Florida's white "soil"

Leaf-footed bug nymphs. They like to congregate together when young so they are easy to catch. Adults are loners, they are quick and fly off.
Woodpecker

How on earth did you get them onto that onion, and into a bag? I hate those leaf footed little rat bastids! Its amazing how much the nymphs look like assasin bugs. One of the ways I tell the difference is by what you mentioned - they congregate when young.
Nice photos of the woodpecker too. We have a cardinal that's been coming for a daily visit. Are your fruit trees producing now?

That is actually a tomato. They amass all over it. Just put your hand in a plastic bag , grab the tomato and quickly pull the bag back over it. (Put in freezer for a quick death.)
Been doing that for over 15 years.
Now the adults are a different kettle of fish. Tricky, sneaky. Hard to catch. At the end of the season sometimes I use that spray oil in a can (for
people to fry with like canola oil). When you spray them, they can’t fly off too good and sometimes just walk to the top of the cage. Easier to catch and that oil is harmless. This is the first year I have seen only 2 stink bugs and 2 leaf footed bugs and that bag that had a lot of potential adults. Usually there are many all over the tomatoes when everything is packing it up. Never see any when the tomatoes are plentiful and healthy.

I love watching that woodpecker. He is always all over the yard. (Actually 2 of them. They have a distinct loud cry when flying around.)

Lots of baby avocados. Haven’t really looked at anything else.

Got a very bad shock in the yard last week. One of the avocados is wilted and half dead. It was one that is sort of out of the way and not all that visible. Also Not one Derek really liked but still potentially
bad news. Immediately thought of laurel wilt disease though it doesn’t have the drill holes with the wood coming out (indicating beetle) so am hoping it is something else. Took sample of branches and piece under bark down to TREC in Homestead. ( the exposed wood didn’t have streaks either so fingers crossed). Luckily TREC was open-you just leave the sample
Outside on the table. I read what you have to do if it is laurel wilt—what a lot of work. Burn chipped up wood and pull out tree by roots.
We don’t mind losing that tree but hope it is anything but that.

(UPDATE: got the results and they said they couldn’t detect laurel wilt. That is a relief- we can take off the dead branches and dispose of normally.)

By the way, animals at FG munched on my limited lettuce and ,of course, JULIETS!!!! Thanks for letting me know.

Mid-April and it is 90 degrees. Pretty much unbearable outside.

Along the street

Neglected orchid

Its so hot I start to sweat in 2 minutes. Thank you very much for the cooking oil spray tip. I just tried it on a leaf footed bug, it fell like a bomb. It found the wrong side of my shoe sole!

Oh good. Glad it worked.

Always good to see photos of a different area and climate zone, love them

MsCowpea wrote: ↑Tue Apr 14, 2020 6:49 pm Oh good. Glad it worked.


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That is beautiful.

Hot pepper.

Sprayed with cooking oil spray. Could not immediately fly off.
Teenagers?

Do you happen to know the name of the red flowering plant you have pictured? Someone gave me a plant of it, mine is pushing flowers too. It's time to plant it. Yours is so lovely.
Those stink and leaf footed bugs are disgusting! I saw 2 adult leaf footeds yesterday, by the time I got back out with the cooking oil spray they were gone. I love that trick!

Google Lens identifies the plants very well. I pointed my phone at the picture on the screen and Clerodendrum paniculatum was fourth in the likely matches.

arnorrian wrote: ↑Sat May 02, 2020 6:14 am Google Lens identifies the plants very well. I pointed my phone at the picture on the screen and Clerodendrum paniculatum was fourth in the likely matches.

Perfect, and good to know how to do that. Many thanks!

I also think it’s a Clerodendrum. Lovely.

I only knew its common name: pagoda flower
I believe I saw it at Mounts Botanical Garden or maybe on a garden tour and it was a show stopper. Always wanted one. I have had that one maybe for 7 or so months and it grew fast.

Now that you say it is a clerodendrum maybe that explains all the little shoots around it. I have a plant called Starburst or Shooting Star (Clerodendrum quadriloculare) and it has become pretty invasive over the years. I have grown to dislike it despite the stunning flowers as it looks ratty
a lot of the year and it has taken over that area. I will have to keep an eye on my beautiful pagoda and make sure it behaves.

By the way, in that photo above with all the baby leaf-footed bugs that black and white insect didn’t fit in there.

I did have a very few green stinkbugs and looked up their nymph stages.

http://entnemdept.ufl.edu/creatures/veg ... nk_bug.htm

I ‘think’ it is the 3rd instar nymph. Don’t know how it came to party with all those leaf-footed guys.

Today’s shot of store bought pepper labeled Scotch Bonnet . ( it’ s not what I consider a scotch bonnet but I only like the yellow variety
with a distinctive SB shape.) This thing keeps getting bigger and bigger. It is in my homemade experimental ‘cheapy’ mix. The sun is backlighting the leaves. Harvesting lots of peppers but losing tiny formed peppers as well. Maybe increasing heat is stressing it out?

MsCowpea wrote: ↑Fri May 08, 2020 5:26 pm Today’s shot of store bought pepper labeled Scotch Bonnet . ( it’ s not what I consider a scotch bonnet but I only like the yellow variety
with a distinctive SB shape.) This thing keeps getting bigger and bigger. It is in my homemade experimental ‘cheapy’ mix. The sun is backlighting the leaves. Harvesting lots of peppers but losing tiny formed peppers as well. Maybe increasing heat is stressing it out?


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That is a big one. You're spoiling that pepper rotten! I never grow my peppers in Earthboxes, mine are all treated like orphans. 3 gallon pots for the hot ones, 7 gallon for bells. So mine get a decent size, but not like your beautiful plant.

Not sure if you thought it is growing in an Earthbox? That isn’t an earthbox. Just a big square (actually rectangle) container that I drilled holes in bottom. Probably twice as big ( or bigger) than your 3 gallon container so that is why the plant is bigger. I know people grow peppers in EB but not my preference either. Hot peppers do fantastic in a regular container. So I only grow them that way or in a raised bed. Really good success with regular green peppers has always alluded me though I never tried an Earthbox that I can remember though I may have years ago. I’d get a pitiful yield with regular non-hot peppers no matter how I tried to grow them. Thinking back on it they would always get bacterial spot pretty quick. My favorite non-hot peppers are the yellows ones. I got some new seeds for next season and will try them in an Earthbox because the green peppers at the EB Research Center are phenomenal. I will also try growing them as I did this hot pepper and hope I get decent results. Will compare the 2 methods.

(I just Looked at the container- probably holds close to 2 cubic feet. About the same as an EB but didn’t cost me much to fill-maybe $2.
I have other scotch bonnets in different size containers - just trying to ‘over-summer’ them in our lousy weather til they can be replanted in fall.)