Real World Gardener-Horticulture, Gardening, Learning to Grow

Real World Gardener-Horticulture, Gardening, Learning to Grow

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Real World Gardener-Horticulture, Gardening, Learning to Grow episodes

  • Control of Fungus Gnats in Plant Doctor
    PLANT DOCTOR
    FUNGUS GNATS

    These tiny flying things can swarm around your indoor plants but other than annoyance, are they killing your plants?


    Those tiny little flies that hang around your fruit bowl or indoor plants aren’t always that same thing. 
    Sometimes they’re confused with fruit flies, or even ordinary house flies, but none of those two are correct. Inevitably they’re up to no good but how to tell them apart?

    • There are fungus gnats and fermentation flies.
      • they are attracted to different things.
  • Fermentation or vinegar flies tend to hang around the fruit bowl, especially if you've got overripe fruit because vinegar flies are attracted to sugars.
  • Fungus gnats are smaller, flitting around erratically: the adults of which are attracted to moisture.
    • the adults are doing much if anything to your plants other than laying lots of eggs, although there is evidence that they can transmit plant diseases.
  • The larvae can be the problem because the feed on the roots of your plants.

    • Fungus gnats -magnified heaps.


































    • Remember: Vinegar or fermentation flies are attracted to sugary treats, such as over-ripe fruits, whereas fungus gnats are attracted to moisture such as overly wet potting medium.
  • Greenhouses can also have an outbreak of fungus gnats.
    • Where do they come from?
    Came with the plants you bought or from potting mix.
     
    How to stop them?
    • Keep your soil medium a bit on the dry side.
  • Drench the potting mix with neem oil which will control the juvenile stages.
  • Make a sticky trap using vaseline to trap the adults.
  • Use a type of mulch the prevents the adult fungus gnats burrowing into the soil to lay the eggs.
  • Worst case, repot with fresh potting mix.
  • Greenhouse control can be with predatory insects.
    • Let’s find out more by listening to the podcast.
    I'm talking with Steve Falcioni from www.ecoorganicgarden.com.au

    If you have any feedback email [email protected] or write in to 2RRR PO Box 644 Gladesville NSW 1675
    11 min
  • Spotting Plant Deficiencies in Plant Doctor
    PLANT DEFICIENCIES:
    Imagine this scenario, you’ve fertilised your garden with all the right stuff, having followed the manufacturer’s instructions to a ‘t.’

    But still the plants look sickly, or perhaps a bit yellow, or they’re just not putting on any growth.

    Does that sound familiar?

    • So what’s the problem?
    The first thing you need to do is a pH test on your soil-there's no escaping it.
    Why?
    The soil pH will determine the availability pf different nutrients to your plants.
     
    Let's look at an example
    Looking at the chart on the right, it's immediately apparent that if your pH is higher than say pH7.5, then nutrients like iron start to taper off in their availability to the plant.
     
    Then means your plant may start to show symptoms of iron deficiency.
    In fact, after pH 7.5, other nutrients taper off in their availability, such as manganese, boron, and more importantly, one of the macro nutrients being potassium.

     

     
    Basic pH test kit
     
    Ideally the ideal pH range that gardeners should strive for is pH 6 - 7.5
  • This is the range that the major nutrients of NPK are available to the plant the most.
  • Some plants such as rhododenrons and azaleas like a like a low of pH6.
    • A pH testing kit is essential in any gardener’s shed. Consider testing your soil in different parts of the garden.

    A good tip when taking soil samples from your soil is to get a sample from just below the surface for an accurate reading.
     
    First signs of Nutrient Deficiencies: 
    Nitrogen: new leaves are pale green and older leaves are yellow and start to dry up.
    Phosphorus: purpling of the leaves, particularly along the lower leaves. New leaves are a bit stunted and deformed in severe cases.  A bit more rare.
    Potassium: poor overall health; older leaves turn yellow then crisp up and die off. Often mistaken for dehydration.
     
