The Gardening Channel: All Gardening, All The Time

[sessifet]

I have a parasitic wasp! She's just a Pimpla instigator (is that an awesome name or what?), which is quite a common species. Her host species include Gipsy Moth and Large White butterfly caterpillars. This is really exciting, because while her larvae are carnivorous, she needs nectar and honeydew for food. It means my tiny little garden is likely producing enough nectar and host species to make it profitable for her to hang around for a while.

My tiny little ecosystem works! It looks weird and disjointed: half is decorative plants, half is vegetables. I don't know why certain things happen: my potato plants are nearly leafless due to slugs and snails, but the pumpkin plant right next to the potatoes is completely untouched. There's slug pellets everywhere (one can't aim these things, it seems), which is not stopping massive snails from nomming my marigolds (talk about a scarily effective trap crop). I've got a jar of cheap lager buried in the bed and have to fish out the casualties every few days, but it does not attract baby slugs or any snails.

I have no idea what I'm doing and have stuck a hummingbird onna stick and a swordfish in the bed for visual appeal, but it apparently doesn't matter. I have a parasitic wasp! And a massive bumblebee! And hoverflies! And bees! This is so awesome!

Comments

[pteppic.livejournal.com]

"Pimpla instigator"

A reverse kind of tooth-fairy for teenagers.

[pteppic.livejournal.com]

Regarding the "some things getting eaten over other things", its all down to taste and preference. Some plants are just so *nommy* that everything else gets left. Cabbage butterflies being the classic one - all your brassicas get absolutely obliterated, but the rest of your crops are pretty good.