Inconvenient Annoyances

Yikes! I assumed it was an arrow with a sucker!    I'd have given him hell for that! 

haha nope nope...it was a blunted metal archery arrow. Seriously though, he had the cheek to say I was overreacting to saying "Seriously? You HAVE to go around there." and being anxious about the confrontation....but then, in the end, they didn't seem to give a sh*t. I honestly cannot wait to move to a detached house and then he can f*ck about as required.

haha nope nope...it was a blunted metal archery arrow. Seriously though, he had the cheek to say I was overreacting to saying "Seriously? You HAVE to go around there." and being anxious about the confrontation....but then, in the end, they didn't seem to give a sh*t. I honestly cannot wait to move to a detached house and then he can f*ck about as required.

Choose carefully. Unless you are extremely lucky, you'll still have someone next door, even with a detached house. 

Choose carefully. Unless you are extremely lucky, you'll still have someone next door, even with a detached house. 

Oh yeah, definitely! Have learned what to definitely look out for in future in our next move as we made some rookie mistakes with this one

haha nope nope...it was a blunted metal archery arrow. Seriously though, he had the cheek to say I was overreacting to saying "Seriously? You HAVE to go around there." and being anxious about the confrontation....but then, in the end, they didn't seem to give a sh*t. I honestly cannot wait to move to a detached house and then he can f*ck about as required.

Yeah... a detached house here isn't exactly in the middle of the countryside!  Unless you have millions.  In which case, I need to suck up to you!  LOL!  KIDDING!!!

Yeah... a detached house here isn't exactly in the middle of the countryside! Unless you have millions. 

Or are jfkimberly 

Yeah... a detached house here isn't exactly in the middle of the countryside!  Unless you have millions.  In which case, I need to suck up to you!  LOL!  KIDDING!!!

LOL if only!

Choose carefully. Unless you are extremely lucky, you'll still have someone next door, even with a detached house. 

I'm feeling extremely lucky.  We sit in our garden and can't see another house. 

Edited to add:  AND ultrafast internets! 

I'm feeling extremely lucky.  We sit in our garden and can't see another house. 

Edited to add:  AND ultrafast internets! 

Ahhh, perfection! 

I'm feeling extremely lucky.  We sit in our garden and can't see another house. 

Edited to add:  AND ultrafast internets! 

This is my dream. If/when my husband and i both have remote jobs I might be your neighbor! That is, if EDS stops being a huge pain because I know the NHS is pretty bad for it out there and it's a long drive to London!

Overnight the aphids moved onto another plant so that's another one getting tossed, just hundreds of them . These things are invasive! Time to visit a garden center for help so they don't come back after I replace these.

Oh dear.

Have you tried just taking them to the kitchen sink, and blasting them off with water?  And yeah, they send up missionaries that fly to other plants to leave babies there.

Ahhhhhh. This is my first time trying to have a small kitchen garden and I thought I'd been doing ok. Nope. Explosion of tiny green bugs today, I think possibly spider mites? All plants are getting a bath outside and repeated over the next few nights.

I left my mint outside cuz I ran out of space and that's getting attacked by an evil set of caterpillars. Can't win!

if there are like little webs involved, I think those are spider mites. Otherwise probably aphids.

if there are like little webs involved, I think those are spider mites. Otherwise probably aphids.

Definitely caterpillars, have been pulling them off.


The aphids seem under control! I did wash the plants in the sink a few times and have been spraying down with soapy water. Success!

Since its indoors i guess washing up liquid is it! I think isopropyl alcohol is what I need to save the outdoor plant. *sigh* glad I started small so it's not a huge loss while learning to deal with these.

Insecticidal soap was my first line of defense. The aphids here breached it easily. 

I don't care for chemicals, but I do use them sparingly when it's really necessary. Bug Clear Ultra, in the red plastic container, works. You do need to wait at least two weeks from an application before even thinking about eating any part of the plant.  I don't like dousing the plants whole, as it says on the instructions, but squirt some into a little dish and then use a q-tip to dab the liquid around the growing tips/buds on the infected plants, and wipe off the obvious aphids with the same q-tip.  contains natural pyrethrum/pyrethrins, so you want to be absolutely sure to not get it on blooms if there is ANY chance that bees will get in the window to visit.

Otherwise, if the plant is of a managable size, I will take a plant to the kitchen sink, cover the soil as best I can with paper towels to hold it in place, turn the plant sideways and blast the little pests off of the plants with cold tap water. It's labor intensive - have been having to do it twice a week - but it allows me to grow some of the plants without using any pesticides on them at all. The Daughter has some mini-roses that are doing well with this technique.

Or are jfkimberly 

Well, she does live in a castle, right? 

Definitely caterpillars, have been pulling them off.


The aphids seem under control! I did wash the plants in the sink a few times and have been spraying down with soapy water. Success!

You'll have to keep doing it indefinitely - every few days. If you forget, the little rotters will rally and take over the room!