Sorry for the lack of posts lately. Been hectic holiday with a weekend in Madrid, a bachelor weekend, a friends wedding and afterward a two week holiday through Eastern Europe.
I have a friend who came to take care of the plants and sent me a picture of speedy Chile. Holy cow is that thing big!
The special queen i have no foto of unfortunately. As soon as I return next weekend I shall make an entry for it.
The Orion I harvested right before leaving. It wasn't ready yet but started getting early budrot due to rain. So I harvested early to not let it spread and to make sure it couldn't contaminate other plants when I'm gone.
Looks great. Mould and mildew are due to humidity so airflow is key to avoiding problems. Defoliation, or lolllypopping, the lower branches will help a lot. The lowest fan leaves are likely shaded and not contributing anyway, and lower small buds won’t mature without sunlight and become just popcorn buds that aren’t good for much. Defoliation directs the plants energy toward the bigger upper buds. The inner core also won’t produce much and thinning that out also improves airflow. Good luck.
@Chunga, yeah I thought the same at first about the ladybugs but after having done this for 3 years now I really do see a difference with before. I can easily count up to 10 ladybugs at a time in my garden where I would be happy to spot 1 a few years ago. I guess they are just like ppl, some move away from the nest and explore the world while others stick behind and remain local peeps.
@DeWandelaar, great tips, thanks! I actually have a bunch of empty pots near the plants, I'll buy some friendly neighbors. I had thought of getting ladybugs but I figured they would just fly away. Good to know they really work! I do have some ladybugs already in my yard but not a lot and they're usually on the mimosa trees far from my plants. I'll try it out. I get spider mites, whiteflies, caterpillars, etc but have managed to mostly control them manually and with fly paper. But it requires a lot of attention. I'll try the ladybugs and neighbors. I'm in the southeast US and it's just super hot, muggy & buggy here 👍
@DeWandelaar, otro consejo es que la proxima vez lo cubras con esparadrapo de tela para tapar heridas en humanos
¿Por qué?
Porque es transpirable, e igual que tú piel transpira, también lo hará el tronco de tu planta 😬