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Natural Predators – Norman A. Rubin

(Slugs and snails can cause a great deal of damage in your garden. These mollusks are considered the most serious pests, which attack young plants.)

When you look in your garden in the morning, you may find shiny trails criss-crossing over small stones and along the earth. When you look closer you can see that they are made of hardened slime. They show that slugs and nails have been there, but you do not often see the mollusks themselves unless you look for the. For snails and slugs are soft-bodied creatures which could dry up easily if they were to stay too long in the air or under the sun. In fact, they do not dry up, because slugs stay tucked under a leaf plant or stone or buried in the soil, while snail can draw their bodies into their shells.

The two invertebrates both move about by crawling along on their feet, which is flat underneath their bodies. Each ripple of their feet pushes them along the ground and moves these creep-crawlies along. As snails and slugs move they leave a trail of slime behind them.

The snails and slugs, big and small, in a small garden are usually there in the thousands, so the amount of damage they cause to the plants is very great. The slug and snail scrapes the plant they are crawling on with its tongue, so that bits of plant are torn off with their sharp teeth. As their tongues rolls back into the mollusk’ mouths, the bits of plant are brought in as well. Slugs leave distinguishing marks on your leaves and on your soil. Huge ragged holes chewed in leaves and flowers of older plants or having your seedlings vanish overnight, is a pretty clear sign that you have slugs and snails.

As we marvel at these creatures’s survival and habit we are equally appalled at the damage caused to our garden. Slugs and snails thrive best in flower gardens that are thick, cool, and moist. They abhor the sun, so one way to make them admit defeat is to let the sun in anyway that you can.

To control slugs and snails avoid using slug pellets and other pesticides in your garden. These harm the frogs, birds and hedgehogs that are natural slug and snail predators. Instead, enlist their help in keeping pests under control. Encourage them to visit your garden by providing food and shelter. A number of invertebrates such as glowworm larvae prey on slugs. Ground and rove beetles eat both slug eggs and the adults. These beetles, along with centipedes that also eat slugs, prefer damp shady areas so you can encourage them by leaving logs and stones undisturbed. Build a rockery or a rotted woodpile in a shady dam spots in you garden to attract these species. There are other natural ways to control these pests in your garden - Log on ‘http://tastefulgarden.com/store/pc/contact.asp’ for Natural Pest Control Methods against snails and slugs, as well other destructive insects and mollusks that affect a garden..

Notes:

1) Snails and slugs come out mainly at night, especially after it rained, and the soil and air are moist. A point to remember - some slugs and snails are natural garden dwellers that recycle dead plant material for us.

2) Don’t forget that other garden wildlife depends on these mollusks for their food source, especially song thrushes, hedgehogs, toads and shrews. By eliminating slugs and snails from your garden you will be depriving these predators of their food supply and they are then unlikely to visit your garden. We all love to see plenty of birds in our gardens. Many of these are searching for insect food, so encouraging birds will help to maintain a balance of insects, mollusks and other minute predators.

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Article Source: http://www.articlesbase.com/gardening-articles/natural-predators-250107.html

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Author: Nicky Pilkington

To make sure that your prized roses remain in the best of health, simply follow these tips.

1. Black Spots on Leaves

This disease is commonly known as black spot. Black spots appear as circular with fringed edges on leaves. They cause the leaves to yellow. Remove the infected foliage and pick up any fallen leaves around the rose. Artificial sprays may be used to prevent or treat this kind of rose disease.

2. Stunted or malformed young canes

Known as powdery mildew, this is a fungal disease that covers leaves, stems and buds with wind spread white powder. It makes the leaves curl and turn purple. Spray with Funginex or Benomyl to treat this fungal disease.

3. Blistered underside of leaves

Known as rust, this disease is characterized by orange-red blisters that turn black in fall. It can survive the winter and will then attack new sprouts in the spring. Collect and discard leaves that are infected in fall. a Benomyl or Funginex spray every 7-10 days may help.

4. Malformed or stunted leaves and flowers

This is caused by spider mites. They are tiny yellow, red or green spiders found on the underside of leaves where they suck juices. The application of Orthene or Isotox may help in treating this infestation.

5. Weak and mottled leaves with tiny white webs under them

This is caused by aphids. They are small soft-bodied insects that usually brown, green or red. Often clustered under leaves and flower buds, they suck plant juices from tender buds. Malathion or diazinon spray may help roses to survive these bugs.

6. Flowers that don’t open or are deformed when they open.

Thrips could be the reason behind this problem. They are slender, brown-yellow bugs with fringed wings that also suck juices from flower buds. Cut and discard the infested flowers. Orthene and malathion may also treat this problem.

Remember that roses are hungry feeders that require much fertilizer to become healthy bushes.

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Orchid Care: Fertilization and Pest Control.

Caring for orchids requires a bit of knowledge about the pests that tend to attack them, as well as proper fertilization techniques to help them grow. The stronger your plants, the better they will be able to resist common diseases and insects, and the best way to keep orchids healthy and strong is to fertilize them.
Orchid plant care is an area that has been heavily studied, particularly as many of the tropical species grow on tree branches, anchoring themselves to a host and appearing to thrive on thin air. While the more terrestrial orchid species tend to be easier to grow, they still require special care.

Pests That Attack Orchids:

Orchids have many natural enemies and anyone attempting orchid care at home will need to be aware of these. Some of the most common pests include slugs and snails, which are usually not difficult to get rid of. Others, however, are. Mealybugs, whitefly, and mites are also enemies of orchids.
There is also an aphid called the orchid aphid which attacks these plants. Aphids exist everywhere that orchids do, and because of this, they are a great threat to the flowering plants. Orchid care includes watching for these tiny pests, which are often not much bigger than a speck. These multiply rapidly, but like most pests, can be banished if caught early on when there are only a few. For this reason, it`s just good sense to check your plants for insects on a regular basis.
For many interested in orchid care, biocontrol is the preferred method of keeping nasty insects at bay. Using friendly insects that eat the pests and don`t hurt the orchid can be a good way to go if you don`t want to risk chemical sprays. However, orchid plant care also requires proper feeding and fertilization to ensure the hardiness of the plant.

Orchid Care: Fertilization:

Most orchid care guides will tell you that the fertilization depends on the species of orchid, and this is true to an extent. While various species have their preferences, the majority do well with soluble fertilizers or plant food.
There are actually fertilizers specially formulated for growing orchids and these provide just the right balance of nutrients for the plants. If you choose to go with a more generic type of fertilizer with a 20-20-20 balance.
Orchids tend to grow in the wild where little nutrition is found. Understanding this, it is best to keep your orchid plant care efforts to a minimum. Many orchids are killed by giving them too much fertilizer or by overwatering them. So, when feeding orchids, it is best to use about half the recommended dosage on the package and to use the fertilizer in place of water. Orchids only need to be fed once a month or so.
While orchids are not quite as delicate as many people assume, they do still require some special care. Making sure that you don`t over-fertilize the orchids and immediately dealing with any pests, before they get out of hand, is the best way to ensure top notch orchid plant care.

My website Orchid-Care-Expert.com helps people learn about orchid care

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Source: http://www.articlealley.com/article_583436_27.html

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