I started out this season with hundreds of swan plants being grown for the “bumper crop” of caterpillars I planned to take to the NZ Flower and Garden Show.
The monarchs never came and laid eggs. I scraped together a few caterpillars (thanks to those who donated same) and those plants with caterpillars on went to the show.
So, in December I had hundreds of plants in pots, all congregated together on my concrete drive. Stupid! Too many of one thing means that anything that attacks them will have a field day. So the aphids did. A few ladybirds came, the Aphidius colemanii didn’t ever get on top of the aphid problem. Sooty mould set in and the plants, the strongest plants, started dropping like flies.
I thought I’d leave everything until I came back from my trip and now, what to do? Most of the plants will go into the compost (?) but I don’t want to waste the soil, otherwise good potting mix and compost. If it is a bacteria, or virus that they have, how can I reuse the soil?
All thoughts welcome.