Repellant,carnivorous and otherwise cool companion plants

[MrMcbud]

Repellant,carnivorous and otherwise cool companion plants


So...im hunting around for alternative solutions to pest problems and investigating organic feeding methods

we know about garlic, chilli, spring onion deterring certain pests from if grown in the same patch(smell)
I know of a test grow of chilli and Swaz in a 3.5l pot,bugs seem to be keeping away nicely

Also looked at things like marigolds which will in fact attract the bugs to themselves before your plants are attacked(sounds to me like a time bomb, plant dies, hungry bugs. ooooh pot,om nom nom nom)

then got thinking about Reaf's clover in his pots as an early warning watering system and a means to fix Nitrogen in the soil.
what other companion plants will supplement or balance nute ratios?
can Ph be affected by certain plant types?

eventually stumbled across this, a step up to active defence:
http://www.funguys.co.za/myco-technology.html
Sundew carnivorous plant used as a solution to fungus gnats...HOW DID I NOT THINK OF THIS
this got me thinking, what else will actively mess em up?
would care for these plants outweigh benefits?
would venus fly traps serve a similar purpose

any ideas,comments,criticism welcome

 

[MrMcbud]

Managed to find one sundew,or octopus plant screaming for help at the pay point of a massmart franchise here in sa
Unwatered for possibly weeks or months she has gone dormant,hopefully not dead yet.
Im being laughed at by my collegues for paying full price for a dead plant but she was so sad,and I know I can get her back on her feet,hold thumbs everyone

 

[tokaite]

Managed to find one sundew,or octopus plant screaming for help at the pay point of a massmart franchise here in sa
Unwatered for possibly weeks or months she has gone dormant,hopefully not dead yet.
Im being laughed at by my collegues for paying full price for a dead plant but she was so sad,and I know I can get her back on her feet,hold thumbs everyone
View attachment 228803

if it was "accidently" let dry out for a couple days it will rebound from the roots (dont ask me why I know that last part so well lol).
Not only will they rebound from the roots if you let them dry
out, the will grow from the roots out of the drainage holes in the bottom of the pots
D. Capensis...just doesnt die. its the cockroach of the CP world. if the top of it dies it will come back from it roots. i think the only way to kill it is to leave it unwatered for many many months, drench in gas and set a-flame, use normal potting soil(that probably wont kill it and it will probably adapt to it!!) or make it rot
Bring her back to life:gthumb:
Peace!

 

[Waira]

Hi MrMcbud- I've been growing carnivores for years, and yes, the sundew will help with gnats and anything else, good or bad, that gets stuck! Tokaite is spot on about cape sundew toughness, but keep in mind this is a true swamp plant, and the word 'dry' is bad bad bad (LOL!)... Also, they must have low mineral content water, distilled, RO, even bottled/store filled is fine, or they will eventually croak... Keep the bottom inch or so of the pot in water at all times, and very very dilute ferts will be okay (Nitrogen high, or they'll keep putting energy into flowers constantly; they are prolific seeders though)... now, how effectively it'll work is another matter; it'll be a long while before it's big enough to make any impact, and one decent size plant won't be enough.... There are also Butterworts that can trap tiny bugs on their leaf surface, and are easy to grow (we had them at the orchid nursery just for kicks, and their leaves were full of gnats!); Venus Flytraps are no good for such small bugs, neither are any of the Pitcher plants .... if you need a right-now solution, the yellow or blue sticky traps are great for this (these colors attract them along with thrips and others)

Also looked at things like marigolds which will in fact attract the bugs to themselves before your plants are attacked(sounds to me like a time bomb, plant dies, hungry bugs. ooooh pot,om nom nom nom)

:roflcry: Yeah, not a good idea! Aside from bud worms, most bugs won't eat the buds when they've developed the trichomes and have those gnarly terpene aromatics to spoil the flavah, and gum up their mouth parts! But leaves are fair game 24/7... Companion repellent plants, hmmmmm.... maybe some of the aromatic geranium family will work; I believe citronella is derived from one type,... beyond this, I dunno for organics, besides the usual food-safe products. Two come to mind that are bacterial-based host specific bio-weapons: mosquito dunks and spinosad (a neurotoxin made from bacteria).... plant-based- pyrethrum (another neurotoxin made from chrysanthemums),.... for soil surface, diatomaceous earth works well too (it's the micro-equivalent of us crawling over a field of glass shards)... So, if you've the time and energy to grow plants to protect your plants, great, but if not, or effectively enough, then these alternatives can certainly help! :smoke:

 

[MrMcbud]

Thanks guys,work has me crazy so I will reread,but generally seems to the positive.
Stuck it in my propagator under leds, standing in rain water with a super low dose of kelpak
found white roots poking out of the soil and 2 new green shoots look to be popping up this morning

 

[gingervitamin]

stinging nettle is a good n fixer. someguy put up a youtube vid of a sativa co-planted with one and was thriving.

 

[MrMcbud]

will give the nettles a look,thank you
some news: my little sundew is looking better,2 new green fronds starting from the stubs and a host of white roots bursting from the wet soil,covered the top with a layer of peat and put it back in the propagator for humidity.
will post a pic this evening

 

[MrMcbud]

Quick update...killed the last one,was just dead on arrival sadly...no matter...theyre baaack

 

[Gonzo]

Mr McBud, I have been thinking about such a plant, but because of its beauty, not to catch flies. I saw it buying my necessary exuipment around.

Then I saw little flies around my plants. they can do no harm, I was sure, I live in urban area, this kind of infestation should be impossible here. At least I was thinking this way. What a mistake.

There were more and more little flies until I went down to the book and found I had got fungus gnads. Of course, they were attracted by some rot in the root system due to wrong treatment.

I followed the instructions and bought a simple pack of yellow sticky papers for gardeners (4$ - 10 pieces). Insects are mostly attracted by yellow colour, I was told in the shop.

Sticky stuff collected almost all of them, around 100-500, I did not count them. All of them were of the same variety - fungus gnad.

Well, the problem remains, there are their families down in the earth, so all the plants went down. Not only because of gnads, my soil was hard to penetrate for the roots, too heavy and wet and I have learned that dealing with sick plants is a losers job.

Otherwise my soil could be treated with mix of 3% hydrogen Peroxide cut 1:4 with water and would recover from fungus gnads remains.