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Homeowner Forum / Lawn and Garden / July 2008Whitefly and spider mite infestation
OK guys, my tomatoes are still covered with whitefly and their small green babies that look like minute aphids. My friend, looking at them today, said she believes they also have spider mites. Her eyesight is better than mine. The NeemOil did almost nothing nor did the Seven dust or Malathion or Bug-Be-Gone. I also sprayed the garden with 1 Tbs. Epsom Salt per gallon of water and if anything, the failed peppers and infested tomatoes look worse today. Any suggestions to save our crops this year? The squash are too far gone with millions of white fly and borers. The squash crop will be removed and burned tomorrow. It's impossible to get the sprays under all the many thousands of leaves. Suggestions anyone... other than to torch the three entire gardens. Marie Dodge;806084 Ok guys, my tomatoes are still covered with whitefl and their small green babies that look like minute aphids. My friend, looking at them today said she believes they also have spider mites. Her eyesight is better tha mine. The NeemOil did almost nothing nor did the Seven dust or Malathion or Bug-Be-Gone. I also sprayed the garden with 1 Tbs. Epsom Salt pe gallon of water and if anything, the failed peppers and infested tomatoes loo worse today. Any suggestions to save our crops this year? The squash are to far gone with millions of white fly and borers. The squash crop will b removed and burned tomorrow. It's impossible to get the sprays under all th many thousands of leaves. Suggestions anyone... other than to torch th three entire gardens. sounds lilke u tried almost everything and nothing helped u :(. on thing that some of the old time gardeners used to use back when they didnt have bug powders was good old fashioned flour that u use to make brea with. try using white flour and see what happens. to what i understand th bugs ingest the flour but arent able to digest it properly and therefor eventually die off. good luck. cyaaaa, sockiescat:) -- sockiescat >OK guys, my tomatoes are still covered with whitefly and their small green >babies that look like minute aphids. My friend, looking at them today, said [quoted text clipped - 7 lines] >thousands of leaves. Suggestions anyone... other than to torch the three >entire gardens. Get a different hobby. If you used that many poisons and are still infested with insects, you are not very good at gardening. Are you actually planning on eating that food after you used this level of toxins? >>OK guys, my tomatoes are still covered with whitefly and their small green >>babies that look like minute aphids. My friend, looking at them today, [quoted text clipped - 15 lines] > Get a different hobby. If you used that many poisons and are still > infested with insects, you are not very good at gardening. And that idiotic insult is supposed to be helpful? I've been gardening for years and never had an infestation such as this. Are you > actually planning on eating that food after you used this level of > toxins? How do you suggest we rid the garden of this infestation? If you have no sensible answers why do you bother to reply? >And that idiotic insult is supposed to be helpful? I've been gardening for >years and never had an infestation such as this. Not idiotic at all. If you used three of the most toxic pesticides on the market properly and you still have problems with major infestations you are not a very good gardener. That's not an insult, it seems to be factual based on what you told us here. If you are such a great gardener don't you know the reason you are getting infested with insects? An experienced gardener knows it is a problem with the soil. Address it and you will have better results. However, when people say they first went the toxic poison route, it tells me that person is probably lazy and doesn't want to hear anything other than what they want to hear. > Are you >> actually planning on eating that food after you used this level of >> toxins? > >How do you suggest we rid the garden of this infestation? If you have no >sensible answers why do you bother to reply? Because I'm basically sick of people and their abuse of poisons and killing everything in sight. It's disgusting. > >And that idiotic insult is supposed to be helpful? I've been gardening for > >years and never had an infestation such as this. [quoted text clipped - 19 lines] > Because I'm basically sick of people and their abuse of poisons and > killing everything in sight. It's disgusting. A merry dodge doesn't suggest anything to you?  