Tips

I recently received an email from someone with a bug problem and to be honest I am quite sure a lot of us go through the same tedious searching to find an answer which, sometimes is not as simple as we think it is going to be when we first begin our search.
It turns out this person had the same problem as I once had. I did think what a wonderful question to ask as well as wow I want to put this on my website because I am positive many people ask the very same question but to no prevail, whereas; I once asked it myself and did not get any response until years later after studing every good bug/every bad bug .
I responded with a fairly simple easy tip to fix the problem.

This is the Email:
I was reading your site and I found some useful info about my schefflera. I have noticed some tiny white bugs. They are long and thin but tiny! They run though the soil and I have only found them in the top of the soil. They do not jump. They build little green clusters that are pretty sterdy. At first I thought that it was a new plant growing, that was how green they are. I have been cleaning them out of the plant but I am afraid and I have no clue what they are and how to get rid of them. I have been on the internet for hours trying to find out what they are. Can you help? If not, do you know any place I could look? Thanks for your time.

My Response:

Aphid Control: All natural spray. To control aphids on plants, pour one quart of boiling water over four crushed garlic cloves, allow water to cool, strain, then add a teaspoon of liquid soap. Apply using a sprayer within a few hours of making spray.
If this does not work or you do not have the materials I find that yellow paper with vaseline or honey works , chop the paper small and apply the honey or vaseline. Put it in with your plants.They will get stuck to it. Repeat as nessary.
Don't put any other plants near infected plants otherwise they will become infected as well.
You could also try taking the plant out from its pots and dunking it in lukewarm soapy water, that often kills them as well.


Okay now on with a few more tips for the day...

Compost:
A natural compost activator. Adding a few chopped leaves of Yarrow per wheelbarrow of compost will greatly speed up composting time

Homemade Fertilizers:
Making your own. To make a good general fertilizer high in potash, pack comfrey and nettle leaves into a container and cover with water. Cover with a lid or plastic and store outside as it will have a loud odor. Make a liquid fertilizer by diluting this mixture with water 20:1. This process works on many different fertilize combinations.To make a fertilizer with high copper content, add Yarrow. Dill tops are high in potassium and sulfur. Tea leaves are high in nitrogen and manganese. Alfafa makes a great all around fertilizer high in many minerals and nutrients.

I shall be back tomorrow with more....
Until then happy gardening!