Southern's Little Garden Of Health & Healing

[Southerncough]

Yaay! It's trim day!
Not the biggest harvest but they made it through some pretty serious obstacles so I'll take it as a victory.
Meanwhile the root balls from these ladies got a good shake down and the coco was reused to up-pot some tomatoes outside

 

[Southerncough]

Been a bit since my last update and I've been battling with mealybugs above and below the soil. Needless to say there have been casualties on both sides but I'm hoping to eventually have the upper hand. I've lost all of my small clones and a seedling, a few adult plants too and they're kicking the crap out of my outdoor basil and tomatoes.
Have some new girls in bloom and hoping they make it through. Almost lost one of my favorite strains but she's starting to pull through!

 

[copperrein]

Oh noes! Is that a Freakshow? I'm so sorry, SC

 

[Southerncough]

Oh noes! Is that a Freakshow? I'm so sorry, SC

There was a small northern lights, two Pakistani, and a Mango (KC Brains) in there. Lost one of the Pakistani's and was able to save the other three knock on wood they make it through.
The Pakistani is a landrace so she'll have a smooth, clean, medicinal buzz but probably won't yield as much as modern cultivars with desired traits and weights bred into them LOL

 

[copperrein]

Ohhhh... What's the frilled-leaf plant 4 pictures up from the bottom?

 

[Southerncough]

Ohhhh... What's the frilled-leaf plant 4 pictures up from the bottom?

oh, hahaha that's a citronella plant in my driveway that was also acting up

 

[Southerncough]

Hi all, my little garden is continuing to struggle with pests and taking quite a beating. Lost a few more small plants and the larger ones are holding on but stalled somewhat. The mealybugs are eating the heck of of their roots and are a very tricky pest to deal with. I managed to pull one of my struggling afghanis and put her in a makeshift DWC bath (i.e. 5 gal bucket with water, soap, neem, and an air stone) in an attempt to get the coco and bugs off her roots while keeping her on life support. If she makes it through i may get her in a net pot with some pebbles and see what happens.
For insurance i managed to grab some cuttings and pull the ole cloner off the shelf and fire it up. Lately I've been lazy in my cloning by leaving the cuttings in used spice jars with a little water and they usually root just fine but I'm being a little more aggressive this time

 

[copperrein]

What about buying some cryptolaemus montrouzieri?

 

[Southerncough]

What about buying some cryptolaemus montrouzieri?

do they get everywhere like regular ladybugs? If so, Mrs Couch said no more ladybugs because they get into the house and drive the cat CRAZY!
Second, do they go into the soil? I can manage the ones above the soil with sprays and such but the ones in the soil are a real pain because you don't know how bad it is until the plant's dying

 

[copperrein]

omg she'd rather have no weed than cute buggos? D:

cutting and pasting because lazy:

Preferred Food: The adults and larvae feed on all stages of the mealybugs. These mealybug predators are most effective in severe infestations where food sources are readily available. Young Cryptolaemus larvae prefer mealybug eggs and smaller stages of the mealybug. When no mealybugs are available, they will feed on aphids, immature life stages of scale, mites, thrips, whitefly, and other soft bodied insects.​

​

Optimal Conditions: Cryptolaemus work best in temperatures between 64 – 81° F and relative humidity of 70% or greater. They are ideally suited for greenhouses releases.​

​

Application rates:​

​

• 5 per infested plant
• 250 - 2,000 per acre.
• First release should be in early spring.

​

​

This Product Controls These Pests or Diseases: Multiple species of Mealybug (Planococcus citri, Pseudococcus sp.) including the Vine Mealybug​

​

I honestly have no idea what they would do. It sounds kinda messed up but my buddy vacs up his ladybugs and dumps them into a paperbag and then into the fridge. He says they survive that and can be reused again.

 

[Southerncough]

omg she'd rather have no weed than cute buggos? D:

cutting and pasting because lazy:

Preferred Food: The adults and larvae feed on all stages of the mealybugs. These mealybug predators are most effective in severe infestations where food sources are readily available. Young Cryptolaemus larvae prefer mealybug eggs and smaller stages of the mealybug. When no mealybugs are available, they will feed on aphids, immature life stages of scale, mites, thrips, whitefly, and other soft bodied insects.​

​

Optimal Conditions: Cryptolaemus work best in temperatures between 64 – 81° F and relative humidity of 70% or greater. They are ideally suited for greenhouses releases.​

​

Application rates:​

​

• 5 per infested plant
• 250 - 2,000 per acre.
• First release should be in early spring.

​

​

This Product Controls These Pests or Diseases: Multiple species of Mealybug (Planococcus citri, Pseudococcus sp.) including the Vine Mealybug​

​

I honestly have no idea what they would do. It sounds kinda messed up but my buddy vacs up his ladybugs and dumps them into a paperbag and then into the fridge. He says they survive that and can be reused again.

Ours got everywhere and the cat was tearing the house down trying to catch them...lots of crashing sounds in the middle of the night

 

[copperrein]

Ours got everywhere and the cat was tearing the house down trying to catch them...lots of crashing sounds in the middle of the night

Ohhhh....oh dear. Ok nevermind.