    Let’s find out more about  pH testing and plant deficiencies 
    I'm talking with Kylie Last, horticulturist and TAFE teacher.
    If you have any feedback email [email protected] or write in to 2RRR PO Box 644 Gladesville NSW 1675
    11 min
  • Plant Nutrition: What Plants Really Want in Plant Doctor
    PLANT NUTRITION UNPACKED
    Major Nutrients

    Have you ever asked yourself "how do plants take up nutrients when you spread fertiliser around them on the ground or dilute it into liquid ?"

    It's something that we gardeners do quite a lot of,  spreading fertiliser around that is, and probably don't give it a second thought until plants don't respond to all this nutrient load.
    • What went wrong? 
    Firstly, the nutrients that you spread around are not directly taken up by the plants.
    Nutrients have to be what's called 'made available' to the plants and to do this, the soil biota or the microorganisms have to do some work.
    Water, soil and microbes are the three things that the plants need before plants can take these nutrients.
    • So What Are These Nutrients?
    Macro Nutrients:   these are the highest rated nutrients that plants can’t do without.
    • Nitrogen:Phosphorus:Potassium or NPK: 
    A selection of fertilisers
  • Kylie's main mantra is NPK refers to shoots:roots;fruit
    • The N component relates as Nitrogen, giving your plant nice healthy green leaves.
    The P component: encourages healthy root systems.
    The K or potassium component helps the fruits and flowers
     
    Sure we can add compost, aged manures and liquid seaweed, but unless you’re sure of what’s in them nutrient wise, you may be under fertilising your plants.

    Without the major nutrients, your plants may not grow and develop roots, stems leaves and flowers properly.

    If you know what and how much to give your plants, the plants will be healthier and more productive.

    Just remember to read the NPK amounts on the bag or packet of fertiliser.
    Let’s find out more about what plants really need.
    I'm talking with Kylie Last, horticulturist and TAFE teacher.
    PLAY: Major Nutrients_21stJuly 2021

    If you have any feedback email [email protected] or write in to 2RRR PO Box 644 Gladesville NSW 1675
    9 min
  • Woolly Tea Tree in Plant of the Week
    Scientific name: Leptospermum lanigerum
    Common Name: Woolly tea tree
    Family: Myrtaceae
    Etymology: leptos, meaning slender, and sperma, meaning seed.

    lanigerum, is named using the Latin word for wool-bearing, describing the silky hairy leaves and hairy buds, shoots and young capsules.

    Height: 3m by 3m wide
     
    Location: any soil in sun and will tolerate heavy shade. Frost hardy to -7C
     Description: Dense shrub to small erect tree with persistent fibrous bark on larger stems, smaller stems shedding in stringy strips.
    • Not all tea trees have green leaves, and this one has pewter grey or silver tiny leaves with typical 5 petalled tea tree flowers.
  • May be limbed into a small tree. Light summer water though very drought adapted. Excellent background shrub or screen or large informal hedge. 
    • Takes well to pruning as the leaves are tiny and the more you prune the bush will become more dense. 
     
    Listen to the podcast to find out more
    I'm talking with Adrian O’Malley, native plant expert and officianado
    6 min
  • Aussie Blue Devil in Plant of the Week
    pt 4 
    Scientific name Eryngium ovinum
    Common Name: Blue Devil not the Sea Holly from norther Europe
    Etymology: Eryngium refers to Sea Holly and ovinum refers to sheep-apparently sheep graze on these plants.
    Family: Apiaceae-carrot family
    Height/width: 60cm-1m by 60cm-1m
    Description: Semi-evergreen perennial with green thistle-like foliage and unique feather-like blue cylindrical flowers during Summer. Dormant from Autumn through to late Winter. Long-lasting cut flower. Grows approx. 70cm tall x 40cm wide.
    • When heavily if flower, the plant, not just the flowers turn blue. "By mid summer the flowering stems extend to 60 cm and a mass of crowded bright blue flowers is produced with long, spiky bracts to 2.5 cm in globular, thistle-like heads on rigid branched stems. " (from anbg.gov.au)
    In Adrian's temperate garden, the Blue Devil has not died down as it reputedly does in cooler climates. Grows in most soil conditions in full sun.
     
