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Wednesday, February 17, 2010

Edible Balcony - Lady bugs to the rescue

The hot humid weather in Sydney has been terrific for the plants on the balcony.

The zucchini seeds I planted on Saturday sprouted in just 5 days.

The downside is that the bugs have also exploded exponentially- particularly the aphid 'Woodstock' population partying on my tatsoi and Japanese greens. 

Then this morning I found the cavalry had sent in reinforcements....

The first lady bug observed on the edible balcony was steadily hoovering up the aphids. Aphids are the preferred food for lady bugs. Apparently a fully grown adult can eat up to 100 aphids a day.

Welcome to the war zone Ringo (named in honour of my favourite beetle). You don't know how glad I am to have you onboard.

3 comments:

  1. I start shaking when aphids appear. I lost whole mature chilli plants to a huge invasion last summer. I don't get many ladybugs in my potted garden. Are there any special plants that encourage them?

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  2. Wow! 3 zucchini plants in one pot. You wil be feeding the whole of your block! Plants (in the ground) can grow to 3m across and 1m tall so you might want to give them lots of room!

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