Following my post on organophosphates and ADHD, one of my blog readers asked for more information about derris dust (rotenone) that has been popular with organic gardeners for pest control as rotenone is an organic pesticide made from the roots of a tropical plant. It also has a long history as a piscicide (fish killer).
Rotenone [...]

Earlier this week, ‘Today’ program on Channel 9 aired a segment about new research showing a link between organophosphate pesticides and ADHD. The research involved 1,139 children between 8 and 15 years and found high levels of organophosphate metabolites in urine of children with ADHD. This link is not surprising as organophosphates (and carbamates) are [...]

Before purchasing mulches or manures for your garden, ensure that they don’t come from pastures treated with a broad-leaf weed killer.
A relatively new herbicide (weed killer) ingredient, aminopyralid kills broad-leaf plants by disrupting plant cell growth. It does not affect grasses, but can remain active in them, and manures from animals that eat sprayed grasses, [...]

Mary’s pumpkin vines have produced some good fruits but a lot of pumpkins get black spots, shrivel up and rot while they are still small. Other vines have had very few or no female flowers, and she is puzzled as to the cause of these problems.
The squash family can also suffer from ‘blossom end rot’, [...]

 In hot, dry weather the 26 or 28-spotted ladybirds can do a lot of damage to the vegetable patch. Plants can only absorb nutrients from the soil as water-soluble ions. As soil dries out, vegetable plants are unable to absorb the nutrients they need to produce the compounds that deter pests, and these troublesome ladybirds [...]

One of our SA readers wants to know what to do about the weeds that sprout from their horse manure pile, as she is concerned about spreading the weeds through her garden. She also has a problem with millipedes. Interestingly, manure and millipedes have a relationship because millipedes feed on decaying organic matter and they [...]

Temperatures between 11-28° C. and excess humidity (without rain) can provide suitable conditions for powdery mildew spores to become active, especially on plants have been affected by drought, or are under-fertilised.
Powdery mildew spores are carried by air and, once active, will continue to spread in dry conditions. This fungal problem affects a wide range [...]

The flat-bodied bronze orange bugs in the photos below are also known as stinkbugs because of the vile odour of the secretion they release when disturbed. These bugs can do a lot of damage to citrus trees as they suck sap from new shoots and flower stems, causing shoots to wither, and crop losses. The [...]

A lot of gardeners seem to be having problems with onion weed lately. To compound the problem, there is some confusion about what is “onion weed”? Nothoscordum gracile, or N. inundorum, or Asphodelus fistulosus are all referred to as onion weed in various articles. Onion weed is often confused with another weed (Romulea rosea), that [...]

If you come across a cluster of small, yellow cocoons on leaves of Brassica vegetables – don’t spray them or feed them to the chooks. They do not belong to garden pests. (See photos below.)
These cocoons are, in fact, the pupation stage of a very small, black wasp. This wasp belongs to the Braconidae family. [...]