the large varieties.)  

Solutions tried:

·         For the spiders, flies and mealy bugs, spraying a dilute solution of Neem oil (say 1/4 teaspoon for 2 liters of water) is effective. Neem oil is strong so you may dilute it even more for repeat spraying. Keep a gap of few days to a week between two sprayings. I have also found that puffing turmeric powder on the mealy bugs discourages them.

·         For the snails, sprinkling salt on them while they are moving seems to be the best remedy I have used. When salt comes in contact with their soft parts it kills them instantly. Once several are dead, you can scoop out the salt and the dead snails so that the salt does not seep into the soil.

·         To kill ants, the anti-ant powder commonly available with chemists is effective. Neem oil spraying also seems to work.

A note of caution here: Do verify that the insecticide is safe for humans, especially if you are going to apply it to vegetable or fruit plants. Take precautions accordingly.

 

Occasionally, the odd caterpillar of a moth or butterfly might turn up on the plants.  Unless they are eating up the leaves or doing any other kind of damage to the plants, it is best to ignore them.

You might also find earthworms in the soil. That's good news. Please keep them (unless their numbers are overwhelming). They are the useful fellows, and keep the soil turned and aerated.