The Return of Chilli Thrips
With the onset of spring no doubt chilli thrips will be the main thing on gardener’s minds because it drove people to desperation for months. This year chilli thrips attacked blueberries, grapes, strawberries, chillies, capsicum, hydrangea, asparagus, onion, passionfruit, peaches, mango, and azaleas.
Gardeners basically threw everything they could at them to no avail, systemic insecticides, oils, soap spray, severe pruning and as a last resort removal of the plant. The despair chilli thrips caused most gardeners was on epidemic proportions.
Rob Melville from Melville’s Rose n Garden has shared his experiences with chilli thrips. Their nursery grows thousands of roses, allowing them to trial various control methods, using many sprays available to the home gardener and did a trial plot of hard pruning during summer. The solution they found will probably shock most people its so simple.
Before revealing his team’s solution, it’s important for people to understand the life cycle of Scirtothrips dorsalis (chilli thrips). They have been in WA for around 20 years and are active year-round but more prevalent in spring, summer, and autumn. They are tiny, only 2mm long with a torpedo shaped yellowish body and wings.
When feeding, chilli thrips use a mandible to cut into the plant, inject their saliva then insert a tube that sucks up semi-digested food. It’s a punch and suck action. In warm temperatures chilli thrips can produce 18 generations in a year and females can lay up to 40 eggs during a lifetime.
Eggs are laid in the foliage and the first two stages of life (instars) occur in the foliage or buds, then they go into the ground or leaf litter for the next two stages of development (prepupa and pupa) finally appearing as a winged adults and continue to feed. The life cycle takes around 15 days. The stages of development in the ground are crucial for control.
Rob Melville found that all the sprays became ineffective after a while as the thrips developed an immunity to them. Sprays including the organic ones were killing any of the predatory insects that fed on the thrips.
He maintains the best method of control was to overhead water daily and not use any pesticides or insecticides. The thrips are so small, during the prepupa and pupa stages they actually drown in the leaf litter. Robs advice is to allow the beneficial insects that predate on thrips to build up, overhead water daily and never hard prune during the warmer months.
Tip
Predatory insects for thrips include pirate bugs, mites, ladybirds, parasitic wasps, predatory thrips, green lacewings, and damsel bugs.
Spring Legionnaires Disease Prevention
There’s the promise of warmer days in the air and gardeners will be super keen to get back out into the garden and spruce things up before the heat sets in. Bags of potting mix, mulch, compost, and soil conditioners will be lugged in and out of cars heralding spring fever in the garden.
The recent outbreak of Legionnaires disease in Victoria is a grim reminder that gardeners need to avoid a potentially deadly bacterial infection when handling bagged and bulk soil and mulch products.
Cases of Legionnaires’ disease – a severe form of pneumonia contracted by breathing in dust from soil products contaminated with legionella bacteria – often increase at the beginning of spring as people start their seasonal planting.
Legionella longbeachae bacteria are commonly found in gardening products, including bagged potting mix, mulch, and compost. Another strain of the bacteria – Legionella pneumophila – contaminates water in air conditioning cooling towers, whirlpool spas, fountains, misting systems and shower heads.
WA Health’s Acting Executive Director Environmental Health Peter Gray said there had been 187 notifications of Legionnaires’ disease linked to garden soils and/or potting mix since the beginning of 2020. “Of these, 112 cases required hospitalisation,” he said.
The risk and severity of infection increases for older people, smokers, or those with weakened immune systems, and up to 10 per cent of cases can be fatal.
A few simple measures will help protect gardeners from the risk of infection.
- Always wear a disposable face mask before opening up bags or shovelling bulk soil products from a trailer
- Wear gloves and open the bag with scissors or secateurs (not your teeth – you’d be surprised)
- Keep the soil damp before using
- Wash your hands with soap and water before removing your mask.
- Store your potting mix in a cool, dry place, out of the sun.
Sufferers of Legionnaires’ disease experience an illness like a severe ‘flu’ infection that can develop up to 10 days after exposure to the bacteria.
Symptoms can include fever, chills, aching muscles and joints, a dry cough, headache (often severe), tiredness, loss of appetite and shortness of breath.
Early diagnoses and treatment with antibiotics will reduce the disease and shorten recovery time. As with all health issues protection and prevention maximises your time in the garden in peek condition ready to tackle all the spring chores.