    Listen to the podcast to find out more
    I'm talking with Adrian O’Malley, native plant expert and officianado
    7 min
  • Aussie Coastal Rosemary is Plant of the Week
    pt3 
    Scientific Name: Westringia fruiticosa
    Common Name: Coastal Rosemary
    Family: Lamiaceae (mint family)
    Leaves: green, with a covering of short hairs giving the plant a silvery tint . Leaves are up to 2 centimetres long, narrow and pointed and set closely in whorls around the stem.
    Westringia 'Grey Box'
    Flowers: Appear in my garden from September onwards with November seeing a main flush. Typical of flowers in the mint family either in white or pale mauve with a couple of reddish spots near the throat of the flowers. This is a bee guide for Aussie native bees.
     
    Looks like rosemary but it isn't and Adrian regards it as the 'murraya' of the Aussie native plant world.
    Tough as 'old boots' seen hugging the cliffs and down to beach level, either prostrate or several feet high depending on situation.
    A useful garden plant that has been hybrised extensively.
    Westringia "Aussie Box' and 'Grey Box' is a great alternative to box hedging.
     
    TIP:Adrian recommends use mechanical shears instead of electric or battery operated shears for better results when pruning
     
    Listen to the podcast to find out more
    I'm talking with Adrian O’Malley, native plant expert and officianado
    8 min
  • Aussie Salt Bush is Plant of the Week
    pt 2 Silver leafed plants
    Scientific name:Rhagodia spinescens
    Common Name: Aussie flat bush; spiny saltbush
    Family: Chenopodiaceae
    Height: 0.5-1.5m  tall by 1.5-4metres wide.
    Flowers:January -April, tiny cream panicles, fairly insignificant.
     
    Conditions: frost and mildly drought tolerant, best suited for temperate and semi-arid regions.
    Location: tolerant of soil types and will grow in full sun or dry shade.
    Uses: prune to shape as a hedge or leave to make a groundcover. 
     
    Quite a vigorous grower and hugs the ground so makes great habitat for native reptiles and small birds.
     

    Ozbreed has a compact form makes a great ground cover and performs better if it is pruned annually or more often if a manicured look is desired.  30-50cm x 1m wide

    Listen to the podcast to find out more
    I'm talking with Adrian O’Malley, native plant expert and officianado
    7 min
  • Two Silver leafed Eucalypts in Plant of the Week
    PLANT OF THE WEEK
    All About Australian Native Plants with Silver Leaves.
    Plants with grey or silver leaves are adapted to a drier environment because the colour of the leaf better reflects the sun than green leaves regardless of the size of the leaf. 
    This in turn means the plant uses less water for its functions. 
    There's usually more to the story as is the case with eucalypt trees having a thick waxy coating that makes the leaves look silver or grey in the first place. This waxy coating is added protection from the sun's rays.
    Eucalyptus perriniana
    Mature leaves are often different from juvenile leaves not only in shape and size but orientation.
    Mature eucalypt leaves hang vertically to reduce exposure to high levels of radiation and water loss. 
    Silver leaves don’t just have to be about small shrubs and ground covers, there’s some beaut examples of silver leafed gums.
    pt1 A Couple of Eucalypts with Silver Leaves.
    • Two great silver leafed  gums were our picks:Eucalyptus perriniana and Eucalyptus cinerea

    Silver leaves can be so attractive in the garden, in the vase or just in the landscape.

    The add texture and structure to a garden. But they also can brighten a dark spot in a garden where dark green would just disappear in the gloom.

