Herself’s Houston Garden

Who knew? Why use chemicals in your pond when you can just add mosquito eating fish?

While lawmakers in Washington struggle to solve the nation’s foreclosure crisis, officials here are using a small fish to clean up some of the mess.

The Gambusia affinis is commonly known as the “mosquito fish” because of its healthy appetite for the larvae of the irritating and disease-spreading insects. Lately, the fish is being pressed into service in California, Arizona, Florida and other areas struggling with a soaring number of foreclosures.

The problem: swimming pools of abandoned homes have turned into mosquito breeding grounds.

[ read more For mortgages underwater, help swims in ]

There are two mosquito fish, one eastern and one western. Both are native to the Gulf of Mexico. They survive in fresh and salt water. They are about the size of guppies and rapidly multiply to keep your pond free of mosquitoes.

If you are in California you can get some for free from the government Mosquito Fish and Googling ‘mosquito fish’ will bring up lots of suppliers.

The Texas Ext office mentions them in “Mosquito control around the home”

See also:
Mosquitoes

I had never heard of nematodes before, I guess that they are not as much of a problem in New England? Down here in Houston they are a problem.

When you bring a plant home, carefully check the roots before planting. Look for knots and swollen areas on the roots. Once you add root knot nematodes to your garden, they are there forever. So it is best not to bring them home. ( University of Ontario has an article with several good pictures ). Be especially sure to check your tomato plants since that is the most likely way you’ll pick them up down here.

Nematodes are microscopic worms some are good, some are bad. The bad ones have a needle like part they use to puncture plant roots. They then inject an enzyme into the root which softens root, then they suck that back out of your plant roots.

You can reduce the number of nematodes in your soil by adding grated orange peel about 1%-5% to your soil. Nematodes must be in damp or wet soil. They die when they dry out, but the eggs live on to reappear when soil gets wet.

When I was outside last month making my first spring pass in the garden I noticed a row of false hollies had leaves all turning yellow and brown. When you see yellow leaves on a plant the very first thing you should do is flip the leaves over and look at the underside. When I flipped the leaves over I found scale. Neem or orange oils are the preferred choices and you can find them at most nurseries. I use orange oil, but in a pinch any oil you have hanging around the kitchen will do just fine. Spray the bottom of the leaves thoroughly.

If only a small part of a plant is effected, prune off that branch and spray the underside of remaining leaves with oil. These plants are totally covered. So if the spray does not work after two weekly applications, I’ll cut them back to the ground and let them start over.

Tea scale was first discovered on tea plants in the early 1900s. Hollies, camellias, tea, olive and citrus plants are all known to be victims. The life cycle is between 45 to 65 days. We can get them year round here in Houston as well as in other warm climate areas. Usually they show up in the spring.

If you have constant problems with scale in your garden you might also consider a systematic pesticide. These are absorbed by the plant through the roots and deliver toxins to the scale. I don’t use systematic pesticides in my garden, but if you are constantly fighting scale you should consider them. They are available at your local plant supply place as well. ( see Control of tea scale using root absorbing systematic insecticides )

If you do not have enough worms in your garden organic materials are unlikely to break down to a point where your plants can take up the nutrients through their roots. There will be a lack of aeration which encourages fungi and that nasty swamp odor sometimes found in soils down here. Water may be retained longer in clay and not as long as needed in sandy soils with out earth worms mixing things up and breaking things down. A lack of earthworms can also hurt the pH levels in your soil.

There are 2700 different kinds of earthworms known. Worms have five hearts. Worms are covered in a mucus that keeps them moist and allows them to breath through their skin. Worms have been on the planet for 120 million years. That is the time when continents were breaking apart and flying birds and flowers were just beginning to appear. The Egyptians considered earthworms to be sacred.

One acre can contain a from 50,000 earthworms to a million earthworms consuming up to 10 tons of debri and turning up to 40 tons of soil per year.

Not to worry if you spear one with your garden shovel. A worm’s body has up to 100 segments, new segments will grow on the front section. Worms are both male and female and will mate in spring and summer.

There are earthworms near the Equator, Espinals, that grow to 8′ in length. Glaciers wiped out northern North American earthworms and the Europeans brought them back when they moved here. Some northern forests are having problems with earthworm infestations.

Earthworms show up after a rain just because it is easier for them to move about the surface when it is wet. They suffocate when they are dry, not wet as folklore would have us believe.

You can buy earthworms if you need more. I haven’t tried this but who can miss all the ads in the spring catalogs. It is the fastest way to rejuvenate poor soil.

I am a big fan of earthworm castings and buy and distribute a healthy amount throughout the yard twice a year. It is a fantastic fertilizer and castings also attract more worms to your garden.

Once you get a sufficient amount of worms in your garden then nutrients will get broken down into small parts for the plants. Worms beget worms and the population grows. Good microbes multiply. As the worms work the soil they leave air pockets that the good microbes need. The good microbes keep the fungi and other pathogens in check. All of this means less fertilizers are needed and less pesticides. Cheaper and less work for you and better for the environment.