Hive Garden Journal #5: Keep Calm and Bug Off (Dealing with Garden Insects)

Walking barefoot in the garden with a coffee mug in hand every morning swelled into a habit I'd happily keep. I welcomed the sounds of chestnut munia from the neighbor's ipil-ipil tree. It offered shade on hot days and its dried leaves and thin branches naturally dropped as mulch on the smaller raised bed.

Pesky garden insects arrived like uninvited guests to a small secret wedding in different parts of the garden.

The Grasshopper War

25 tiny but hungry migratory grasshoppers ate the calamansi plant leaves in a celebratory smorgasbord fashion. They reminded me of baby piranhas that were unforgiving (as if I had met some in waking life). They left the stems with jagged leaf leftovers. I shrieked and chased them away only to return and continued munching after I hid behind the car.

I jumped at them and failed to catch any. They seemed to have disappeared for a minute and I found myself on my knees looking for them on the grass.

Guess what?

They were all perched on the large banana leaf above my head, with their huge eyes staring down. I could almost hear them, " Haha, look at the lady on a cow pose on the ground."

Sorry for the violence but the desperation met them with a bug spray. That ignited a grasshopper war and they were out for revenge.

The adjacent area had been left to grow wildly. During my daily sweeping around the hibiscus shrub, I raked dried flowers and leaves off the grass and one grasshopper leaped towards my eyes. Luckily, I blinked just at the right time and he skidded along my eyelids. I wasn't able to catch the fella.

The large grasshoppers I caught with a grabber, however, were all safely transferred to a heavily shrubbed area outside the village.

Not sure there will be peace talks happening soon with the tiny hoppers.

Growing Wildly

There was an ivy that seemed to have wrapped around the hibiscus shrub like a kidnapped hostage. I cut the strands and removed them to set the hibiscus free.

The hibiscus had been on and off infested with aphids as well. Its leaves suffered from discoloration. The turmeric sprays mildly worked for a while but the plant slowly returned to its old state. I didn't know what I could do to help.

So one day, I talked to the Hibiscus shrub, "I'd like to help you but let me know if there's anything I could do."

Since nature knows best, I left it the way it is. The plants grew wildly around it for weeks and I spotted birds visiting the shrub to feast on the aphids.

Fermented Fruit Juice Failed

It seemed like I brought these problems upon myself from the fermented fruit juice concoction that I sprayed on the plants' leaves a few weeks ago. The FFJ attracted insects and bugs I had never seen before and the leaves had formed patterns and discoloration.

Neem Oil Spray

I read that Neem Oil is an organic repellent that works against fungi, mites, whitefly, aphids leaf miners, and a hundred other garden insects. It doesn't harm birds, beneficial insects, such as butterflies, bees, ladybugs, and earthworms.

I found this neem oil at SM Seaside during a 3-hour drive trip to Cebu City for Php 130 (USD$ 2.50) a bottle. I needed help to restore or keep the havoc wreaked by the FFJ mistake.

I sprayed them with neem oil concoction following the directions as shown below. I did it around 5:30 PM to avoid the leaves from burning.

It kept the squash plant leaves deterioration under control. It has been a week so it's due for another spray later this evening.

Speaking of squash, I found one growing in the left side garden wild area.

The squash from the small raised bed crept along the rear side of the house towards the wild garden. It hasn't flowered yet so fingers crossed.

The third one in the long raised bed crawled to my next-door neighbor's garden.

According to Philippine law, fruits or vegetables that naturally fall on the other side of the fence belong to the owner/tenant of the mentioned land. If the crops are still attached to the plant or tree, then they should be in the possession of the plant owner.

My next-door neighbor has a right to cut it down. I talked to her one morning and offered that the harvest is all hers if she were to keep the squash growing. She's fine with the idea so that went well.

Her banana heart happened to cross over. There's a possibility that we will unanimously give this to the village's gardeners to be made into a delicious banana heart coconut curry.

Aphids on the Chillies

My Saturday morning surprise came with whiteflies hovering and flaky specks on the leaves of the long chilies. The plan was to harvest them to make dynamite spring rolls but the specks of aphids took away my appetite.

I used an old toothbrush to brush them away from each leaf and squashed the ones I saw.

I saw an aphid treatment from the neem oil supplier but I don't know much about it, so I will learn more when I travel there again.

The chilies didn't get the neem oil spray last week so I will use that treatment for now against the aphids.

It wasn't all bad. The sweet treat this week was the first blooms. The butterfly pea was a sight to see as well as the first vinca flower that bloomed.

I should limit my coffee intake and keep calm with the bugs. I look forward to more blooms for a cup of tea or maybe I could make one of Anggrek Lestari's desserts. A friend suggested cooking blue rice. Sounds delicious!

What would you recommend to control the aphids, leaf miners, grasshoppers, and bugs? How do you control garden pests? We don't have chickens nor are they allowed in the village but we do have cats and birds around.

That's all for now. Thank you for reading and I wish you a happy weekend of gardening!

In case you're interested to read previous posts:

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"I am an old soul who simply loves coffee, who finds joy and beauty in both tangible and the unseen."

@discoveringarni

_{Curiosity and imagination lead to unexpected experiences. Interested in Nature, Places, Roads Less Traveled, Minimalism, Authentic Living, Anything French, and International Cuisine. Feel free to follow her, re-blog, and upvote if you enjoy her content.}