SignatureBilly Bush and Pelosi Behind Bars http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9KVTfcAyYGg&ref=patrick.net http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l0aEo59c7zU&feature=related >How do you suggest we rid the garden of this infestation? If you have no >sensible answers why do you bother to reply? You wanna know what is sensible? Quit f.cking poisoning my planet!!!! You are infesting my garden.... my garden being the earth, the only home I have and the only home my grandchildren have and idiots like you are f.cking it up. Why don't you go to the nearest transport and just effing jump off the earth before you do any more damage. You and the rest of your kind. You chemicalheads make me want to puke. Charlie "For the first time in the history of the world, every human being is now subjected to contact with dangerous chemicals, from the moment of conception until death." ~Rachel Carson, Silent Spring, 1962 >>How do you suggest we rid the garden of this infestation? If you have no >>sensible answers why do you bother to reply? [quoted text clipped - 3 lines] > >You chemicalheads make me want to puke. Thanks for stuffing up what is normally a friendly news group. SignatureErik. >>>How do you suggest we rid the garden of this infestation? If you have no >>>sensible answers why do you bother to reply? [quoted text clipped - 5 lines] > >Thanks for stuffing up what is normally a friendly news group. Then why did you answer him? Isn't that just continuing to stuff it up? I've been posting to this newsgroup since 1993 or so. I've watched it go from basically being a nozzlehead haven to people now fighting for the natural approach. Isn't that worth a little stuff now and then? This newsgroup is no longer as friendly to the poison bunch. The things, they are a changin'. > This newsgroup is no longer as friendly to the poison > bunch. The things, they are a changin'. You are making a difference. I replaced the front yard grass with california native plants, including a path of dymondia and rosemary. Well the old grass wasn't done yet and sprouted abundantly because there is no mulch on the path. I tried hand weeding at first but got discouraged and asked my landscaper what to do. He suggested something called Fusilade which is an annual herbicide that supposedly doesn't harm perrenials. I even bought the stuff but after absorbing the gist of this group, and reading the label I decided to give hand weeding another go. It took a while but by concentrating on 2x2 foot squares at a time I was able to weed then entire path. The fusilade is sitting unopened in my shed. (inside a locked cargo container for those who care). So keep it up and don't despair, you are having an effect one person at a time. ml >> This newsgroup is no longer as friendly to the poison >> bunch. The things, they are a changin'. [quoted text clipped - 15 lines] > >ml .......you've made our day much, much brighter!! Thank you. SignaturePeace and Blessings Charlie, who isn't as gentle as Emily, but wishes it so If I can stop one Heart from breaking I shall not live in vain If I can ease one life the Aching Or cool one Pain Or help one fainting Robin Unto his Nest again I shall not live in Vain ~~Emily Dickinson >> This newsgroup is no longer as friendly to the poison >> bunch. The things, they are a changin'. [quoted text clipped - 15 lines] > >ml That's a lovely story. It's so easy to take out the chemical help, and sometimes in the case of bermuda grass it may be the only way to go. The point is, the "dousing" is coming to a close and people are being more responsible. > I tried hand weeding at first but got discouraged and > asked my landscaper what to do. He suggested something called Fusilade > which is an annual herbicide that supposedly doesn't harm perrenials re-reading this, the above isn't fair to my landscaper, who is a respected california native plant expert and who is I'm sure sensitive to the herbicide use issue. I specifically asked him for suggestions on herbicides and he responded. I didn't give him the chance to suggest hand weeding. nevertheless alls well that ends well. ml >>How do you suggest we rid the garden of this infestation? If you have no >>sensible answers why do you bother to reply? [quoted text clipped - 15 lines] >now subjected to contact with dangerous chemicals, from the moment of >conception until death." ~Rachel Carson, Silent Spring, 1962 The interesting thing about this sort of poster is that, not too many years ago, it was the norm to douse with poisons. I, along with a handful of others in this newsgroup have been lone soldiers of organics. Now it seems organics are more the norm. It's truly so nice to see in my own lifetime. I wish Rachel Carson were still around to see that at least people are making efforts to stop poisoning the earth. This is such good news. >>>How do you suggest we rid the garden of this infestation? If you have no >>>sensible answers why do you bother to reply? [quoted text clipped - 23 