Melbourne

I went out and checked the yellow sticky traps. They got a few but the whiteflies were mostly clustered underneath the leaves and the traps had caught multiple long legged flies… aka the beneficial insects that eat the aphids. Plus one tiny katydid. They might have got a weird kind of ladybird yesterday (which I freed).

Not happy Jan. I’ve taken them down and won’t be using them anymore.

It was an aph-ocalypse under there on the worst plant so I ended up using a strong solution of natural dish soap to douse and scrub wherever they were. It ended up leaving a thin wet lather of detergent behind which might harm the plants and encourage mildew (already an issue) but is hopefully insecticidal. Fingers crossed it doesn’t affect the good bugs.

Melbcat wasn’t impressed that I was out there for ages while she had to stay inside, so she’s off in her bed. It’s a shame. She could have sat with me or sunbathed. But I need her to accept staying a fully indoor kitty and not expect to be let out.

My gum near the problem tooth is looking red and sore so I think there’s a problem again. Hopefully only a minor infection from a floss nick but I’ll have to get that sorted between everything else going on.