Gardening – Pest time

This may well be the wettest spring I can recall, however, I do have a solution. It is well known amongst garden writers that they have power over the weather. It’s quite simple – I predict a dry season, we get a wet season; I predict a hot season, we get a cold season. So, with my uncanny knack in mind, I predict a wet, cold summer. Hey presto – you can thank me later!

Seriously though, a potential side effect of a relatively mild and wet winter, followed by a mild to warm and wet spring, followed possibly by a hot and wet summer; will be a huge increase in pests. Already I’m noticing more aphids on the brassicas and lettuce, loads of slugs and snails on the move and the early mozzies are already swarming.

Of these, I’m most exercised by the potential for mozzie invasion. I hate the little suckers and unfortunately Point Wells, with its sheltered subtropical conditions and lots of open drains, is ground zero. So, aside from the obvious Deet-based sprays and an endless list of natural remedies and mozzie repelling plants (I’m not entirely convinced these work), what strategies should be employed to combat them? 

First of all, go around your property and empty every single container that holds even the smallest amount of water (they can breed in even a cupful of water). Make sure drains are flowing freely (mozzie larvae don’t like moving water) and drain or fill in any standing puddles. Check your gutters are clear and draining properly and water tanks have tight fitting lids. Any ornamental ponds, even small ones, should have goldfish in them as goldfish are voracious larvae eaters. 

Then, out comes the biological warfare; Bti – Bacillus thuringiensis israelensis to use its full moniker. These are bacteria that, once ingested by the larvae, produces a toxin in their gut that kills them in about a day. They are completely safe for humans and most other forms of life and, thankfully, there is no need to be a mad scientist. I can buy these bacteria from most garden centres or hardware stores that sell garden products in a handy spreadable form called Mozzie Bits or Mozzie Stop. Great for sprinkling on ponds or drains where fish aren’t keeping up with the invasion, or over bromeliads and bananas (Abyssinian bananas in particular hold a lot of water in their leaf bases).

You’ll probably never eliminate these little terrors, but by using all the techniques described above, at least they can be kept down to reasonable levels. Now for the next pest invasion!