    Eucalyptus cinerea


    Other fabulous silver leafed eucalypts

    • You could also try Eucalyptus pulverulenta, known as the Silver-leaved Mountain Gum.
  • There’s a dwarf form of this one called Baby Blue which only grows to 3m.
  • The Silver-leaved Mountain Gum is an unusual Eucalypt (especially for eastern Australia) because it hangs onto juvenile foliage into maturity. Plants rarely produce adult leaves.
    • Listen to the podcast to find out more
    I'm talking with Adrian O’Malley, native plant expert and officianado
    8 min
  • Edna Walling's Garden Design and Bickleigh Vale part 2
    Edna Walling and Bickleigh Vale part 2
    Last week, I introduced you to Edna Walling was one of Australia’s most influential garden designers of the 20th century.
    The people that live in the village of about 20 homes, are all in love with Edna's design principles.
    In spring, the gardens are like fairlyland, with flowering wisterias, crabapples, flowering cherries, birches, hornbeams. hawthorns, plums, apricots, oaks and elms . 
    "Edna Walling had a free and easy attitude to garden maintenance and she believed that every window of a house should have a view of the garden, to create the effect of bringing the garden into the house."Edna Walling came to appreciate Australian flora more and more and started to incorporate many native species in her designs even early on.I talk again with Trisha Dixon, garden author and photographer.
    Let’s find out more
    14 min
  • Edna Walling, Garden Designer and Bickleigh Vale Village part 1
    EDNA WALLING & BICKLEIGH VALE
    Part 1 
    Edna Walling was one of Australia’s most influential garden designers of the 20th century but I daresay, not too many people have heard of her.
    Edna was Walling was born in 1896, in Yorkshire and grew up in the village of Bickleigh  Devon, England but came to Australia at 17 years of age.
     
    Edna was influenced by her father and studied landscape design at Burnley Horticultural College in Melbourne. 
    Walling was awarded her government certificate in horticulture in December 1917, and after some years jobbing as a gardener she commenced her own landscape design practice in the 1920s.
    Her plans from the 1920s and 1930s show a strong architectural framework with 'low stone walls, wide pergolas and paths – always softened with a mantle of greenery'.
     
    While doing some garden research I happened on one of her most famous creations called Bickleigh Vale in the Melbourne suburb of Mooroolbark in the foothills of the Dandenongs.
    She just happened on some land while out bushwalking and convinced a bank manager to lend her money to buy the land and build her first house 'Sonning.'
    Who better to talk about them is someone who has researched Edna Walling for the last 40 years.
    I'll be talking with Trisha Dixon, garden author and photographer and sometime tour leader of gardens.
     
    Trisha mentions that she found that actual village that this was modelled on, the real 'Bickleigh Vale ; in Devon, in England.
    Listen to parts 1 & 2 of the podcast below. 
     
    A quote from https://www.bickleighvalevillage.com.au/properties.html
     is this quote
     In the early 1920s Edna Walling acquired land at Mooroolbark where she built a house for herself - 'Sonning'. Here she lived and worked, establishing her nursery and gathering around her a group of like-minded people for whom she designed picturesque 'English' cottages and gardens. She named the area Bickleigh Vale village.The houses and outbuildings that were designed or approved by Edna Walling in what she termed 'the English style' include her own home 'Sonning' which was rebuilt in 1936 following the destruction of 'Sonning I' in a fire,
    Bickleigh Vale Village
     
    Have a listen to part 1, a bit of Edna’s history and a bit about Bickley Vale.We’ll continue next with more about the actual village and also more about Edna’s vision in creating beautiful gardens.If you have any feedback email [email protected] or write in to 2RRR PO Box 644 Gladesville NSW 1675
    11 min

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Radio program Sydney, Australia. Garden Design, Growing Vegetables Trees and Flowers, Garden Tools, Plant Care and Plant Health, Attracting Wildlife to your Garden.