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Free Your Orchids from Pests

Orchids are exquisite exotic plants that produce breathtaking flowers. Orchids are located in tropical and subtropical locations around the world. There are some exceptions to this scenario however. Most have an aerial root system that are attached to the trunks of trees in their natural environment.

Orchid Pest Threats

There are several types of pests that can kill orchids, some of the most common are aphids, mealy bugs, mites, millipedes, centipedes and snails, among others. The climate and area would depend on which type of pest could invade.

Aphids suck the fluid from the Orchids, the damage comes from this bug actually biting into the plant. The tissue will experience necrosis, grow yellow and rot. Mealybugs are white or pink, they infest the plant and feed off of them. These are some of the more difficult pests and require immediate attention when discovered.

Scale bugs are white and look like they have scales. They are a frequent orchid pest. They feed off the orchid and grow quickly and get larger, harder scales. The males are winged and breed with the females. Mites are another threat, the most typical being the spider mite, that form webs on the plant and you may never even see the spider.

Millipedes and centipedes eat the rots of the plants they infest. They are quite harmful to orchids and centipedes are potentially dangerous because they can sting humans. Slugs and snails are very similar in their destruction of orchids by eating them and they are common orchid pests. Whiteflies rank as one of the three peskiest orchid pests along with aphids and spider mites.

Millipedes and centipedes will actually eat the roots of the orchid and cause rotting. They are very harmful and dangerous to human beings because they sting. Snails and slugs are similar to millipedes, in that they destroy the flower by eating the roots. Whiteflies, however, rank as the top threat to orchids.

Solving Orchid Pest Problems

There are many natural methods which you can employ to control orchid pests. You can get a natural house plant pest enemy of the pest in question and release it on the infected orchid. You do not need to use a pesticide for this reason and in the process you are not harming the environment either. If you have a number of pests infecting your plants however, you may want to consider going the route of pesticides.

You need to make sure you get the pesticide that is more natural and less environmentally harmful. This approach allows you to protect the world for future generations. Netting and protective barriers also work as another natural alternative in preventing orchid pest infestation in your garden.

February 21 2009 | Gardening | No Comments »

How to Grow Melons

Cantaloupe, also called muskmelon (Cucumis melo reticulatus); casaba, Crenshaw, Persian and honeydew melons (C. melo inodorus); watermelon (Citrullus vulgaris). Though melons are thought of as fruits, they are treated like vegetables in the garden. They grow on vines that creep along the ground for 6 to 10 feet or more and are usually planted in clumps on mounds, or hills, of soil.

Melons can be grown successfully in regions where minimum night temperatures average no lower than 55 and minimum daytime temperatures are no lower than 80 throughout the growing seasons. The length of the growing seasons, from the time the seeds are sown until the plants are harvested, is listed for each recommended variety. Because long growing seasons are required for most casaba, Crenshaw, Persian and honeydew melons, all but a few of the varieties that are listed in these categories are generally grown only in the southwestern, south-central and southern parts of the U.S.

To prepare a hill for melons, dig a hole about 1 foot deep and 2 feet across; dig into the bottom of the hole a 4- to 6-inch layer of compost or well-rotted cow manure. Replace the topsoil until it forms a gentle mound about 4 inches high. Space hills for large watermelons about 10 feet apart, for all other melons 4 to 6 feet apart.

When the seedlings are 1 inch tall, cut off the weaker one in each pot. When night temperatures no longer fall below 50, set the plants, pots and all, into the garden, spacing them 18 inches apart in rows 3 feet apart. In frost-free regions, sow seeds directly in the garden when night temperatures are expected to stay above 50. Group three or four seeds in a spot, setting each group 1/2 inch deep and 18 inches apart in rows 3 feet apart.

Water the plants in dry weather. Because melons lie on the ground, a mulch of old hay or straw helps prevent rot. Also, melon roots are shallow and are easily damaged by cultivation; if a mulch is not used, hoe no deeper than 1 inch when weeding. Do not move the vines; they too are easily injured.

The pods develop very rapidly and should be picked daily within a few days after the flower petals have fallen, whether the pods are to be used or not. If pods are allowed to ripen, the plants cease to produce.

February 20 2009 | Gardening | No Comments »