Of yellow ladybugs and powdery mildew…

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They come as a set, powdery mildew and the yellow ladybug.

My marrow plant is the worst hit, where powdery mildew is concerned. The vine is just too dense, with insufficient air circulation that, together with dampness, powdery mildew thrives in.

My marrow plant is the worst hit, where powdery mildew is concerned. The vine is just too dense, with insufficient air circulation that, together with dampness, powdery mildew thrives in.

And since there’s an abundance of powdery mildew, no thanks to the wet weather at this time of year, there’s been an increase in the numbers of the little yellow ladybugs.

Can you spot the three yellow ladybug larvae on the underside of the marrow leaf?

Can you spot the three yellow ladybug larvae on the underside of the marrow leaf?

Here's a closer look at the yellow ladybug larva, feasting on powdery mildew. It looks like they feed on it at all life stages!

Here’s a closer look at the yellow ladybug larva, feasting on powdery mildew. It looks like they feed on it at all life stages!

And here's one of the fattest ladybug larvae I've ever seen! I'd guess that it's just about ready for cocoon stage...

And here’s one of the fattest ladybug larvae I’ve ever seen! I’d guess that it’s just about ready for cocoon stage…

I don’t mind, because I think they’re cute, in addition to useful in eating up the mildew. However, unlike their red cousins and aphids, you don’t see as great a decrease in mildew as you would aphids.

The marrow plant isn't the only one sporting yellow ladybugs - this one was among the few we noticed on the angled loofah plants as well.

The marrow plant isn’t the only one sporting yellow ladybugs – this one was among the few we noticed on the angled loofah plants, too.

I did some pruning of the worst mildewed leaves on the plants last weekend, but realized there were either larvae, ladybugs or cocoons on several of the leaves. Since it wasn’t in me to be so heartless to just throw the creatures away, I first scrutinized the leaves before removing the unoccupied, most heavily mildewed leaves. I think I’ve got too much of my dad’s soft-heartedness… More pruning will be done, though – carefully.

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Night beauties

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We can never get enough of a close-up view of the Keng Hwa flower. It is absolutely gorgeous, in our opinion!

We can never get enough of a close-up view of the Keng Hwa flower. It is absolutely gorgeous, in our opinion!

Our Keng Hwa plants like to surprise us often. For whatever reason, the flower buds have a really fast rush to the finish – or in this case, blooming – line, and if we forget to keep checking every evening, we may miss the flowers when they open. On evenings like that, it is only the scent of the flowers that alert us that they’re ready.

Last night was one such night. We knew there were buds had been maturing on the plant, but expected them to bloom closer to the weekend. Instead, the first of the bunch opened last night, and despite having a cold, I caught the scent of it. (yes, the aroma is that strong!)

Tonight, I remembered to check on the others, and found 3 of them open and already attracting ants and the usual lizard…

Two of the flowers in bloom now, next to the one that opened last night. And, at the bottom of the picture, on the leaf in the background, is the lizard that hangs around when the flowers open.

Two of the flowers in bloom now, next to the one that opened last night. And, at the bottom of the picture, on the leaf in the background, is the lizard that hangs around when the flowers open.

Since it’s a rather chilly night (by our standards anyway!), I got these lovely photos and decided to share them immediately with you. Enjoy!

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Flowers in the moonlight

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Angled loofah flowers against the night sky. I find it interesting that angled loofah flowers bloom at night while smooth loofah flowers bloom during the daytime. There are no cross-pollination worries that way!

Angled loofah flowers against the night sky. I find it interesting that angled loofah flowers bloom at night while smooth loofah flowers bloom during the daytime. There are no cross-pollination worries that way!

The angled loofah plants have been blooming abundantly and looked so pretty in the moonlight tonight that I had to try to capture their beauty.

I stress “try”.

I felt that the camera flash created too harsh a shot, so I resorted to my phone cam to see if the “night” setting would do any better.

The camera doesn't always accurately capture what the eye sees, but this is closer to what I wanted to share with you - the ethereal look of the angled loofah flowers against the cloudy, moonlit sky.

