Once upon a time on usenet ~misfit~ wrote:
[snip digression]
Back to the scale insect issue though... I've recently been using
Neem oil and while it's too soon to say that it's a complete success
I do have far less scale insects than I used to. I really don't want
to just blitz the insect population of my trees as each one is like a
mini ecosystem. Yes there are a few aphids but there are also
ladybugs. There are a few whitefly but the trees also act as
nurseries for young jumping spiders who feed on the whitefly.

I think that for long term success we can't simply remove one
component of an ecosystem (the fruit tree) and grow it in isolation.
It's not good for the tree, the planet or us. The secret is not
letting any one 'pest' get to the stage where it threatens the tree's
health.

I forgot to mention amongst the ecosystems of my trees I often see tiny
parasitic wasps which help to keep the scale insects in check. Also all my
containers have large saucers so there's a moat around them at all times to
keep ants away. Ants will farm the scale and aphids if you left than have
access.
--
Shaun.

"Humans will have advanced a long, long, way when religious belief has a
cozy little classification in the DSM."
David Melville (in r.a.s.f1)

On 3/27/2015 7:19 PM, ~misfit~ wrote:
Once upon a time on usenet ~misfit~ wrote:
[snip digression]
Back to the scale insect issue though... I've recently been using
Neem oil and while it's too soon to say that it's a complete success
I do have far less scale insects than I used to. I really don't want
to just blitz the insect population of my trees as each one is like a
mini ecosystem. Yes there are a few aphids but there are also
ladybugs. There are a few whitefly but the trees also act as
nurseries for young jumping spiders who feed on the whitefly.

I think that for long term success we can't simply remove one
component of an ecosystem (the fruit tree) and grow it in isolation.
It's not good for the tree, the planet or us. The secret is not
letting any one 'pest' get to the stage where it threatens the tree's
health.

I forgot to mention amongst the ecosystems of my trees I often see tiny
parasitic wasps which help to keep the scale insects in check. Also all my
containers have large saucers so there's a moat around them at all times to
keep ants away. Ants will farm the scale and aphids if you left than have
access.


That's really a lot of good information ~misfit~. Thanks!

--
Jenn

Once upon a time on usenet Jenn wrote:
On 3/27/2015 7:19 PM, ~misfit~ wrote:
Once upon a time on usenet ~misfit~ wrote:
[snip digression]
Back to the scale insect issue though... I've recently been using
Neem oil and while it's too soon to say that it's a complete success
I do have far less scale insects than I used to. I really don't want
to just blitz the insect population of my trees as each one is like
a mini ecosystem. Yes there are a few aphids but there are also
ladybugs. There are a few whitefly but the trees also act as
nurseries for young jumping spiders who feed on the whitefly.

I think that for long term success we can't simply remove one
component of an ecosystem (the fruit tree) and grow it in isolation.
It's not good for the tree, the planet or us. The secret is not
letting any one 'pest' get to the stage where it threatens the
tree's health.

I forgot to mention amongst the ecosystems of my trees I often see
tiny parasitic wasps which help to keep the scale insects in check.
Also all my containers have large saucers so there's a moat around
them at all times to keep ants away. Ants will farm the scale and
aphids if you left than have access.


That's really a lot of good information ~misfit~. Thanks!

You're welcome.

One thing I recently learned - if you use neem oil try to keep it away from
tender young growth. I'm new to neem oil and rather foolishly saturated the
young growth on some of my freshly-grafted citrus trees as I had an aphid
'bloom' just after some of my newly-grafted buds started moving. Most of
those shoots have stopped growing and the Meyer has started dropping the
tender leaves that I sprayed three weeks ago.

Now I search more thouroughly I see that a very few artciles on the use of
neem oil do warn about it. Shame I didn't see that earlier, a couple of new
grafts are teetering on the egde. fingers crossed
--
Shaun.

"Humans will have advanced a long, long, way when religious belief has a
cozy little classification in the DSM."
David Melville (in r.a.s.f1)

On Friday, March 27, 2015 at 5:19:36 PM UTC-7, ~misfit~ wrote:
Once upon a time on usenet ~misfit~ wrote:
[snip digression]
Back to the scale insect issue though... I've recently been using
Neem oil and while it's too soon to say that it's a complete success
I do have far less scale insects than I used to. I really don't want
to just blitz the insect population of my trees as each one is like a
mini ecosystem. Yes there are a few aphids but there are also
ladybugs. There are a few whitefly but the trees also act as
nurseries for young jumping spiders who feed on the whitefly.

I think that for long term success we can't simply remove one
component of an ecosystem (the fruit tree) and grow it in isolation.
It's not good for the tree, the planet or us. The secret is not
letting any one 'pest' get to the stage where it threatens the tree's
health.

