Wednesday, October 12, 2005

Household Chores

Kept inside by the damp greyness yesterday, I still did a few plant chores. First, I ripped up a few sprigs of periwinkle/creeping myrtle from the weed bed underneath the stairs. I like it there, but it's hidden beneath everything else. Then I took those sprigs inside and planted them into the vivarium. Zeppe needs something green aside from the foliage in pots. And I didn't kill the trial sprigs of periwinkle, unlike the trial sprigs of mock strawberries. I'm just hoping it will grow.

The other thing was to pay some attention to my houseplants. I discovered that the philodendron has been over-watered. I poured out the excess water and will try not to repeat that problem. I still need to repot it. But I need to buy a pot for it. I want a longer one, so it will still fit on the ledge of the vivarium.

The other issue was little white flies on the hibiscus. Which forced a decision for my spray bottle. I had been debating what to use as an insect deterrent, soap or cayenne peppers. Since I still haven't gotten around to buying cayenne powder, I grabbed the soap. Hopefully that will take care of the bugs. I'll have to check again after work.

What I need to do is find a good book or website detailing various garden and indoor pests and what to spray them with. I know of a good alternative insecticide page. I'd like not to use chemicals near my turtles. The only problem with this page, is that it doesn't really identify the bugs. Granted, most have "descriptive" names, but that doesn't really help with identifying the pest, so I can pick the best remedy. There's bound to be something out there.


Yesterday's precipitation: scattered light showers -- trace