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| GREEN GARDENING |
07 / 05 / 08 |
Q&A: Organic gardening | | | Bob Flowerdew answers your questions on organic gardening from aphids and apples to slugs, squirrels and weeds
| | Bob Flowerdew knows a thing or two about organic gardening
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Q: Aphids and co – what do I spray them with?
I'd like to ask about mild soaps for spraying on aphids and other pests. What is a mild or soft soap? How do you know which soap is safe to use and what quantity should I be using? Or is it not an organic option at all?
Inbal Bland, Hinckley
A: Bob says
By law, you may only use approved soap sprays as sold in garden centres and which come with full instructions. Never use washing-up liquid, shampoo or similar, especially, as these contain detergents and other substances which may burn foliage. Lux flakes were often used by gardeners in the past at 4oz to a gallon of warm water, which had been boiled with elderberry leaves, but this would now be a criminal offence. Traditionally soft or mild soaps were those made from potash and animal or vegetable fats, rather than with caustic soda as are most modern hard soaps. This tended to make them softer, and so, probably, the name.
Q: Apples – how can I avoid spraying with chemicals?
We are trying to grow fruit trees, bushes and berries organically, but I keep reading about all the things that we should spray the apples with to prevent them being eaten. How can we preserve them without spraying with chemicals?
Susan Williams, South Normanton
A: Bob says
There is no need to worry – most gardeners have never used anything to control any pests eating their apples and most apple trees have never failed to crop most years despite this. Indeed, the most useful thing to give them is water. And the most important job is to thin the fruits a couple of times, say at the beginning of July and late July, burying them deeply or burning the thinnings and any chats or early windfalls. Thin hard, removing any damaged or congested fruits, and the rest will be bigger and more perfect.
Q: Black fly – how do I protect my broad beans?
I would like to know what organic method Bob uses to control black fly. My broad beans have been covered in them this year. Also, how damaging are the flies to my beans? Some say you can just pick them off. I should have acted sooner maybe, but the plants are completely infested. Does it help if the beans are spaced widely apart, because mine are close together?
Michelle Jones, Kent
A: Bob says
Nip out the tips of the beans once a half dozen or so pods have set, as more will not fill well and the soft tips are where the aphid first lands. It cannot attack older, toughergrowths. Jetting some off with water may help. Dusting them with dry powdery soil from underneath is a weird but effective way. The spacing does make a difference, as tougher plants resist better than softer ones, so congested growths are often most attacked.
Q: Blackspot – how do I treat it on roses and other plants?
How can I treat blackspot on roses organically? Can other plants 'catch' blackspot if planted near suffering roses, such as the 'Bishop of Llandaff' dahlia I have close to the Crown Princess Margareta, which persistently gets the dreaded lurgy no matter how scrupulously I remove affected leaves.
Lindsay, Peterborough
A: Bob says
First, the blackspot on roses is specific to them and probably no other plant will ever catch it from them. However, the warm humid conditions that encourage blackspot will also encourage similar-looking fungal infections on other plants. I don't bother removing the leaves as I think it does more damage than the blackspot. Instead, after winter pruning, I would remove any remaining leaves and vigorously jet the plants over, washing them down thoroughly to remove any spores. I'd then apply a thick mulch – horse muck is traditional – to seal in the spores on the ground. If you wish, you may find some relief from copper- and sulphur-based sprays, such as Bordeaux Mixture, which is allowable under organic terms. Follow the instructions on the container carefully!
Q: Blood – is the type from supermarket beef okay to use on the garden?
When I buy a large joint of beef from a supermarket, there is usually a large quantity of blood in the packaging (if poly-wrapped). I know you often recommend dried-blood products, but can this fresh blood go straight on the garden or onto the compost heap? As you can see, I don't like to waste anything that is potentially useful!
Janet Leng, York
A: Bob says
Blood was once available in vast amounts from the habit of the quacks of the time bleeding their patients as an alledged cure for all sorts of sickness. It was found to be a very fast-acting fertiliser and was diluted and watered on brassicas, leeks, marrows, salad crops, roses, chrysanthemums, pot-grown citrus trees and, by the few who grew it, sweetcorn.
This may, however, attract flies or vermin unless carefully applied and then covered with fresh soil or compost. Diluting it down and watering it on the compost heap is safer. Or, it could be soaked into newspaper first, then put on the compost heap and covered well with another material. Be aware, however, that current local and European legislation is changing and that, while this may have been good practice in the past, we may not be allowed to be so sensible in the future.
