WalkGood 2013, 2014 and Beyond

megamoo · Feb 7, 2013

stc3248 said:
DE will get the live ones...not sure about the eggs, but don't think so. DE works by slicing the bugs up as they walk through it. The damage caused to their exoskeleton causes them to dehydrate and die.

this sentence made me smile

You saw the broad mites? Did you use a magnifying glass because I thought they were too small to see?
You should send pictures of your damage to the predatory bug breeder and they will be able to tell what is going on and what will help. I know down here there are many different predators available for thrips, aphids, mites, whitefly etc.. And some will do better in different conditions, whether hot n humid or cool. Don't really know the details about what does what.

Whitefly suck. I had them last year on my broad beans but haven't had to deal with them this season thankfully. Someone posted a picture on this forum of one of those creepy electron microscope pictures of a whitefly with a mite attached to its leg. They hitch rides on the whitefly.

There are lots of chemicals that will take out the mites, but not so many if you only want to kill mites and then still eat what you are spraying

WalkGood · Feb 7, 2013

megamoo said:
… You saw the broad mites? Did you use a magnifying glass because I thought they were too small to see?
I believe I wrote what I did but I must have made it unclear or emitted information.

Not in the beginning but after the DE treatment I used a stamp collectors magnifying glass that my grandfather had given me years ago. While I’m not sure of the level of magnification I believe it’s over 20x, it’s a fairly nice one made of brass, pictured below. IMO it worked much better than my sons microscope. After the DE treatment I removed several leaves from various plants and I can see bug eggs, bug feces and what I believe to be some dead mites but I am not a trained entomologist so I could be wrong. I would take a picture but I do not have a good macro lens.

megamoo said:
You should send pictures of your damage to the predatory bug breeder and they will be able to tell what is going on and what will help. I know down here there are many different predators available for thrips, aphids, mites, whitefly etc.. And some will do better in different conditions, whether hot n humid or cool. Don't really know the details about what does what.
Whitefly suck. I had them last year on my broad beans but haven't had to deal with them this season thankfully.

I only see ladybug breeders here but I’ll look more. That said, I’m not sure I could keep them alive as I do a weekly light soapy water solution spray to keep whiteflies away and they will never leave this area, well at least for now. I say this because I have 6 extremely tall trees and they could easily be living near the tops and I’d never be able to get them.

megamoo said:
Someone posted a picture on this forum of one of those creepy electron microscope pictures of a whitefly with a mite attached to its leg. They hitch rides on the whitefly.

Yes that was STEVE954 and he posted it in his glog here.

megamoo said:
There are lots of chemicals that will take out the mites, but not so many if you only want to kill mites and then still eat what you are spraying

Yea as you probably figured I’m trying not to go chemical, I think I’d rather kill my crop, spray the yard for a few months and start over. I don’t like any chemicals in anything I grow to eat other than soapy water. But maybe someone here can convince me of a safe solution ...

STEVE954 · Feb 8, 2013

For the time being, I found that a massive removal of ALL infected/distorted leaves followed up by a spray down with a strong solution of 50% h2o2/h2o, will promote new uninfected growth within a week. I dont know if this is just a short term solution...

Jamison · Feb 8, 2013

STEVE954 said:
For the time being, I found that a massive removal of ALL infected/distorted leaves followed up by a spray down with a strong solution of 50% h2o2/h2o, will promote new uninfected growth within a week. I dont know if this is just a short term solution...

Never know they do find their way back quite easily. Telling you guys, go get that Bonide :snooty:

WalkGood · Feb 8, 2013

STEVE954 said:
For the time being, I found that a massive removal of ALL infected/distorted leaves followed up by a spray down with a strong solution of 50% h2o2/h2o, will promote new uninfected growth within a week. I dont know if this is just a short term solution...

Steve as you’ve now seen during lunch I did not remove infected leaves but think I’ve now killed every bug and egg as well. After a few days I’ll make that call and might remove some leaves. Hope you enjoyed the Cuban bread/pork/ham/cheese & sofrito starter sandwich lunch during your crop inspection earlier, sorry folks no pictures of sandwich. Feel free to describe my dips & hot sauces but please don’t use names, oh shit I forgot to show you da powder & plant oily stuff I bought, I’ll post about it to Jamison's reply below. Now if anyone tells me I’m a liar Steve can attest that I make a mean sandwich and now have 6 of 6 SB MoA’s that have hatched, 100% germ rate! Dem some top notch seeds mi pepper lovin brethren!!! Can’t wait to see dem grow out