Tip
If bagged soil products look dry when opened, it should be wet down before using. Always have your facemask on before opening and when watering.
Small is Beautiful.
House block sizes are getting smaller and smaller to accommodate a greater density of housing and homes that cover the entire block. Roof top to roof top is a common method of build these days, leaving little room for any garden or even a single tree.
Nature is being excluded in the quest for high density living with no regard for the number of species that will be lost in built up areas. Housing developments, urban infill and roadways are removing vegetation at an alarming rate and covering the majority of the ground with cement and hard build.
Regardless of the size of your building envelope, there are many small trees that will give birds and insects a home and a chance to survive within city limits. Give back to nature a little and make room for a few trees and plants to cool your neighbourhood, bring life into the street and share the planet with other species.
Small trees for narrow spaces
- Prunus Oakville Crimson Spire – A narrow deciduous ornamental plum with burgundy leaves and pink flowers in spring.
- Syzygium Straight and Narrow or Sentinel is an evergreen native tree with glossy deep green leaves white flowers in summer.
- Banksia integrifiolia Sentinel a beautiful evergreen native light upright tree with 2-toned leaves and large creamy/yellow candle flowers that birds and nectar feeders love.
- Pyrus calleriana Capital is a narrow growing deciduous ornamental pear with lovely autumn foliage and white flowers in spring.
- Malus Raspberry Spear is a deciduous crab apple with soft pink flowers and a narrow upright growth.
Small deciduous trees
- Cercis Oklahoma has soft heart shaped light green leaves and knock out lollypop pink flowers early spring.
- Cercis canadensis Lavender Twist is a very small weeping standard tree growing to only 2m high with weeping mid to dark green leaves turning yellow in autumn. The mauve flowers emerge in spring.
- Lagerstroemia indica x fauriei ‘Sioux Crepe Myrtle is a showy, narrow-growing small tree with masses of intense pink flowers in summer, highly ornamental bark, and very good autumn colour.
- Malus Royal Raindrops another crab apple with upright growth. It has Beautiful purple-maroon foliage that holds its colour through summer head and white blooms.
Natives and Evergreens
- Eucalyptus preissiana another small mallee with enormous bright yellow flowers in winter and spring. The foliage is thick and deep green.
- Eucalyptus orbifolia known as the round leafed mallee has stunning creamy yellow flowers in winter and spring with oval grey leaves and minnirichi bark. It is a magnet for nectar feeders.
- Arbutus unedo Pink Pearl commonly called the Irish Strawberry tree has a domed crown with pink and white flowers in in late autumn & winter. The fruits ripen to bright red and are edible.
If you have seen this in any of your fruit, then you know without a doubt you have rats playing in your garden. They prefer a healthy diet of 3 fruit and 2 veg a day!
Over the winter months rats will be looking for a nice warm spot to keep warm and safe, this will probably be in your shed, the roof cavity or inside the walls. The first call to action is to reach for the rat baits and hope this is effective in dropping the numbers before they breed up.
The major problem with many rat baits is they cause secondary poisoning to many native animals and birds and of course our pets. It’s our responsibility to select the right bait that protects native wildlife and our pets by educating ourselves on using the right kind of baits.
Rat and mice poisons are called rodenticides and have been around for a long time. The new second generation rodenticides have a much longer lasting affect causing secondary poisoning on the animals that eat the rodents. The reason for this is the entire rat becomes poisonous making it fatal for the birds and mammals that encounter tainted rodents.
Owls are particularly prone to secondary poisoning. Edith Cowan University senior lecturer in wildlife biology Robert Davis said hundreds of species were harmed or killed every year by secondary poisoning. “In one of our studies, we found over 70 per cent of southern boobook owls have toxic levels of poison in them,” he said.
Unfortunately, secondary poisoning is widespread throughout ecosystems around Australia and have been detected in several species such as bobtail lizards, snakes, and dingoes and birds of prey.
In the first generation or older style rat baits like Ratsak and Racumen, the only portion of the poison that remains is the poison that is left undigested in the rat’s stomach, usually a very small amount.
When rats and mice ingest second-generation rodenticides like Talon, Bromakil, Tomcat — the whole rat becomes poisonous, when this is fed to baby birds, or eaten by wildlife it has a devastating effect. Native wildlife has no capacity to deal with these types of poisons and nor does your dog or cat.
Please read the label on mice and rat bait before you purchase it, choose baits that have an ingredient called coumatetralyl or alternatives like Yates rat sack naturals.
