The onset of spring brings an awakening to the garden- but it also brings pest activity. As fruit trees spring into action, bulbs come back to life and flowers bloom, so the insect population booms. Mid-August to early September is when we start to notice pests reappearing the garden in Queensland. You might start to
If you Google 26 or 28 spotted ladybug/Ladybird/ladybeetle you'll find it described as a pest needing to be dealt with ASAP but in my experience, this beautiful looking insect isn't as bad as they say. I've been growing food in our backyard for over a decade now and I can never recall a time when
Beneficial Garden Insect Collection – Lacewing Common Name: Native Green Lacewing Scientific Name: Mallada insigna Order: Neuroptera Horticultural situation where found: Lacewing was found on an English Oak (Quercus robur) seedling. The seedling is growing in a garden bed where a lot of the plants have sooty mould on them. This leads me to believe
Beneficial garden insect collection European Honey Bee Common Name: European honey bee Scientific Name: Apis mellifera Order: Hymenoptera Horticultural situation where found: Most plants where nectar and pollen can be found. Extremely important for the pollination of backyard and commercial crops of fruit and vegetables. Probably one of the most active insect pollinators. Method of feeding
Beneficial bug collection – Steel Blue Ladybird Common Name: Steel blue ladybird Scientific Name: Halmus chalybeus Order: Coleoptera Horticultural situation where found: On a Citrus leaf with evidence of chewing and sucking damage from scale and/or aphids. The steel blue ladybird is native to Eastern Australia. It's a bold looking insect with it's flashy chrome blue shell.
Pest Collection 1 – Cabbage White Butterfly Common Name: Cabbage white butterfly Scientific Name: Pieris rapae Order: Lepidoptera Host plant where found: Red cabbage – Family veggie patch. Host range or situation where pest is usually found: Ornamentals-stock, wallflower, geranium, mignonette, nasturtium, spider flower. Vegetables – broccoli, gabbage, cauliflower, Brussel sprouts, radish, mustard, kale, turnip. Field
Pest Collection – Citrus Bud Mite (deformed fruit) Common Name: Citrus Bud Mite Scientific Name: Eriophyes sheldoni Order: Acarina Host plant where found: Lemon tree (Citrus limon) in an ornamental garden setting. Host range or situation where pest is usually found: Citrus trees Damaging stage (s): Both nymphs and adults feed by sucking sap from
Pest Collection – Rose Scale Common Name: Rose Scale Scientific Name: Aulacaspis rosae Order: Hemiptera Host plant where found: Roses Host range or situation where pest is usually found: Rose, loganberry, raspberry and blackberry. Also, seen rose scale on mulberries and some stone fruit trees. Rose Scale covering rose stems (image above) Damaging stage
Pest Collection – Rose Aphid Common Name: Rose Aphid Scientific Name: Macrosiphum rosae Order: Hemiptera Host plant where found: Rose (Rosa spp.) Host range or situation where pest is usually found: Roses Rose Aphids gathering on stem (image above) Damaging stage (s): Adults and nymphs feed by piecing plant tissue and sucking sap. Direct feeding
Pest Collection – Bronze Orange Bug Common Name: Bronze orange bug Scientific Name: Musgraveia sulciventris Order: Hemiptera Host plant where found: Orange tree (Citrus sinensis) Host range or situation where pest is usually found: Citrus trees The image above shows the nymph stage of the bug the final adult is much larger with a hard outer
Pest Collection – Pittosporum leafminer Common Name: Pittosporum leafminer (lumps on leaves) Scientific Name: Phytobia pittosporphyllii Order: Diptera Host plant where this example was found: Native Daphne (Pittsporum undulatum Host range or situation where pest is usually found: Pittosporum spp. Predominantly P.undulatum/native lily pily Damaging stage (s): Female flies lays eggs below the epidermis on leaf
The flower Beetle is harmless in the garden Common Name: Flower Beetle Scientific Name: Glycyphana stolata Order: Coleoptera Family: Scarabaeidae Host range or situation where pest is usually found: Native flowers and fruit tree flowers. The image in this post is of a flower beetle on a Meyer lemon flower. Damaging stage (s): Adults feed
Pod sucking bugs are not a good find in the garden Common Name: Pod sucking bug Scientific Name: Riptortus serripes Order: Hemiptera Family: Alydidae (Broad headed Bugs) Host range or situation where pest is usually found: Native seed pods and bean pods in vegetable garden. The image in this post is of a pod sucking
If anyone is still undecided as to whether insecticides are dangerous to humans then they should read the news today about 20 school children who died in India over the past 24 hours after eating a school prepared meal, which allegedly had not been washed correctly before cooking. Apparently, insecticide was still on and in
Vegetable gardening is so exciting when you first start, and there’s so much to think about. The beds, the soil, the plants, the growing, the sun, the watering, and so on. But what happens once you’ve got everything in place? How do you maintain it? How do you know what to do? Here, our 5
Welcome to winter in the humid subtropics- all three weeks of it. Okay that’s a local joke where I live (Brisbane, Australia), but it’s not far from the truth. The subtropics give us a specialised climate- one unlike any other. Most gardening information found online and in books is written for cool or temperate climates,
Finger limes are an unusual citrus fruit which are native to subtropical Australia. They taste just like regular limes yet are unique in their texture and presentation; the insides look just like fruity caviar. Even in Australia, this is a gourmet fruit which can be hard to find & fetches high prices in retail markets.
To prune, or not to prune….that is the question! I’m talking about tomato plants, of course, and in this article I’m going to explain why sometimes you should prune tomatoes, and sometimes you shouldn’t. Types of Tomato Plant There are several things I look for whenever I’m thinking of pruning tomato plants, and the first
The well-known catchphrase ‘beautiful one day, perfect the next’ was devised by advertisers to describe Queensland summer…but I don’t think they had gardening in mind when they coined it. Summer in subtropical south-east Queensland has 3 keywords: hot, humid, and rainy. This is a time where the gentle breezes and pleasant sunshine of spring have
These kale chips are easy to make and so healthy that I ate mine for breakfast- yes really! These kale chips consist of nothing more than kale, olive oil, vinegar, salt and herbs, so they make for great eating at any time of the day or night! My kale plants were looking really good this
Self Sufficient Me is a blog about self-sustainment by growing our own produce (plant/animal), and self-fulfilment by looking after our health (physical/mental) through exercise and slowing life down a little.
