Caterpillars have been Eating My Calamansi Plants

I've been trying to grow veggies the past few years. All the greens I tried to grow are gone. My Calamansi project started in September 2023. It took time for the seeds to sprout and now I have several of them growing in bigger pots. I placed them in two areas of our home to ensure they grow. 

I have so far managed to keep them from dying. I spray Neem oil weekly and feed them fertilizer every other week. Biggest pest for my calamansi are caterpillars. Some grow so big they finish all the leaves! Luckily, the bigger plants survive, but some smaller plants don't, huhu. 

I researched companion plants for citrus fruits. They supposedly help ward off pests. You can plant marigold, basil, lavender, peas, tomatoes, chives, garlic, and fennel. I got marigold seeds, but haven't had the chance to plant them. My basil, lavender, tomatoes, chives and garlic all died. One thing that is left standing are my fennel plants (was sold to me as dill!). 

Plant on the right had fennel in the same pot.
Left plant didn't, so all the leaves are gone!

Anyway, since it's been so easy to grow fennel, I just cut off some and planted it beside my calamansi plants. After a few weeks I noticed that the leaves of the calamansi plants  started growing bigger. Those that didn't have fennel were continued to be pestered by caterpillars. 

Leaves slowly growing back after I added fennel to the pot.

I have since added fennel to the rest of my calamansi in the pocket garden and they are slowly growing new leaves to replace those eaten by caterpillars. Yes! Now I can focus on making sure they are fed well and hope they'll finally produce fruit by next year!

#BeKind #StaySafe #VoteWisely

Plantita Saturdays: They Like the Philodendron :(

The other night I noticed something different with the philodendron. It's only been a few weeks since I planted the stalks Ate Rose gave to me. It has just settled in and while checking the door I noticed something different with the large plant. 

The huge leaf I was admiring that afternoon when I watered it was halved in two. It was late already, but I headed out to check. A hungry caterpillar almost wiped out the huge leaf. My heart sank because the same thing happened last year when they almost wiped out all my plants. 

Since it's been a few days since I sprayed neem oil I decided to spray again to prevent further infestation. Noticed another smaller leaf being eaten the day after and I luckily caught the culprit. It had no chance of survival after I sprayed neem oil on it. 

They also like this variety :(

Sigh, really need to find time to hose down the area so I can sprinkle some diatomaceous earth around the pots. That way they won't get to the plant. Well, hopefully they didn't hatch eggs in the soil. I am hoping the neem oil spray will take care of it. Worse off I could probably water them with water with a bit of hydrogen peroxide. 

I hope I'll be able to control the infestation, so it won't be like what happened last year. Sigh.

#BeKind #StaySafe