Top Tip: Avoid products that contain brodifacoum, often referred to as second-generation bait
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We have been so happy with our relationship with Activ not only the quality of work supplied but the attitude and enthusiasm that the employees have shown to date. We strongly recommend other businesses to consider Activ in providing their unique services and supporting people with disability to increase their independence.
There is no such thing as an indoor plant – they are all rain forest plants and like to have lots of other plants to grow among, so pack as many plants close together as possible and create your own rainforest indoors.
Most indoor plant deaths are caused by overwatering, neglect or incorrect light levels. Group plants together and mist them 3x per week to increase the humidity and give them some friends to be with. All indoor plants will need to be fertilised in spring and summer with a liquid fertiliser such as Home Grown Tonic every 2 weeks and a slow release fertiliser, EcoInside at the beginning of September, December and again in February.
Never move indoor plants in the direct sunlight to give them a boost, they won’t stand the shock, the leaves will burn, and they usually die back. Do, however take them into the shower and give them a nice cool down, leave the shower running over them for 2 minutes. This will leach out any accumulation of salts from the fertiliser and wash off any dust particles that coat the leaves and prevent transpiration.
The Darkside
If you have an area that has very little light there are only a few plants to choose from, but there will need to be some source of natural light. You can have a couple of the same plant potted up and just rotate the pots every month, so they recondition themselves.
- Aspidistra – Cast Iron plant, the all-time indestructible indoor plant with wide, deep green leaves.
- Prayer Plant – Calathea, these plants close their leaves up at night, they have a deep purple underside of the leaf and striped green and white on top.
- Sansevieria – Mother-in-law tongue, the best place for these ugly things is in a dark toilet space, don’t know why they have made a resurgence. If you must have one of these use the shorter, lighter types.
Medium light. Dieffenbachia, Fatsia, Fittonia, Peperomia, Philodendron Congo, Scindapsus, Kentia palm.
Bright light – either direct light through windows or a conservatoryAnthurium, Bromeliad, Cissus, Cyclamen, Dracaena, Ficus, Cyperus, African violet, Spathiphyllum, Schefflera – umbrella tree, Rhaphis palm.
Light
Think about the intensity of light and the duration for your plants, plants with variegated leaves or colour usually require lighter. Low light levels result in elongated stems, weak spindly growth and browning off on the edges of leaves. A room with low light may be increased with the use of mirrors or full spectrum grow lights.
Humidity
The interior of most houses is dry, particularly when air conditioners or heating is on. Group plants together and spray mist them every second day to increase the humidity around the leaf tissue.
Temperature
Indoor plants hate large fluctuations in temperature, ideally it should be between 15- 20 degrees during the day and not drop below 7 degrees at night.
Watering
This depends on the season, the type of plant, the potting mix, the position of the pot and the size of the plant. The plant will usually tell you when its thirsty, some plants prefer watering from the bottom-up others like from the top down. Do some research on where your indoor plant originates to get an idea how much water it would like.
Ferns require watering every day, but succulents and waxy leafed plants less often.
Fertilising
Spring and summer are the main growth periods for indoor plants. All indoor plants will need to be fertilised in spring and summer with a liquid fertiliser such as Home Grown Tonic every 2 weeks and a slow release fertiliser, EcoInside at the beginning of September, December and again in February.
Do not over feed though with high NPK fertiliser as this will encourage weak growth.
Repotting
This is best done in spring and summer with fresh potting mix and in a slightly larger pot. Be gentle with the root system unless its fleshy and thick and requires pruning
Common Pests
Mealy bugs, cottony cushion scale, aphids, whitefly, fungus gnats, leaf nematode, grasshoppers, caterpillars.
Common Diseases
Grey mould, crown and stem rot, rust, bacterial spot, pythium and powdery mildew
Perfect lawn is the number-one goal for many home gardeners.
Lawn is not necessary in all landscapes but it has an important cooling effect around a house and provides a place for kids, pets and adults to play. If shady trees are planted in or on the boundary of lawns the cooling effect is even greater.
We don’t need vast amounts of lawn around our houses but we certainly need some to offset the urban heat island effect that hard surfaces and lack of public open spaces are creating. Green spaces entice us outdoors to live a healthier and less stressful lifestyle.
The most important factor in growing a good lawn is preparation. If you do the right prep and select the lawn type suitable to your conditions it shouldn’t use any more water then your garden beds. I know lawn has a water-guzzling reputation but it’s just not true.
