My first go at Nematodes
And here we go again, the endless battle with bugs in Chilli growing begins already. No sooner had I taken steps to controlling fungus gnats with nematodes than the first signs of aphids appeared. Never a dull moment!
Dosing my seedlings with nematodes had its moments . it was only on reading the instructions, I learned that when applying nematodes, you have to use the whole pack in one go. I was a bit concerned because I realised that I had bought far too much. The package I had claimed it could treat 15 m2 of fertiliser,
where all I have are three seeding trays of about fifty plants and ten plants that I overwintered from last season. This was far too much!
Okay, so I took it on the chin . I had bought what I had in the mistaken belief that I could use the pack up over the season. My main concern now was if there was any threat of overdosing if I used the whole pack (without throwing any away). It would appear however, that when it comes to nematode treatments, you cannot overdose. In the end, on the supplier’s advice, I simply added the whole pack to 4 litres of water and then drenched the plants. I am now waiting to see whether this has worked and whether we will have a fungus gnat problem this year. I will report back
War on aphids
When I was inspecting my seedlings this morning, I noted that some of the pots had white flecks on their soil. From previous experience, I know this to be a sign of these horrible creatures . And lo and behold, when I examined the seedlings, I found them. I just used my fingers to wipe them off the plants for the moment, but I have now declared war on aphids. My next post will cover how I will be dealing with this. Maybe there are nematode type treatments for aphids? Let’s hope so.