lines] >around to see that at least people are making efforts to stop >poisoning the earth. This is such good news. I often despair of trying and often am angry about the willful ignorance exhibited by so many, but when one reads a post such as the one from "kzin", I feel uplifted and realize that one can make difference. Rachel was my initial inspiration those many years ago and the fire has never left. It's been a long road and I still have little hope for the outcome, but whaddaya do, eh? Keep pissin' and moanin' and pissin' people off, I guess. I seem to be pretty good at that. I usually manage, on a fairly regular basis, to irritate, anger and exasperate even those closest to me. Keep the Faith Charlie, melting in the heat and humidity "So keep fightin' for freedom and justice, beloveds, but don't you forget to have fun doin' it. Lord, let your laughter ring forth. Be outrageous, ridicule the fraidy-cats, rejoice in all the oddities that freedom can produce. And when you get through kickin' a.s and celebratin' the sheer joy of a good fight, be sure to tell those who come after you how much fun it was." Molly Ivins >I often despair of trying and often am angry about the willful >ignorance exhibited by so many, but when one reads a post such as the [quoted text clipped - 16 lines] >celebratin' the sheer joy of a good fight, be sure to tell those who >come after you how much fun it was." Molly Ivins Oh Molly...what a gal. When Air America first went on the air down here in Austin, Al Franken did that first show from the State Theater and we waited on line starting at 3am to get in. One of his guests was Molly Ivans. I loved her name for our current governor, "Rick 'Good Hair' Perry." She looked so thin and sick when we saw her and I saw the writing on the wall, then not long after she died. I guess the issue of ignorant people can get me pretty pissed off. I wish for and aspire to react without anger, but I have not mastered that concept yet! I'm better than I was. My new thing is people who are aways aghast at bad language. Who the f.ck are they kidding? White tower syndrome I suppose. >I guess the issue of ignorant people can get me pretty pissed off. I >wish for and aspire to react without anger, but I have not mastered >that concept yet! I'm better than I was. Ain't it funny how, as we start our last laps, and have accumulated "knowledge" and hopefully some wisdom, and that we should be mellowing and becoming what is possible, we find crankiness and impatience with ignorance and all that stuff trying to thwart our best intentions? ;-) >My new thing is people who are aways aghast at bad language. Who the >f.ck are they kidding? White tower syndrome I suppose. It is amazing, that the good people can get so f.cking "offended" at a bit of what they determine to be obscene language, yet not bat an eye or shed a tear over the obscenities that can daily be witnessed worldwide....the deaths of millions of innocents, the misery and deprivation forced upon so many by psychopaths and their minions, the poisoning and rape of our home and each of us, the statistic of a child dying of starvation every couple of seconds and millions more awaiting their turn to die in misery, never realizing or considering that we are *each* of us complicite....I could go on ad nauseum, but you understand what I mean. Often I'm beyond the anger and reside in sadness. I know the words, I know some of the dance, but I don't know how to translate this or move on to acceptance....so I slip back into anger and in my impatience try and simply slap some sense into people... We do what we can, where we can, and however we can. and hope to maintain our hold on "reality", whatever that is. Take care, V Charlie ``Let nothing disturb thee, nothing affright thee. All things are passing." - St. Teresa of Avila *(Damn, I wish I could totally, really totally, grok this simple thing..Charlie) > >>How do you suggest we rid the garden of this infestation? If you have no > >>sensible answers why do you bother to reply? [quoted text clipped - 23 lines] > around to see that at least people are making efforts to stop > poisoning the earth. This is such good news. Not to put too fine a point on it, but perhaps anyone who used chemical pesticides or fertilizers was made to feel so unwelcome, they just stopped posting. There would be no way to differentiate the two cases at this point. That would be counterproductive. I've been on Usenet for longer than I like to imagine (uh, I think I posted my first article on rec.arts.sf.written in about 198x), so I have a pretty thick skin. But someone who comes to a group for the first time, asking for help, and gets slammed too hard, is going have a reaction along the lines of "What a bunch of supercilious a.sholes!" Anyway, I'm as guilty as anyone when