Lets take a deeper look into your garden over the last months of Summer and the beginning of Autumn. A visit to Foleys will have your garden beds and pot plants looking fresh and healthy in no time.
February is a busy month in the garden. With high summer temperatures, sun strength at its peak and high humidity, you will find lots of pest and diseases thriving.
Snails & slugs are loving the new leafy growth and humid conditions. To tackle these pests, be sure to use a pet friendly bait and shake the pellets around garden areas that show signs of snail trails.
Caterpillars might be feasting on new leafy growth. There are safe eco treatments for controlling an outbreak in the garden. Eco-neem is a great product to try first as it’s friendly to the environment and you. Pyrethrum or other contact sprays will work as well.
Once you have one pest others seem to join the party.
Look out for scale, mealy bug & aphids. Luckily Eco-neem & contact treatments like Pyrethrum can also be used to control these pests.
With humidity comes fungus gnats. We mainly notice them on our indoor plants, although they don’t cause any harm unless in large numbers when they chew on the new roots and stunt plant growth. Use a sticky yellow trap or eco-neem watered into the soil. Gnats might be a sign that your soil is too wet and your plants might be susceptible to fungus issues. You will need a fungicide like Mancozeb plus. (whenever you use disease or pest control products always read the instructions on the packaging)
On the plus side high humidity and warm temperatures mean plants are growing faster than other times during the year. Meaning it may be time to top up on plant food. If your plants are looking a little yellow or are dropping some leaves, they might be hungry. Depending on the plants in your garden a general all purpose pellet fertiliser will work. Some plants need specialised elements so check the packaging for the percentages of nitrogen, phosphorus & potassium. Use a liquid fertiliser on your indoor plants in conjunction with slow release.
Some plants are going to need trimming maybe for the second or third time due to some great growing conditions. Hedges can be clipped to shape, gardenias can take a hard trim if required and be sure to give them a feed to help them send out some strong new growth.
Remove any spent flowers, old or rotting fruit & frangipani leaves with rust. Place in the bin not the compost. Also remove any diseased areas of plants. Seasol is a great product to use on stressed plants.
WATER YOUR PLANTS ON EXTREME TEMPERATURE DAYS.