 

[Southerncough]

Yeah, not what the cancer patient with a cardiac history needs...the living crap scared our of her every night

 

[Southerncough]

Well, still battling the mealybugs and plants are still getting a woopin. Even my outdoor tomatoes, basil and even marigolds are getting hit! Only thing they're not bothering are the citronella plants knock on wood. As a preventative measure I'm taking cuttings and attempting to preserve the genetics i do have instead of scrapping everything and starting over from seed...figured a well rooted clone has a better shot against these pests than a delicate sprout. Though i did start a new purple haze seed because i lost the clones and she's a popular smoke around our house. Trying some new measures including neem drenches, SNS and such. Also been taking some tomato cuttings and was goofing around with some dwc buckets to keep them alive until i figure out what to do with them

 

[Southerncough]

I swear these mealybugs are after my sanity!! My two HEALTHIEST plants (mango) are now dead, despite throwing everything i can at them (neem drenches, flushing with peroxide, safer soap, SNS, diotomaceous earth, even Sevin granules out of desperation) even washing all the coco off the roots and soaking them in soapy water....gone.
Some of my so so plants are hanging in there but who the hell knows?? These mango plants went from healthy to dead in 2 days. Fortunately have some cuttings in the cloner but they haven't rooted yet...
Ugh
Help me out #sierranaturalscience what am i doing wrong here!?!

 

[Southerncough]

Well, on the bright side I've got a few rooted clones that i left in the bubbler a few extra days and they bolted some but they should do well in their new pots. They DWC tomatoes have quadrupled in size and are looking great!
My little purple haze seedling got squished into a larger rockwool cube i had laying around and that should do while i work on getting these damn bugs under control

 

[Southerncough]

So things have been crazy lately and haven't had a whole lot of time in the garden. Mrs cough has been in the hospital for a week and thank goodness she's starting to make a turn for the better.
Some of the smaller plants are losing their battle with mealybugs and some of the clones are showing early signs of spider mites...really? Those f%$$@rs again?!?
Trying to be SUPER diligent to treat everything with alternating foliar sprays and soaking the roots with SNS every few days.
On the plus side, my dwc tomatoes are exploding and my baby purple haze has adapted well the the 4x4 rockwool cube so once she started popping roots at the bottom of the bigger cube i decided to set up a little dwc bucket so she can keep growing while i sort out the pest issues. Even if she doesn't survive the whole time to harvest (I've yet to successfully complete a DWC goal) i can at least veg her into a big momma and grab lots of clones. Same with the dwc tomatoes, dont know how long i can keep them alive but considering that they were cuttings i took from dying plants...i can multiply them into a vast garden of tomatoes. Today i came home to find My biggest outdoor tomato plant chewed to the stem by horn worms. All foliage GONE. SO i thanked those fat bastards by spiking them onto the driveway so hard they exploded on contact. Healthy expression right??

 

[Southerncough]

Wow hard to believe it's been so long since my last post.
Life's had me busy between Mrs. Cough's complicated cancer battle to mandatory overtime at work and everything that has to get done inbetween -it's a miracle I was able to find a few minutes to make sure the plants were even still alive!

My gardens had its own complicated battle with mealybugs and spider mites. The mites i can keep at bay with some insecticidal soap every few days BUT the mealybugs flew under the radar and attacked the roots.

I was able to save or clone some of the struggling plants and even get one of them mostly through flowering.

Decided to pop a few new seeds. Need to work on getting wifey's northern lights going so we don't run out any time soon. Then for myself I chose a lemon haze and a gorilla glue for her as well.

The veg tent is alive and well. I somehow managed to keep the DWC purple haze alive as well as a couple of pakistani, mango, and afghani girls in the mix.
Got some Pakistani and afghani cuttings the other day as well that might start rooting soon.
That's about all

 

[Southerncough]

Well, the gorilla glue bean never popped but it was an old freebie anyway.
The two northern lights and one lemon haze seedlings are alive and doing well.
Purple haze is cranking along and loving the new air pump i got her.
Been doing some training and bending, might get the scissors and top her a bunch more times to buy some time while other plants are in the bloom room or i might squeeze her in the bloom room when i harvest soon.
My Pakistani ladies are feeling much better now and showing me some fat dark green leaves and (genetically) purple stems can't wait to have a few jars of that amazing strain on hand. All the benefits of a pure indica without the groggy hangover the next day!
Also in veg are a couple of mango clones that are taking their time and that's fine and another afghani that'll get moved to flower in the next week or so.
Meanwhile I've got a weird looking afghani finishing up flowering any day now. Her canopy looks weird because she bolted on me in veg and shot up an extra foot almost overnight so i had to bend her in bloom and she never really filled out. She's starting to show signs of spider mites but I'm not going to spray right now. Most of her flowers will go to edibles and infusions anyway so any buggers left will get roasted in the oven soon anyway.
Otherwise got some lettuce and basil seedlings and a few hibiscus cuttings i put in the cloner to see what would happen

 

[Southerncough]

Things are chugging right along!
Tonight I transplanted two happy little clones into some fabric pots. Hope they stay healthy and pest free!