it comes to losing my temper, but really, someone who comes asking for advice can get it with honey or with fire ants. Which do you think they're more likely to accept? Chris >Not to put too fine a point on it, but perhaps anyone who used >chemical pesticides or fertilizers was made to feel so unwelcome, they >just stopped posting. There would be no way to differentiate the two >cases at this point. Unless you've been here since '93 as I have, along with a bunch of others who still post here. I've observed over the years the organic or natural movement becoming more mainsteam. That's why it has changed. If anyone would have been made to feel unwelcome it would have been me and a handful who also shared my opinion on the use of synthetic fertilizers and pesticides. >That would be counterproductive. > [quoted text clipped - 9 lines] > >Chris Chris, this is the year 2008. If people are still irresponsibly using pesticides incorrectly, not having labels to read first, knowing these can cause all sorts of cancers and other pulmonary fatalities, then they should not be allowed to garden any more. That sounds ridiculous and it is ridiculous. People can't unring the bell. This information has been around for far too long and every garden center, including the box stores now have a hefty selection of pesticides and fertilizers which are made of natural substances, not synthesized, genetically engineered, catalyst dependent crap. If this was ten years ago, I'd agree. It's all over television, in mail boxes all over the Internet(s) as our president calls it. sh.t, the guy running our country still says nuke u lure. > On Sat, 26 Jul 2008 15:48:13 -0700 (PDT), Chris > [quoted text clipped - 10 lines] > have been me and a handful who also shared my opinion on the use of > synthetic fertilizers and pesticides. I have only been around here (rec.gardens) as I am sure you know. I am however, aware of how things have changed since _Silent Spring_. > >That would be counterproductive. > [quoted text clipped - 23 lines] > mail boxes all over the Internet(s) as our president calls it. sh.t, > the guy running our country still says nuke u lure. Where did I say you were wrong? What I said was, the style of response also counts. If you tell someone she's stupid and should not be allowed to have a backyard garden, you're not going to get anywhere at all. You can shrug and say the person's a dolt and you don't care if they went off in a huff, but they went off angry and convinced that anything you had to say was BS. That's what I meant by counterproductive. Chris >Where did I say you were wrong? What I said was, the style of >response also counts. If you tell someone she's stupid and should not [quoted text clipped - 5 lines] > >Chris Those types will continue to ask and ask until someone agrees with what they did. I don't care what she thinks. She knows, trust me...she knows. > On Sun, 27 Jul 2008 07:39:19 -0700 (PDT), Chris > [quoted text clipped - 13 lines] > what they did. I don't care what she thinks. She knows, trust > me...she knows. If you can tell that over Usenet, from a single post, you're a better judge of character than I am :/ Chris >> On Sun, 27 Jul 2008 07:39:19 -0700 (PDT), Chris >> [quoted text clipped - 18 lines] > >Chris Yes, I have a nose for bullshit. People ask questions, but already have their answer they're looking for. Human nature...of the most, not the all. >Yes, I have a nose for bullshit. People ask questions, but already >have their answer they're looking for. Human nature...of the most, >not the all. BTW and not germane to the discussion at all. I owe you an apology and so offer it. If you know what for, let it go an mention it not. If you know not what for, the same applies. I was hasty and wrong. Peace Charlie >>Yes, I have a nose for bullshit. People ask questions, but already >>have their answer they're looking for. Human nature...of the most, [quoted text clipped - 12 lines] >Peace >Charlie Unlike Cypher, I do not wish to be reinserted! I can't unring the bell. That's just me, though. >If you can tell that over Usenet, from a single post, you're a better >judge of character than I am :/ > >Chris It wasn't a single post, Chris. V is correct in her assessment. As long as you have been on The Usenet, you should realize this. The Internets have most of the information we need readily available and even a quick study should give one the consensus needed to make a decision or remedy a problem. Often the advice we give here is supercilious because we are cognizant, have a nose for bullshit if you will, of the fact that the poster is simply seeking justification for something that many of us have long determined is detrimental to gardening. Many of us had to do our homework and get our information the old school way. Sometimes we get