Organic or conventional horticulture ~ my internal war and external battles.
Confession – My name is Nicola Hope, Organic Horticulture HND and former trainee at two prestigious, fully organic gardens – Highgrove and Lake House……and now regular user of really nasty Ultimate Bug Killer-Very-Definitely Not-Organic spray in the glasshouse.
So now you know, but please don’t tell Prince Charles or Sting.
I didn’t want to do it
They made me do it
They drove me to it
I just cannot get rid of the mealybugs.
I have tried everything else, honestly I have, but they’re still there and, what’s worse, they’re breeding, spreading, sucking the life out of the resident Bougainvillea and absolutely, well and truly not shifting.
I imagine that they laughed at my organic control efforts, wrapped up behind their little fluffy shields.
I have tried physically wiping them off with white spirit; purchased biological control called Cryptolaemus montrouzien – funny little beetles, which are supposed to find mealybugs irresistibly delicious. These ones didn’t seem remotely interested…… and then died.
I tried blasting the mealybugs off the plants using a water jet but, there they remained, laughing at me like tiny woolly sheep, happily continuing to munch on the Bougainvillea, wall-trained pelargoniums, Passiflora, mimosa and a poor old peach tree.
I would never have thought to go down the conventional control route but an experienced (much older….. no, wise) professional gardener advised me that the only way I would get rid of the mealybuggers was repeated use of Provado Ultimate Bug Killer.
Last year I made rubbishy little irregular efforts at killing the mealybugs with the chemical spray – safe to say that this didn’t work either. The tiny sheep creatures were still there munching and laughing and all I felt was guilt that I was using chemicals. Ooh, if my lecturers could see me…..shudder! Mostly I worried about all the other beneficial insects that I would be killing alongside the pests.
A few weeks ago I decided that enough was enough – the mealybuggers were taking control of the Westside (or, what most people would call the propagation end of the glasshouse – too many evenings spent watching ‘The Wire’). What they fail to realise is that I am in charge of the whole garden and they will not win.
So I commenced my weekly attack on the mealybuggers. I leave no leaf unturned, no wooly enclave un-blasted – I feel no more guilt…….as long as I keep my use of chemicals to this one small part of the garden. I will not be using chemicals outside of this section of the glasshouse. I refuse to completely abandon my principles.
I still adhere to the philosophy that a garden left completely chemical-free for a number of years will eventually reach a fragile equilibrium – the beneficial plants, animals and insects will equal the undesirable weeds and pests, sort each other out and exist in a nice food-chainy ecosystem……..with a little help from your local, friendly, organic gardener.
I will still be weeding (along with half of the nation) and I will still be wielding organic slug pellets and copper barriers like Rambo wields his AK47.
What? You didn’t think that I accept that slugs and snails have any right to eat my Dahlias, did you?! Bottom left hand corner – ‘Certified for Organic use’. I am allowed.
Slugs and snails, grrrrrr, that’s a whole ‘nother blogpost (or 12).
Now if I can just exterminate those mealybugs……so far……hmmmm…..I’m not sure if even big, tough Ultimate Bug Killer is having much joy. Watch this space.
See, Your Royal Highness and Mr Sting, I haven’t completely gone over to the dark side……..it’s just these goshdarned mealybugs!!!!
Go on Mrs. Embrace the dark side. muahahaha
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