Plantita Saturdays: It's Higad Season Again

Saw some creepy critters when we got back. It's not yet as bad as last year because we had pest control do some treatment a few weeks ago. Traced the source from the neighbor's tree at the back, so I need to ask if they could trim the tree. It's been dropping a lot of debris and higad, huhu. 

I quickly reviewed what I did last year. Here's a list:

• Spray neem oil with castille soap and baking soda twice a week.
• Spray boiled lemongrass and oregano on the plants. 
• Drop the critters in a bucket of water with neem oil and hydrogen peroxide. 
• Call pest control if things go out of hand. 

They killed a lot of my plants last year. One thing I'm planning to do this year is barricade my plants on the ground with diatomaceous earth. It should help prevent them from reaching the plants. Sweetie and I are planning to wash down the area where we keep plants. Things got super messy during the renovation and I have to move my succulents and cactus out of the garage. 

Make sure to wear gloves whenever you work in the garden! Since AQI has been bad, better to also wear a mask. Don't touch and don't inhale any of the fine hair on its body. It can block your air pipes and cause trouble. 

Happy gardening everyone!

#BeKind #StaySafe

Defeat is Not an Option

My heart sank when I saw several of my plants dead from the higad invasion. The damage: 4 citronella plants, basil, 2 lettuce pots, a caixin flower plant, mustasa and newly planted zinnias. Nakakagalit pramis. I toiled many months to get those plants going and in less than a week they're all gone. But that's nature. What it taught me is to be ready for this when it happens again.

I've been able to so far save some of the plants my Mom gave me. I've been hovering over them, plucking away the critters. I've also been spraying neem oil to ensure that the eggs don't flourish. The tanglad-oregano concoction has worked wonders. I think they hate the smell and run away when sprayed with it. I've seen some freeze and die. I've been spraying everyday since I discovered the invasion and I noticed they are getting thinner by the day. 

It was already dead when I found it on a tomato leaf.
Probably ate a lot of leaf with neem oil.

I'm focusing only on the potted plants since I don't have enough neem oil. I've also taken most of the lemograss and oregano and have to give them time to grow again. I don't think the critters like the bamboo so I've generally just sprayed the ones we pass by often. Even though I'm actively protecting my plants, we have started to see butterflies and moths flying around the house. The nice thing about that is they can help pollinate my tomato plants that are flowering again. 

Ang Cardo Dalisay vs. higad: neem oil with castille soap + tanglad and oregano potion. 

I can't do anything anymore to my plants that I was not able to save. It just means I have to care for the news ones better. I'll probably plant again and buy new plants when the higad season is over. I should probably get some help also to trim the grass and the bamboo. It's starting to look like a forest now here hehe. 

Defeat is not an option and that also applies to me. I've been treating this as God's way to push me to move around more. Granted that by early evening I feel like my body will dismantle soon, but two weeks ago I wouldn't have been able to do this. I would also have not been able to take care of my boys. So there is always hope to get better. I just have to be in the right headspace so I can take care of myself and others (including my plants). 

#BeKind #StaySafe

Battling Weedle errr Higad!

It's my first higad season in our still relatively new home. Kevin of Epic Gardening said that they may be beneficial for your garden if there's just a few. They do eventually turn into pretty butterflies. I love butterflies and I know these critters are food for the birds too. I'm actively battling them for two reasons.

 

First, I will never forget that time when I almost lost my best friend because of them. We were walking home from the park with Miggy. As we were walking a tree doused us with falling leaves. There was a caterpillar on my bestie's shirt. It was flicked away. We thought nothing about it. Got home and almost an hour later I get a call which I did not understand at all. 

I only found out later on that the best friend suffered anaphylaxis from inhaling the caterpillar hair. Some were probably left on the shirt. He was so worried about Miggy that's why he called from the emergency room. That's reason number 1 why I'm actively trying to minimize the invasion. Those things can be nasty. I had two rashes yesterday after spraying neem oil even though I didn't touch any of them. Good thing I was wearing a mask. 

They were perfect the other day.

Grew this for six months and I'm not sure if it will recover.

Of course, reason number 2 is I don't want my plants to be ruined! I have been trying to grow some flower plants from seed since January. They ate them up! I sprayed a lot of neem oil on them last night and still found several caterpillars on them this afternoon. They seem to prefer flowering plants. Even my pretty aglaonema was not spared. My Mom gave them to me, so I need to make sure I care for them properly. I read they also like seedlings and I've just planted several seeds the past two weeks. Trying to protect those that have sprouted. 

I've been spraying neem oil with castille soap the past few days. I'm not really sure if it's effective since I don't really see any dead caterpillars. I don't want to use chemical insecticides since I read that birds eat them. Neem oil is like a medicine for birds so it's good for them. 

I'm about to try a concoction that Kuya Arlan taught me. He told me to boil tanglad (lemongrass) and oregano and use it to spray the plants. Good thing the free oregano plant I got is still very much alive (insects hate it). I also planted the tanglad I got from the supermarket and it's thriving. Got a bunch this afternoon and left it boil. I'm just waiting for it to cool so I can spray again. I read you should spray it at night because that's when the caterpillars actively eat. 

Don't ever touch those seemingly cute little things. I was trying to identify the ones we have here now. They're not even the cute green ones, but brown hairy ones. Some of them are so fat they look like tiny stuffed toys. I just ordered a proper garden spray. Bought two so I can give one to my Mom. I think 95% of her plants are flowering plants. So I can't help but worry for her. 

How long does higad season last? I remember there was a time when I was in elementary school when the nuns had to suspend classes because of the infestation. We had several huge acacia trees in campus. It was always a bad time for us during higad season because they fall on unsuspecting kids. I was lucky I was spared back then. Hope it will be over soon. 

#BeKind #StaySafe