Kim looks at Earwigs, Pipe Pegs and a sick Pittosporum
Episode: # 30 22/12/07
Presenter: Kim Syrus
Some of our garden guru club members are waging a war with earwigs, and are tearing their hair out because they feel they’re losing the battle. No need to hoist the white flag yet, Kim has a trick or two up his sleeve to help out.
Earwigs are a major pest in the garden they burrow into blooms and veggies, making a real mess. They just love hiding in the layers of mulch around plants, so first thing to do, is make sure you pull any mulch away from the base of your plants. Next cut up a couple of lengths of stormwater pipe, around 30 to 40 centimetres long. Scrunch up some newspaper and stuff as much as you can inside the pipe. Then lay these around the plants. The earwigs will hide in the newspaper overnight. In the morning, simply grab your pipe, take a garden stake and push the newspaper and all the earwigs into the bin.
Kim has been helping out a mate lay some drip irrigation and this stuff seems to have a mind of its own unless it’s pegged down which can mean using plenty of expensive stakes. With Christmas only a couple of days away, any chance of saving a few dollars is very welcome. Well here’s a cheaper alternative.
Buy a coil of heavy gauge wire; something like 3mm will do fine. Cut into 15 cm lengths. If your pliers can’t get right through, squeeze to mark the wire then wriggle with the pliers to break off. Bend the top over and push into the ground to hold the dripper tube firmly in place.
Kim spotted some Pittosporum Golf Balls (Pittosporum tenuifolium ‘Golf Ball’) in bad shape. The planter box is filled with potting mix and this seems to be the problem. Somewhere along the way, this mix has dried out and now can’t hold enough moisture for the plants. Even though they’re irrigated regularly, water simply washes past the roots. The best thing here is a Wetting Agent.
Mix 30 millilitres into a watering can and sprinkle around the plants. The wetting agent helps water stick to the potting mix making sure it doesn’t disappear and be wasted. Give everything a good soak, cut back the plants and keep your fingers crossed for some new growth in the next couple of weeks.
If you have any garden question you want answered then how about joining our online club. Simply jump onto the web and type in www.thegardengurus.tv
Presenter: Kim Syrus
Some of our garden guru club members are waging a war with earwigs, and are tearing their hair out because they feel they’re losing the battle. No need to hoist the white flag yet, Kim has a trick or two up his sleeve to help out.
Earwigs are a major pest in the garden they burrow into blooms and veggies, making a real mess. They just love hiding in the layers of mulch around plants, so first thing to do, is make sure you pull any mulch away from the base of your plants. Next cut up a couple of lengths of stormwater pipe, around 30 to 40 centimetres long. Scrunch up some newspaper and stuff as much as you can inside the pipe. Then lay these around the plants. The earwigs will hide in the newspaper overnight. In the morning, simply grab your pipe, take a garden stake and push the newspaper and all the earwigs into the bin.
Kim has been helping out a mate lay some drip irrigation and this stuff seems to have a mind of its own unless it’s pegged down which can mean using plenty of expensive stakes. With Christmas only a couple of days away, any chance of saving a few dollars is very welcome. Well here’s a cheaper alternative.
Buy a coil of heavy gauge wire; something like 3mm will do fine. Cut into 15 cm lengths. If your pliers can’t get right through, squeeze to mark the wire then wriggle with the pliers to break off. Bend the top over and push into the ground to hold the dripper tube firmly in place.
Kim spotted some Pittosporum Golf Balls (Pittosporum tenuifolium ‘Golf Ball’) in bad shape. The planter box is filled with potting mix and this seems to be the problem. Somewhere along the way, this mix has dried out and now can’t hold enough moisture for the plants. Even though they’re irrigated regularly, water simply washes past the roots. The best thing here is a Wetting Agent.
Mix 30 millilitres into a watering can and sprinkle around the plants. The wetting agent helps water stick to the potting mix making sure it doesn’t disappear and be wasted. Give everything a good soak, cut back the plants and keep your fingers crossed for some new growth in the next couple of weeks.
If you have any garden question you want answered then how about joining our online club. Simply jump onto the web and type in www.thegardengurus.tv
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