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These hints and tips have been accumulated over time from our Club's open forums. At these forums members quiz a panel of our more experienced members. All members at the meeting can contribute to the answers and solutions.
Weeds and Pests
Q. How to cope with Oxalis and Wandering Jew?
A. It is hard work to get rid of, but WD40 is good for cracks in pavement etc. For Oxalis, brush the leaves with 50/50 Round-Up
Q. How to eliminate Asparagus Fern in well-established ferns.
A. Cut it right back. Cut the core of the plant right into the taproot. The little ‘bulbs’ don’t grow!
Q. How to cope with Mosquitoes? Will Citronella Oil hurt plants?
A. NO. (A ‘recipe’ which was not well-received, was Hang some meat or fish-skin in an area remote from your barbecue). The suggestion caused much laughter.
Q. What can you do to get rid of Onion Weed?
A. drop of sewing machine oil down the centre will work, though it may be painstaking to apply.
Mulches and Fertilising
Q. What is the best mulch one can buy?
A. Lupin Straw, Lucerne and Pea straw, they are full of Nitrogen – buy the chopped variety as this breaks down very quickly into the soil and doesn’t blow away. Mushroom compost has too much lime. Horse manure is best added to the compost bin – let it rot, as “stable manure” usually has sawdust, and/or rice husks from the stable floor, and some chemicals from the fodder – but if you leave it for 2 to 3 months, it is good.
Pruning, Planting, and Cuttings
Q. Roses – Ground-cover roses, when is the right time to strike cuttings?
A. Leave until roses stop blooming – use hardwood cuttings from when you prune in July.
Q. Can you layer these ground-cover roses?
A. Yes. Scrape the underneath to the cambium layer about ½ inch long then peg them down.
Q. How to get bromeliads to flower?
A. They only flower at certain times of the year. They need water in the top of the plant. They need dappled light – under trees is good.
General Tips
Use cake covers to protect seedlings.
It is NOT economical to buy cheap Closing-Down Sale plants. They often are too sick to recover.
With your compost, let grass clippings or kitchen scraps rot for at least 2 months.
Use a variety of fertilisers to give different quantities of trace elements and to give the plant some nutritional variety.
Foliar food was not recommended for furry leafed plants as it can damage the fine hairs and rot the leaves.
Compost can be left in a drum with water to rot, then dilute mixture with more water and use as a foliar food spray.
Native plants need 70% sand in the soil, more silica makes it water repellent.
Hairy plants are more tolerant to heat and cold.
Garden lime is good for killing many fungus diseases affecting plants.
Seaweed products have potassium and high levels will encourage plants to flower but they will be all flower and no leaf, as nitrogen is lacking.
Grow strawberries in hanging pots, they do better and do not have a snail problem, but beware of birds as they can be a problem.
To get rid of stink bugs from your Citrus trees, spray with Lime Sulphate in August when they are in the “paper stage” before maturity.
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