fuggin' tired of feeding pablum to the obviously ignorant. If one needs the Mister Rogers Experience of Gardening, I would suggest one of the moderated web forums, other than gardenbanter, of course, which has a direct pipeline of ignorance to The Usenet. Plain and simple, someone advocates the lazy dangerous way, poisoning, some of us are gonna bitch and often in terms and ways that the "good" folk, and idiots, will find offensive, Too f.cking bad. Many of us have been fighting this fight for too many decades to any longer give a fat baby's a.s about the feelings of the great unwashed. Time is short, and we are likely screwed beyond measure and this pisses me off to the max. For all I know, the f.cking 2-4-5T of which my father reeked after work in the summers when I was a child will kill me horribly. He died of pancreatic cancer five years ago. I have children and grandchildren who likely will suffer much more than I on account of the f.cking imbeciles who had the chance, and the information decades ago, but chose to drink the koolaid instead. Nature is a Bitch, and I can be also Charlie > Not to put too fine a point on it, but perhaps anyone who used > chemical pesticides or fertilizers was made to feel so unwelcome, they [quoted text clipped - 14 lines] > > Chris I think I have to agree with you, Chris. I started posting here about 1996. I don't post too much anymore, but I do read it regularly with interest. We moved to this location in 1984 and there has been no pesticide used in all that time. I decided when I started gardening here: no pesticides. That is the first thing you need to do--be DETERMINED. None of this I will use "only a little" or "just this once" business. Once you use ANY you have set the whole process back to the start. This is a whole system of things that has to work: soil, microbes, beneficial insects, birds and who knows what else. I don't have a complete explanation because that would take a long, long time to tell. Read....But I do know that if you give in you will start over again! I just can testify that it does work. Make up your mind: NO pesticides!! That doesn't mean that I never get white flies or aphids, but it takes another resolve on your part: PATEINCE The "no poison way" takes a while to get established, whereas the pesticide way is tomorrow. It takes time for the good bugs to discover the aphids, for the hummers to discover them. I have not lost a plant in the time it takes for that to happen. Hand pick and wait it out. Work on improving your soil---Healthy plants are pest free plants. Stressed plants give off signals to insect predators "Here is a weak plant , Attack me" Now about the white flies, if you have hollyhocks, or hibiscus (as JXStern mentions) or another member of the mallow family, they are great white fly attractors. When I see white flies on the hollyhocks, the hh are gone for the next year, and the flies are gone with them. I can plant hh for about a year and then they get the white fly infestation. On other plants there usually are bushtits or hummingbirds to take them out. Check your plants daily, don't wait until there are millions of insects, get them early on. That enough rambling on Emilie NorCal In article <6698e0f6-2dbc-443e-956f-3838ce6d294a@q28g2000prh.googlegroups.com>, > > Not to put too fine a point on it, but perhaps anyone who used > > chemical pesticides or fertilizers was made to feel so unwelcome, they [quoted text clipped - 71 lines] > Emilie > NorCal In this vein, it is also good to over crop and, let the critters have their 10%. SignatureBilly Bush and Pelosi Behind Bars http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9KVTfcAyYGg&ref=patrick.net http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l0aEo59c7zU&feature=related In article <8572b333-9319-4aed-9b11-5fed47606218@d45g2000hsc.googlegroups.com>, > > >"For the first time in the history of the world, every human being is > > >now subjected to contact with dangerous chemicals, from the moment of [quoted text clipped - 26 lines] > > Chris You made your point in the first five lines but you kept babbling anyway. Anyone who monitored this group would have an idea of the range of our opinions presented. You are arguing for the dolt who thinks his/her answer is in a jar and just drops by to find out which bottle and where they can get the best price. If posters don't even bother to learn about who they are asking questions of, why would anyone worry if their self esteem gets a reality check? In this particular case, the poster had already tried several toxic substances and was looking for another. How dense does the poster have have to be to ignore an up-welling of revulsion against their actions? Sorry that we aren't organized to your to your level of expectations but we aren't a monolithic group. We