Soil: You will need to get the soil right. If you live in sandy soil you will need to incorporate clay, loam, compost, wetting agent and slow-release fertiliser like Grow Safe. If you live up in the Hills you will need to build the soil profile but don’t use any clay.
Wetting agent: its imperative you use a wetting agent and retainer use Soak Up its important for your lawn’s health.
Mowing: If your lawn is subject to heavy water restrictions and may experience drought-like conditions, then the lawn mowing height should be increased. This will allow the lawn leaf and thatch layer to insulate the soil against heavy water loss from evaporation and the end result will be greater lawn health — using less water, as summer progresses.
Regular mowing is needed in summer — healthy lawns will benefit from fewer weeds and more green leaf with less invasion of the grass into surrounding garden beds.
Liquid fertilising: Using the Lawn Love every month delivers nutrients directly to the leaf blades and is absorbed immediately. Lawn Love will help your lawn become less suitable to disease attack.
Granular Fertilising: Lawn is probably the most over-fertilised plant in your garden. People throw it around like chook food. If your lawn is established, it doesn’t need phosphorus. If you have done the preparation when laying the lawn, it should only need to be fertilised at the beginning of spring, summer and autumn. Use Grow Safe fertiliser, you only need one handful per square metre. If you use more it goes straight into our waterways. The other important thing to note is the more you fertilise, the more you have to mow.
Beware the thatch: Watering a heavily thatched lawn will waste a lot of water. The water just sits on top of the thatch and evaporates before it goes into the soil.
Lawns should be de-thatched (verti-mowed) whenever is necessary and done so in the spring.
Varieties such as buffalo or kikuyu can be mowed much lower at the beginning of spring instead — as an alternative to vertimowing and to reduce thatch.
Seven favourite lawn varieties for WA gardens
1. Sir Walter Buffalo
This is one of my favourite lawns after two big dogs and a family that hammers my back lawn. It’s been trouble-free and looking great for 10 years now.
Sir Walter is a soft-leaf buffalo with deep roots, a low thatch habit and a tight growth sward. It stays greener throughout summer and winter and is disease resistant.
Another benefit is that it has proven shade tolerance so this makes it ideal for small courtyard areas and under trees.
2. Sapphire
Sapphire is a very soft-leaf buffalo that is about 17 per cent finer than other soft-leaf buffalos when it is mature.
It’s one of the more frost-tolerant lawns, coping with -10C. in winter, so is a good one for inland and down south. It is a deep blue-green colour, grows well in dappled shade, is drought tolerant and out-competes weeds.
3. Palmetto
Palmetto is a soft-leaf buffalo variety with great shade tolerance. Like Sir Walter, it is drought-tolerant and maintains its deep green colour throughout the year.
It’s a good lawn for kids and dogs alike and outruns any weed competition.
4. Empire Zoysia
You may know Zoysia by the name of Empire or Empress grass. A fantastic drought-tolerant lawn, it has a soft leaf shaft, making it a great lawn for small children.
The downside of it is that it has a slower growth rate than other lawns and takes a long time to recover if you have a few kids and dogs. The upside is that it requires much less frequent mowing.
5. Envy
A beautiful soft leaf-lawn that is known as Queensland blue (Digitaria didactyla), Envy is a very soft dense grass with a beautiful blue-green colour.
It needs full sun and does well in coastal areas with high humidity but doesn’t thatch up like couch. It is slower growing and less invasive then couch but not as drought-tolerant as the buffalo types.
6. Kenda and Village Green
This is Pennesetum clandestinum, which is a sterile form of kikuyu that does not produce viable seed, eliminating the problems with seed dispersal into native bushland. Both types manage to survive the winter better and produce a dense rhizome growth, making them more drought tolerant.
This is a good turf for dogs and kids.
These lawns will need full sun and are practically indestructible, surviving neglect and extreme heat.
7. Matilda Buffalo
Matilda is a soft buffalo lawn with its own unique strengths and characteristics which separate it from the other soft-leaf.
Matilda is a semi-dwarf buffalo lawn, which simply refers to Matilda having finer and thinner stems and stolons, a trait which is unique among the better-selling and better- quality buffalo lawn types. The leaf width is narrower than common buffalo and Sir Walter, and wider than sapphire, with a leaf width approximate to palmetto.
