Attack of the White Flies

October is the best month ever. Well, since I was born in it, it is. lol I love when the season really starts to change and the weather begins to cool off. It may not be snowing, but a week of rain is like a vacation to a rain forest is this inhabited desert. While I have been enjoying the comings and goings of rain, I've been consumed with the survival of my starter garden.

Unfortunately, I've had my first run in with white flies. I had NO idea that the tiny white bugs flying around in my starter garden were the little destroyers I've been reading about. They are SO small! I pondered that they could be the white fly, but wondered just how much damage could those tiny little things cause. Especially since I could barely see them. I let time go by and kept a close eye on my garden. Then one morning, my tomato plants were nearly dead! I thought, what the heck. It couldn't of been those little buggers! After I had a discussion with my mother, who is much more experienced at gardening, she informed me that it's white fly season. Oh. So those tiny white things did caused all this damage! There was just a small handful of them and WOW, they are not nice.

I brought my garden inside and got rid of all the flies I could. The garden is doing much better, but I'm pretty sure I'm going to lose the hybrid tomatoes. :(

I transplanted the gold bell peppers because they have started rooting into the pod and running out of room. I transplanted one of four without the pod. I was curious how it would do. As I took the pod off I could hear roots breaking. They are now outside...under the patio covering. I'm happy to report, the white flies have not found them yet. I'm planning on putting the plastic bottles over them to help them get though the winter. The "winters" in my city are a joke. It's really cold...sometimes. So, I'm not too worried about losing them. As a matter of fact, the sun is shining right now. Even with the threat of a 20-70% chance of rain. lol

Enjoy some photos of my progress. (and unprogress. lol) ;0)

Barely alive hybrid tomatoes.


Transplanted Pot of Gold Bell Peppers.


Tomato hopefuls and thriving Jalapeno.
See how damaged the leaves are. Curse you white flies.


A ray of hope. The lettuce I thought would never come in...2 tiny sprouts.
Jalapeno and Cauliflowers.

White Fly Regards,
Monica ;0)

The Sprouts Keep Coming!

It's so fun to wake up each day to find there have been changes and growth! Today, I have 3 new varities that have sprung up. Lavender, Endless Summer Tomatoes and Cauliflower. The Turnips have reached a height I didn't forsee. So, my husband took me to Lowes and we picked up a 3 cubic bag of all natural soil. I can't wait to start transplanting the sprouts into bigger pots. I'm not sure how I will go about transplanting the rapid growing sprouts like...turnips, broccoli, and cauliflower.

Here's the latest update on the sprouts.

A top shot of the turnip sprouts.

A photo of the towering turnip sprouts.

Top shot of the broccoli and Hybrid Tomato sprouts.

Long photo of the Broccoli and Hybrid Tomato sprouts.

My 17 mo. old touched the tip of the turnip sprout tonight and he just smiled. Then he tried pulling out a knife marker. lol

I'm starting to think there are some plants you just plant directly into the ground because of how rapidly they grow. By the time I transplant my sprouts into a larger pot I'm guessing there will be a ton of roots compared to others. Well see.

Happy Sprouting,
Monica ;0)