give what we can and people take what they can. It might be nice to be a conspiracy, then we could get t-shirts and coffee mugs but, we aren't. Some of us are "save the planet a.sholes". We can be rude, and lewd, and crude and, we will rail against lazy s.o.b.s who can't even Google before they start splashing biocides on our planet. You obviously belong to another demographic. Sanctimonious or supercilious a.shole sounds more like a description of yourself. "For the first time in the history of the world, every human being is now subjected to contact with dangerous chemicals, from the moment of conception until death." ~Rachel Carson, Silent Spring, 1962 http://www.ewg.org/node/16365 SignatureBilly Bush and Pelosi Behind Bars http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9KVTfcAyYGg&ref=patrick.net http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l0aEo59c7zU&feature=related > In article > <8572b333-9319-4aed-9b11-5fed47606...@d45g2000hsc.googlegroups.com>, [quoted text clipped - 32 lines] > You made your point in the first five lines but you kept babbling > anyway. Then why respond? > Anyone who monitored this group would have an idea of the range of our > opinions presented. You are arguing for the dolt who thinks > his/her answer is in a jar and just drops by to find out which > bottle and where they can get the best price. You have problems reading for comprehension, I see. Try going back to my post again. > If posters don't > even bother to learn about who they are asking questions of, why [quoted text clipped - 3 lines] > have have to be to ignore an up-welling of revulsion against their > actions? A person came to ask for advice. You tell that person she's stupid and incapable of learning. Sorry, that's inappropriate in my book. > Sorry that we aren't organized to your to your level of > expectations but we aren't a monolithic group. We give what we can [quoted text clipped - 3 lines] > crude and, we will rail against lazy s.o.b.s who can't even Google > before they start splashing biocides on our planet. Um, this is pretty amusing, but your odd fantasies here have nothing whatsoever to do with what I wrote. Maybe remember to take the pink pill with food tomorrow morning. > You obviously > belong to another demographic. Sanctimonious or supercilious > a.shole sounds more like a description of yourself. I'm cut- cut to the quick. In article <9e387d68-faec-42b8-a35a-feb4ba9a2c2c@56g2000hsm.googlegroups.com>, > > In article > > <8572b333-9319-4aed-9b11-5fed47606...@d45g2000hsc.googlegroups.com>, [quoted text clipped - 73 lines] > > I'm cut- cut to the quick. Whatever happened to your high ideals? Your sensitivity? You come with a 'tude, a bad mouth, a straw-man, ad hominem attacks, misrepresentations, and worst of all, no citations, no verifiable information, not even personal experience. It seems all you have is play-yard sarcasms. Feel free to vent your stupidity. You are of no concern to me. no useful knowledge. SignatureBilly Bush and Pelosi Behind Bars http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9KVTfcAyYGg&ref=patrick.net http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l0aEo59c7zU&feature=related > In article > <9e387d68-faec-42b8-a35a-feb4ba9a2...@56g2000hsm.googlegroups.com>, [quoted text clipped - 89 lines] > Billy > Bush and Pelosi Behind Barshttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9KVTfcAyYGg&ref=patrick.nethttp://www.youtube.com/watch? v=l0aEo59c7zU&feature=related Goodness. Guess there was an exposed nerve ending there. Your attitude is so like what I've seen so many times. You go off the deep end- with those ridiculous statements about conspiracies or some such- accuse me of babble in your first sentence, completely ignore what I read for what instead got through some filter in your own mind, and then play the injured party. Sorry, it doesn't wash. But you have a nice day. Chris > Why don't you go to the nearest transport and just effing jump off the > earth before you do any more damage. You and the rest of your kind. > > You chemicalheads make me want to puke. > > Charlie Just read an interesting (to me anyway) about chem ferts. Appears that in 1980, a ton of chem fert/acre would yield 15 to 18 tons of corn, in 1990 that was down to 5 to 10 tons/acre. So it turns out that as long as there was organic material to be mined from the soil, chem ferts looked good. Once the organics are gone, the magic leaves as well. Not to mention the top soil, water quality, air quality, biological diversity . . . That was another interesting point. Apparently, ag scientists are always creating new resistant plants because the critters always find away around the plant's defenses (especialy when people insist on planting thousands of acres of the same crop in the same place, year after