Ruud Kleinpaste: Common garden problems, questions

Common problems and questions<br />1) Compost bin or worm farm is full of little white worms and more<br />I often see a compost bin as a miniature version of a perfect ecosystem.<br />Anybody who’s job it is to break down organic matter will live there – first the “shredders” of waste material: millipedes, slugs/snails, slaters, roaches, beetle larvae, some maggots – even mice and rats.<br />Their waste (excrement) is broken down by the next group of “composters”: fungi, amphipods (litter hoppers)<br />Next lot is the extremely numerous springtails and tiny fruitfly larvae<br />Then come the mites (minute), bacteria and other small “finishers”. sometimes fungal, some worms.<br />Even worm farms should have all these in them at some stage and that’s how Nature runs the show<br />2) Leafcurl on stonefruit/peaches/plums<br />Fungal disease that started last autumn when infection began; The new buds that were formed in autumn and during early winter got the fungal spores on them and it manifested itself as leafcurl in spring and early summer.<br />Prevent next years’ infection by spraying double dose of copper when half your leaves have fallen off in autumn – do that twice in a row a few weeks apart<br />3) Fruit trees not fruiting well or flowering plants not flowering well<br />Usually a deficiency of potash (the “K” in NPK)<br />Did you fertilise your plant at all?? If answer is not: use some rose fert or tomato fert a few times a year – little and often. I tend to grab Seafood soup and Seaweed tea and alternate those often.<br />Just using Blood and Bone (Mostly “N” and some “P”!!!) does not give a plant much incentive to grow flowers and fruit: Chuck some sulphate of potash around the ailing plant in late spring, and during summer – water well in and do it again in early spring next year – That usually does the trick<br />4) Need pollinators!!!<br />Some people think that lack of fruit is result of “no bees”.<br />Maybe<br />Always make sure you have plenty of flowers around your garden that will attract the in