Q: Caterpillars – how can I stop them destroying my viburnums?
How can I combat the caterpillars that are destroying my viburnums organically?
Jenny Organ, Harlow
A: Bob says
The first line of attack is to see if these are nesting sorts of caterpillar, which form a 'cobweb-like' tent. If so, they are easily cut out all together at night and buried. Otherwise, you can jet them off with a high-pressure hose and most will not find their way back. There are permitted organic poisons, such as derris and pyrethrum, but these are being withdrawn. Commercial soft-soap solutions will often work on tiny caterpillars, but not on bigger ones. Be careful not to touch any, especially if they are hairy or spiny, as contact with many caterpillars causes high levels of irritation.
Q: Citrus plants – how do I grow and feed them?
Any tips on growing citrus plants organically? Mine get a black sooty mould sometimes and I'm not sure what to feed them.
Liz Devonshire, Surrey
A: Bob says
Keep your citrus plants indoors from autumn until spring in high light and mist daily keeping the roots moist, but never wet or bone dry. Keep outdoors all summer after hardening off. Pot in containers that are not too generous in size, and terracotta preferably. If they are plastic, drill extra drainage and ventilation holes in the sides to improve aeration. Do not plant deep, but let the uppermost roots see light. Use a 50/50 mix of John Innes potting no 2 with an ericaceous potting compost and only ever use rainwater. Feed during summer with a borage/comfrey tea, or other organic liquid feed in their water. Sooty mould can be wiped off with moist soapy cotton wool, but this indicates pests higher up, which need to be cleaned off immediately and regularly thereafter.
Q: Slug pellets – are they organic?
Are slug pellets organic or not? Do they have any detrimental build-up effect on the soil?
Duncan Brown, Essex
A: Bob says
Most commercial varieties are in no way organic – indeed they may be one of the worse things you could leave laying around where children or pets could find them, regardless of any risk to wildlife. Of course, although the manufacturers contest any damage to the chain of life, most people in the organic movement consider slug pellets pernicious, particularly because by weight, these are probably the most heavily applied of all pesticides nationwide.
Q: Squirrels – how can I keep them away from the allotment
Please help. How do I protect against damage by squirrels. I work an allotment site, which has mature native trees and fruit trees on the boundaries. Last year we lost all of our sweetcorn to the squirrels. This year they have evaded the netting and are stockpiling strawberries under bushes. The area is too large to completely enclose with wire netting, and I am unlikely to be allowed to shoot or trap. Are you aware of any organic/ethical methods of control?
Pat Woodward
St Clements and District Allotment Association, Oxford
A: Bob says
Organic gardeners are ingenious, but cannot perform miracles. If you can't trap them or kill them, and you cannot enclose the most important crops under wire netting, then you are only left with frightening them away. As this is also near impossible 24/7, then lobby your fellow allotment holders (who must all suffer much the same) as a group to pay a professional to clear out these cute pests.
Q: Weeds – how can I keep this invasive type out of my veg patch?
I have a new veg patch and things are doing very well, but I also have a climbing weed sprouting everywhere. I've no idea what it is, but it's very invasive. The root is a lot thicker than the plant itself and it's driving me mad. Can you suggest how I can control it organically, as I'm concerned using any chemicals around my veg.
Sue Gouldie, Liverpool
A: Bob says
It may be bryony, which is also rather poisonous, or several other weeds. It is hard to tell without more information. In any case, remember you can never get up all the roots, so exhaust them by removing every shoot once a week. Just remove every leaf every week with a sharpened hoe, spade, shears, scissors, strimmer or mower, and any weed will die. Make sure, however, that there are no leaves and shoots anywhere else feeding your roots, or you will be at it forever. Rot the offcuts in a barrel of water for a month to ensure they do not sprout again when put on the compost heap.
Congratulations to our Organic Gardening Q&A winner!
Well done to Gardening.co.uk member Sue Williams, who won a day out at Garden Organic Ryton learning about organic gardening with Bob Flowerdew, courtesy of Red Letter Days.
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| | Discuss this article, 1 of 3 messages, read more: |  Pamela Skilton | |
| Posted: 19/07/07 19:06:32 32 | | I have been using the filter-cup coffees for some while and I have been concerned over the waste from the plastic cup-like container that is thown away each time. However I have an idea. If you remove the coffee filter and the used coffee to the compost heap, you are left with a plastic holder with 6 holes. Double this up for strength with another coffee filter and you have a good secure clasp for putting thin canes through to make a wigwam construction for peas, and beans. It works! |
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