I forgot to mention amongst the ecosystems of my trees I often see tiny
parasitic wasps which help to keep the scale insects in check. Also all my
containers have large saucers so there's a moat around them at all times to
keep ants away. Ants will farm the scale and aphids if you left than have
access.
--
Shaun.

"Humans will have advanced a long, long, way when religious belief has a
cozy little classification in the DSM."
David Melville (in r.a.s.f1)

Kol HaKavod (good job) Shaun. I'm very impressed by your daring & initiative in traversing such a potential minefield with the success that you report!

Hypatia

Once upon a time on usenet Hypatia Nachshon wrote:
On Friday, March 27, 2015 at 5:19:36 PM UTC-7, ~misfit~ wrote:
Once upon a time on usenet ~misfit~ wrote:
[snip digression]
Back to the scale insect issue though... I've recently been using
Neem oil and while it's too soon to say that it's a complete success
I do have far less scale insects than I used to. I really don't want
to just blitz the insect population of my trees as each one is like
a mini ecosystem. Yes there are a few aphids but there are also
ladybugs. There are a few whitefly but the trees also act as
nurseries for young jumping spiders who feed on the whitefly.

I think that for long term success we can't simply remove one
component of an ecosystem (the fruit tree) and grow it in isolation.
It's not good for the tree, the planet or us. The secret is not
letting any one 'pest' get to the stage where it threatens the
tree's health.

I forgot to mention amongst the ecosystems of my trees I often see
tiny parasitic wasps which help to keep the scale insects in check.
Also all my containers have large saucers so there's a moat around
them at all times to keep ants away. Ants will farm the scale and
aphids if you left than have access.
--
Shaun.

"Humans will have advanced a long, long, way when religious belief
has a cozy little classification in the DSM."
David Melville (in r.a.s.f1)

Kol HaKavod (good job) Shaun. I'm very impressed by your daring &
initiative in traversing such a potential minefield with the success
that you report!

Thank you kindly Hypatia. It's not all success but I try to only make
mistakes once.
--
Shaun.

"Humans will have advanced a long, long, way when religious belief has a
cozy little classification in the DSM."
David Melville (in r.a.s.f1)

Once upon a time on usenet ~misfit~ wrote:
Once upon a time on usenet Hypatia Nachshon wrote:
On Friday, March 27, 2015 at 5:19:36 PM UTC-7, ~misfit~ wrote:
Once upon a time on usenet ~misfit~ wrote:
[snip digression]
Back to the scale insect issue though... I've recently been using
Neem oil and while it's too soon to say that it's a complete
success I do have far less scale insects than I used to. I really
don't want to just blitz the insect population of my trees as each
one is like a mini ecosystem. Yes there are a few aphids but there
are also ladybugs. There are a few whitefly but the trees also act
as nurseries for young jumping spiders who feed on the whitefly.

I think that for long term success we can't simply remove one
component of an ecosystem (the fruit tree) and grow it in
isolation. It's not good for the tree, the planet or us. The
secret is not letting any one 'pest' get to the stage where it
threatens the tree's health.

I forgot to mention amongst the ecosystems of my trees I often see
tiny parasitic wasps which help to keep the scale insects in check.
Also all my containers have large saucers so there's a moat around
them at all times to keep ants away. Ants will farm the scale and
aphids if you left than have access.
--
Shaun.

"Humans will have advanced a long, long, way when religious belief
has a cozy little classification in the DSM."
David Melville (in r.a.s.f1)

Kol HaKavod (good job) Shaun. I'm very impressed by your daring &
initiative in traversing such a potential minefield with the success
that you report!

Thank you kindly Hypatia. It's not all success but I try to only make
mistakes once.

I was looking on NZs version of ebay this morning and was reminded of
something citrus-related;

This season I've started replacing my previous full-sized citrus with trees
grafted onto dwarf rootstock, doing most of the grafting myself. There was a
seller on the site who odered Flying Dragon rootstock for me after I
explained that I didn't just want to buy new trees, I prefered to graft my
existing trees onto dwarfing rootstock so I don't have to fight their
natural urge to grow taller than my containers can accomodate.

To that end I sent him a pic of one of my orange trees, showing him how I
had to tie it to the railing on the deck to prevent the wind blowing it
over. I lay down on the deck beside the pot to take the pic. He was so
impressed with my tree he asked me if he could use the picture of it in his
listings.

It can be seen here;
http://www.trademe.co.nz/home-living...-869561504.htm
It's the second pic, click on the first to enlarge it then hit the 'next'
arrow.
--
Shaun.

"Humans will have advanced a long, long, way when religious belief has a
cozy little classification in the DSM."
David Melville (in r.a.s.f1)