That said, two of the ladies are still wearing hats :/

Jamison said:
Never know they do find their way back quite easily. Telling you guys, go get that Bonide

Jamison, I agree they’ll be back but I’m ready for dem now … IMO the DE dusting worked well killing the mites but I was concerned about the eggs I spotted (w/magnifying glass), so I do agree with you mon. While at HD yesterday picking up some supplies, I decided to check out the “Bonide All Seasons Horticultural Spray Oil” which you recommended in Steve’s glog here (link for others that have not read and to give credit where credit is due). Unfortunately it was only available in a self mixing bottle that connects to your garden hose for around $14.00 and I prefer to mix and use in my sprayer. So I checked out the active ingredients and found another product with the same ingredients at half the cost called “Volck oil spray” that you mix by gallon or larger quantities.

I did not remove the bad leaves so you will see them in pictures but did spray them extra, took me about 45 minutes. I also saw new growth after the DE but they did not look vibrant. Wow 2 hours after a very light dose the plants color changed dramatically, looking like they had just been given a shot of vitamin B. Thanks for the recommendation as I probably wouldn’t have looked without your input … FYI if anyone spots white dots or clumps on plant, stems or leaves below, that is the DE that did not wash off ... there isn't a whitefly within miles :liar

: lol

JA Hab & Jalapeño

Cayenne

Thai Hot

Serrano

jalapeño flower

jalapeños

Here’s my reason for growing wild orchids … some people that visit WG’s yard will ask why don’t you trim up and make your orchids look good? I reply “I like that ugly look and when they bloom you see the hidden beauty, just like many people have.”

Hidden beauty closer up ^_^

Stefan_W · Feb 8, 2013

Very nice orchid pictures! I agree with you, they look really good just the way they are.

Very nice jalapeno shot. I love the deep red especially when the corking comes in.

WalkGood · Feb 8, 2013

Stefan_W said:
Very nice orchid pictures! I agree with you, they look really good just the way they are.

Thanks Stefan, great minds think alike :cheers:

Stefan_W said:
Very nice jalapeno shot. I love the deep red especially when the corking comes in.

Again thank you, you are so attentive & always post kind words … gonna pick dem mañana to make my wife some Jalapeño dip. Unfortunately my 3 Jalapeño plants are small still and don’t put out more than 3 or 4 at a time. Hope I can get these plants to grow bigga mon ^_^

Updates:
Not sure if anyone remembers that I started a seaweed tea back on January 5[sup]th[/sup] this year, you can see picture here. Now it’s February 8[sup]th[/sup] and that puppy looks ready to start using, what you guys think is 30 days enough? Look at it now … think I’ll be testing some out this weekend.

You’ve heard or tried Chocolate Habs but have you tried Black Habs

Thought I’d show off my rod iron gates made for me by a friend in Jamaica while living there and shipped back to Florida. While I took the measurements and made the local connection with the welder, the credit all goes to my wonderful wife who drew & designed them. Shipping weight was well over 1000 lbs. This one is the entrance to our garage, yea mon!

The second one is the entrance to our porch and it needs to be repainted at this point :/

Finally today’s harvest which will be incorporated into dinner and I’ll make sure I take some pictures so check back later tonight or mañana, as always thanks for looking/reading ^_^

STEVE954 · Feb 8, 2013

I have to say Ramon, that was the best Cuban bread/pork/ham/cheese & sofrito starter sandwich I've ever had! authentic cuban bread toasted on the grill mmmmm! The home made hot sauce I along with your famous sofrito starter kicked it up nicely!

Simply put, The dip is phenomenal. It wouldn't last very long at my house!

Overall, Thank you for a great luncheon. By the way, your plants look great! Let the broad mites gone for good!

WalkGood · Feb 8, 2013

STEVE954 said:
I have to say Ramon, that was the best Cuban bread/pork/ham/cheese & sofrito starter sandwich I've ever had! authentic cuban bread toasted on the grill mmmmm! The home made hot sauce I along with your famous sofrito starter kicked it up nicely!

Simply put, The dip is phenomenal. It wouldn't last very long at my house!

Overall, Thank you for a great luncheon. By the way, your plants look great! Let the broad mites gone for good!

Thanks for the kind words Steve, was nice to chat peppers & eat by da river ... wife & kids turn tonight, we gonna do it all over but we'll be lighting the fire and aladdin kerosene lamp if da rain lets up.

thegreenman · Feb 8, 2013

WG I dig your tropical style...and your wife has a good eye with the design.

stickman · Feb 8, 2013

The place and the peppers are looking nice Ramon. When you gonna rustle up some Pompano to cook for us?