year, after year). Any who, ag scientists need to trot out a new and improved version every seven years. Where do these wonder genes come from? (TA DA) Biodiversity. The very thing that we have lost 75% of in the last hundred years. In southern Mexico, in a logged out forest, by accident, a cousin of the teosinte plant was discovered. Which easily hybridizes with corn but is resistant to all corn viruses. Corn is the number two-o grain crop in the world. This previously unknown plant may allow us to go on eating. Or it could have gone the way of many life forms in the tropic, destroyed before it was even noticed. Some of these biomes are only a few acres. So yeah. Chem ferts are killing the planet, GMOs don't out produce natural plants, and in their rush to concentrate wealth, companies, like Monsanto, are destroying bio-diversity. Not that whacked out foresters don't do there bit by strip cutting forests and replanting a monoculture of harvestable trees and call it restoration (except without the diversity). To waste, to destroy, our natural resources, to skin and exhaust the land instead of using it so as to increase its usefulness, will result in undermining in the days of our children the very prosperity which we ought by right to hand down to them amplified and developed. - Theodore Roosevelt Seventh State of the Union (1907-12-03) SignatureBilly Bush and Pelosi Behind Bars http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9KVTfcAyYGg&ref=patrick.net http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l0aEo59c7zU&feature=related >> Why don't you go to the nearest transport and just effing jump off the >> earth before you do any more damage. You and the rest of your kind. [quoted text clipped - 29 lines] >natural plants, and in their rush to concentrate wealth, companies, like >Monsanto, are destroying bio-diversity. "The number of people out there today seriously worried about the health of all the plants and seeds on which modern agriculture depends must be very limited, and the number of people actively campaigning to protect them vanishingly few. ... Of the Earth's 250,000 plant species, only 200 are cultivated for food on any serious scale." "Even more extraordinary, the vast majority of the world's food comes from just 20 crops, in just eight plant families. Most of these monocultures are dangerously vulnerable to diseases (both old and new), pest infestations, and a rapidly changing climate." "Yet the "genetic pool" on which plant breeders might need to draw to build resistance and adaptability is being constantly eroded as older, non-commercial varieties disappear. ..." "[S]eed banks can only do so much in this massive salvage operation. The seeds they store need to regularly germinated, otherwise they too die. The best way of maintaining an active and vibrant seed bank is to ensure that farmers (and gardeners) are planting out those 'land races' and rare varieties of plants which are now so endangered." "More often than not, that sets small-scale, subsistence farmers (on whom this kind of "active conservation" depends) in conflict with the juggernaut of industrialised, intensive agriculture."" ~~Jonathan Porritt, founder and director of Forum for the Future, in the Nov. 7, 2007 edition of BBC News >OK guys, my tomatoes are still covered with whitefly and their small green >babies that look like minute aphids. I'll just address the whiteflies. Where are you located? About fifteen years ago, these tiny whiteflies showed up in southern California for the first time. It was terrible. Nothing worked. Entire trees were stripped. Ten years later, only a very few plants still suffered, mostly hibuscus. Today, even the hibuscus stays nearly clear, with no care. Why? Well, the local agricultural groups sought out whitefly parasites, very tiny wasps, and released them. Maybe that helped. However, I suspect that the local predators also adopted - there seemed far more tiny spiderwebs for a while! It's actually all quite fascinating. When I have cared for infested hibiscus, all that ever worked was squirting them with soapy water to chase the flies, remove the white hairy nests and sticky eggs. Twice a week was about right. J. > OK guys, my tomatoes are still covered with whitefly and their small green > babies that look like minute aphids. My friend, looking at them today, said [quoted text clipped - 8 lines] > thousands of leaves. Suggestions anyone... other than to torch the three > entire gardens. I would suggest that you thoroughly wash the bugs off with a soapy water spray and regularly continue doing that for the rest of the season. You're crops may be significantly reduced this year, but I doubt if you will loose the lot. It's what makes gardening so challenging! Ed |
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