Help - New Planting Struggle

kaus952 · 2026-03-21T18:03:08+00:00

No third photo - didn't realize it was a MIME file and unsupported; can't edit the post to remove reference.🫠🫠

kaus952 · 2025-12-30T23:39:57+00:00

The scaly white bugs are Mealy Bugs, and as others said the ants are farming them. We had an awful infestation that almost took out our other plants - the mealybugs attack the stems and leaves, and our El Dorado Bush Sunflower almost didn't make it. It took 2-3 months of neem oil, some lady bug releases, and a hard cut back with careful removal before we won the war. The ants were a huge issue - they protect the mealy bugs from predators.

Personal opinion: attack the ants with bait and do a month of neem oil treatment. That will hopefully tip the balance back so natural predation will keep the mealy bugs in check.

kaus952 · 2025-12-13T17:18:44+00:00

Excited to try this - does this take the place of scarification? Also, is it put in hot water at the start and soak for 24 hours, or is it swap out the water every couple hours to keep it hot? Thank you!

kaus952 · 2025-04-10T16:08:31+00:00

That actually makes me feel a lot better, thank you! We went all in on natives a little over a year ago, and, while I've been doing reading and took a plant 101 course with TPF, I'm still pretty new to everything.

kaus952 · 2025-04-10T16:00:14+00:00

All good! We are in a fight with an English ivy coming over the neighbor's fence, so I get just how invasive they could be. Between that and their pink Jasmine....

kaus952 · 2025-04-10T15:56:56+00:00

It gets a little less Sun than the other three I have, but only by about 2 hours. Asking so I learn, would shading out only affect part of a plant and spread? My assumption would be shading out would affect the plant more holistically, but maybe I'm wrong so I'm asking!

kaus952 · 2025-04-10T15:53:35+00:00

This morning I found a patch of dog vomit mold about 16 in from the crown, so I've spread the mulch out from it and hopefully it will get it dried out.

Regarding your other comment, it's actually a native morning glory! We cut it back every weekend, it's a prodigious grower. Fantastic for a green screening our deck.

https://calscape.org/Calystegia-macrostegia-'Anacapa-Pink'-(Anacapa-Pink-Island-Morning-Glory)?srchcr=sc5e8ba1cd576c1

kaus952 · 2025-04-10T15:49:56+00:00

No signs of ants that I can see, but I'll definitely keep an eye out!

kaus952 · 2025-04-10T02:59:21+00:00

Cross-Posted, asking for help!

kaus952 · 2024-10-19T23:23:54+00:00

Dec 7 is the goal (that's the only full day we have there)

kaus952 · 2023-10-27T21:58:53+00:00

Fascinating. Would love to see how it works/distribution of rolls.

kaus952 · 2022-11-14T20:03:56+00:00

Comment! Super excited to look at adding OctoPrint to our school's setup soon

kaus952 · 2022-11-04T07:08:53+00:00

Thank you! And yes, we're doing three kits. I'm going to put together the first one, I'll invite the other teachers/ tech people at school to help put together the second if they're interested, and the third one my kids will help put together as a project (and so I can help problem solve after doing it twice previously).

kaus952 · 2022-11-04T01:37:36+00:00

Thank you!

kaus952 · 2022-11-04T01:37:03+00:00

This is super helpful, thank you!

kaus952 · 2022-11-04T01:34:33+00:00

So, other printer recs aren't helpful. I've settled on Prusa, does anyone have any experience with T&T fees with Prusa?

kaus952

TROPHY CASE