Sanarda · Feb 8, 2013

Beautiful gates and I hope you knocked your mite infestation out for good. Looking forward to them foodie pics.

stc3248 · Feb 8, 2013

Awesome ironwork Ramon! Give mama some kudos on that design and your friend for the assembly. Love the orchids too brotha. Don't listen to them fools! Keep 'em diamonds in the rough...

WalkGood · Feb 9, 2013

thegreenman said:
WG I dig your tropical style...and your wife has a good eye with the design.

Chris, thank you and I will pass the kind words to her ^_^

stickman said:
The place and the peppers are looking nice Ramon.

Rick, thanks mon!

stickman said:
When you gonna rustle up some Pompano to cook for us?

Sorry I haven’t been offshore fishing lately, only the rivers here. It’s not that I don’t want to go, it’s just that fishing has been extremely poor in Lauderdale the last year. I can catch more fish in my river and do but I don’t eat them or take pictures. Hopefully the summer season will get better and I’ll quit throwing dem back alive to battle another day.

Sanarda said:
Beautiful gates and I hope you knocked your mite infestation out for good. Looking forward to them foodie pics.

Pia I killed dem bugs and have a game plan now for the long term. Whats strange to me is that I went so many years without them finding the crop and now all of the sudden, bam! Thanks for visit and comments

stc3248 said:
Awesome ironwork Ramon! Give mama some kudos on that design and your friend for the assembly. Love the orchids too brotha. Don't listen to them fools! Keep 'em diamonds in the rough...

Thanks Shane, will do and I like your diamond comparison

Remember the plantain harvest from the last post? Green bananas are hard/firm, so pealing them with a sharp knife is easy. Cut one inch chunks like picture below.

Place all banana chunks into hot oil to lightly fry, which softens them enough to later smash. Sorry about taking a late picture, at least I got the last 3, lol. but the rest of them below ...

Here’s the rest of dem fried once.

At this point they need to be mashed mon, so take a wooden or metal spatula and mash up each one like below. A trick than makes removing the banana from the spatula easier is shaving it off with a knife as can bee seen in the pictures below.

Now you need to fry them again to make them crispy, once pulled this time they're ready to eat. A dash of salt is all they need but you can load them with meat or what ever you wish ...

Black beans in large pot left and rice in right pot. I must have some Chinese in me as I love rice!

Grilled pork chops

Setting the outdoor ambiance is not hard, light a candle or an Aladdin lamp and chiminea always does the trick for me …

Now if someone can bump me I’ll post the finished plate, thank you.

stickman · Feb 9, 2013

Bump... Love the food and the ambience!

WalkGood · Feb 9, 2013

stickman said:
Bump... Love the food and the ambience!

Thank you my pepper lovin brethren Rick!

Finished plate

The boys enjoying the fire after a good meal.

DocNrock · Feb 9, 2013

Looks great, Ramon. Have been busy at work so it took some time for me to catch up here. Nice artsy shot of the "Black Hab." That's what Ansel Adams would have done if he shot chiles! Hope that mite/whitefly/thrip problem is gone. Man it is disheartening when our plants become part of the food chain. The foodie pics immediately above were awesome. And great looking iron work. Tropical, indeed!

Jamison · Feb 9, 2013

Ramon, I must say this again brudda, you are livin the life my friend! I too am obsessed with Jamaica mon. Ever since I visited Negril and all the great stops along the way from Montego, I always told people I could truly live there and be the happiest SOB around. Awesome people, awesome food, really good ganj, and did I say Scotch Bonnets, and beef patties, jerk chicken, beautiful weather.... I could go on for days my friend! And about the seaweed tea you got goin, I'd say drench the soil with that. If you want to know about AACT there is an awesome thread or you can always ask me. I make mine with MYKOS, Buffaloam compost, some Dr. Earth's stuff like kelp meal, alfalfa meal, and that has tons of good fungus in it already, and some Black Strap molasses, and a lil Bio Weed from General Organics and some pure water with tons of bubbles. Turns out nice!

Stefan_W · Feb 9, 2013

I showed the pictures of your wildorchids to my wife, and she agreed that you can't cut them back otherwise they wont flower. And she is absolutely marvelling over how beautiful the iron doors you had made are. Kudos to the people who made them, and to your wife's design!

STEVE954 · Feb 9, 2013

Double fried tostones! Great foodie pics Ramon!