The camera doesn’t always accurately capture what the eye sees, but this is closer to what I wanted to share with you – the ethereal look of the angled loofah flowers against the cloudy, moonlit sky.

It took many snaps from many angles, but I finally got something I liked. What do you think? :)

Happy Mid-autumn Festival!

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Updates on the edible plants

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Well, it’s raining again, and from the forecast, looks like it’s going to continue for several days …again. There was a nice break in the weather yesterday, and I got to commune a little with the plants and see how they have been doing. Happily, there is some progress with the edibles:

Novice Gardener's mulberry plant is starting to fruit again. I think it's cute how it seems to have one fruit per leaf juncture! We will have to compete with the birds for the ripe fruits again, I think.

Novice Gardener’s mulberry plant is starting to fruit again. I think it’s cute how it seems to have one fruit per leaf juncture! We will have to compete with the birds for the ripe fruits again, I think.

150913_marrow

The Mighty Marrow is still growing on the vine. After some debate, I decided to leave it untouched, and to let my mum decide when to harvest the second one (yes, the flower I mentioned previously set fruit!). She was of the opinion that you should harvest it when the fruit is young and not too seedy – preferably when flower at the base of the fruit dries up and drops off. However, I was advised that in Thailand, they leave the fruits on the vine until the vine dies off, and that in the Philippines, they harvest the fruit when the “hairs” on the skin of the fruit drop off, so I was more inclined to wait. Mighty Marrow is now about 66cm long and the circumference of a person’s thigh at the widest part; Marrow II is already 55cm and tilting the other end of the trellis…

The latest angled loofah plants (from Grandpa Weed) have been having fun and games with me. Two weeks ago, they were sporting only male flowers; last week the girls were out in full force. Finally, this week, boys and girls got in sync, and there are a few fruits starting to grow. This pair of plants is growing in a large pot, just to see how they fare, because I find the previous ones rather short-lived and want to see if it's the plants or where I'd grown the predecessors.

The latest angled loofah plants (from Grandpa Weed) have been having fun and games with me. Two weeks ago, they were sporting only male flowers; last week the girls were out in full force. Finally, this week, boys and girls got in sync, and there are a few fruits starting to grow. This pair of plants is growing in a large pot, just to see how they fare, because I find the previous ones rather short-lived and want to see if it’s the plants or where I’d grown the predecessors.

The latest winged bean plants have started budding. I grew them from some seeds that had been stored in the fridge for almost a year, and wasn't sure if they would grow, because you know winged bean seeds lose their viability quite fast. Well, all the seeds germinated, and as you can see, the plants are doing well. Now I'm really convinced that storing seeds in the fridge really prolongs their lifespan - and we're anticipating the harvest already...

The latest winged bean plants have started budding. I grew them from some seeds that had been stored in the fridge for almost a year, and wasn’t sure if they would grow, because you know winged bean seeds lose their viability quite fast. Well, all the seeds germinated, and as you can see, the plants are doing well. Now I’m really convinced that storing seeds in the fridge really prolongs their lifespan – and we’re anticipating the harvest already…

After unsuccessfully trying to get my old (and not initially stored in the fridge) small bittergourd seeds to germinate, my friend Julie came to my rescue with seeds from her plant, and we finally have the first of hopefully several plants beginning to grow. We've missed having these growing here...

After unsuccessfully trying to get my old (and not initially stored in the fridge) small bittergourd seeds to germinate, my friend Julie came to my rescue with seeds from her plant, and we finally have the first of hopefully several plants beginning to grow. We’ve missed having these growing here…

Unhappily, one of our burgundy okra plants that had been growing nice and tall is now two-thirds its original height. The rain must have made it too top-heavy, causing the stem to snap. We managed to salvage the two okras growing at the top and hope that the plant will grow side shoots instead of giving up. I am starting to look through our seeds to decide what to sow soon so we don’t have a fresh veggie drought in a month or two.

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