Pest Problem

Something is eating holes in my baby bok choy, but leaving the surrounding veggies like the spinach alone. I spotted a ladybeetle hanging out with these pests (going to assume it’s feeding on them). I washed everything off but they came back the next day. So did the ladybeetle. They kinda look like aphids, but these tiny bugs are dark brown, can’t get a really good pic of them; they are turning my bok choy into swiss cheese. I may have to cut these boks down to the roots and start all over if I can’t get rid of them.

They keep coming back but in smaller numbers. I am checking my bok choy regularly now because I’m growing paranoid. Even when temps dipped down in to the low 30s, the buggers hide out under the leaves and in between the stalks. You’d think planting these in a stock tank garden would keep them off the pest radar, but apparently not. I even spotted another caterpillar looper trudging through the cedar mulch.

I plan on starting a new crop of boks soon, but for now, I will keep monitoring how these 2 specimens do. Sadly, I think I’ve lost my appetite for these.

Cold Snap: Citrus Update

December 16 will be the first date this winter when temperatures will hit a low of 26, or so Google Assistant tells me. I checked in with my variegated lemon tree to find out how it’s doing in the grow house.

I’m astonished with the new leaf growth. I believe the liquid Grow fertilizer I provided earlier this month is fueling some of the new foliage. Lemon trees supposedly don’t go dormant during cold weather, so I need to keep a constant eye on this tree for any signs of problems. I’m hoping tonight’s cold snap won’t damage the new leaves.

One thing I’m a little frustrated with is the automation that switches on the Vavofo outdoor smart outlet in the tent under specific conditions. I created a script in the Smart Life app to turn on the lights when local temperatures are equal or less than 48F during daytime hours. I’m currently troubleshooting why the app doesn’t fire consistently.

Obviously if I’m not home or paying attention to local climate conditions, I might lose my frost tender plants to cold weather. Turning on the incandescent string lights helps mitigate the freezing temperatures by keeping grow tent temps 4-10 degrees warmer. I may try using IFTTT integration to get this to work reliably. Worse case is moving to Home Assistant and running my own automation server to control my IOT.

Windowsill Planter Boxes

My man was in a workshop fury since the weather got cold. He’s been cleaning and organizing the garage workshop while at the same time making a mess building DIY projects.

So I put him to work to upgrade my windowsill planter boxes. I have so many herbs and starter plants to bring indoors…it was about time to take advantage of that south-facing window.

The final product populated with all types of herbs, including cat grass for the kitties to graze on.

With so many herbs and starters in the windowsill planter, it’s a lot of work to keep things watered and maintained. Either we start using more of these herbs or I’m going to have to start tossing some of these in the mulch bag.

Golden Delicious Pineapple Sage blooming in the windowsill planter