NewStats: 3,262,147 , 8,176,219 topics. Date: Sunday, 01 June 2025 at 12:00 AM 4b6v5y

Munzy14:

nice one OP i lovr what you are doing. i have few advice for u.
1. for the scent leaf plant u can propergate either by seedlings or by cutting a matured stem into at least 5-7cm and plant in a rich soil with good compost.
to extract seedlings allow the new plants to flourish and produce fruits, then let it mature and dry on its own, harvest. when u harvest get a plate robb the harvested dry flower part of the leaf and watch ur seeds fell off. then go ahead to broadcast your seed in sack filled with a compost and good soil. watch ur numerous numbers germinate in fee days and hrow down to transplanting.

2. for the caterpillar and insects attack on your amaranth (soko) use neem oil in a solution of black soap lather and spray. it just best organic approach. u may need to ground hot pepper.
thanks. keep up the work am following.

Thanks a lot for the insight, will try to lay my hands on the black soap ASAP. But I hope neem leaves will work just fine in place of neem oil.

jidestroud:
Day 46 (caterpillar worms infestation)

Caterpillars, also referred to as worms, are the immature life stage of butterflies and moths. Most of the caterpillars that are pests of vegetable crops are moth caterpillars. Woke up this morning just to see the damage this beautiful creatures have done to my Lagos spinach plants. Gussssh!!! Every Gardeners/farmers nightmare!!!

Since I have made up my mind to go organic as much as possible, and also make do with home made insecticides, time to make neem leaf solution with a little addition of soap.
I had to hand pick as much as possible (not an option for a large size farm. Mine is just a small garden)

I'm just coming back from my farm and the damage that was done by some tiny yellow pest on my Ugu and Okra is heartbreaking, time to look for neem leaves seriously and i also noticed a sign of disease within the pumpkin leaf, i forgot to take some pics out of annoyance.

Ndbc:


I'm just coming back from my farm and the damage that was done by some tiny yellow pest on my Ugu and Okra is heartbreaking, time to look for neem leaves seriously and i also noticed a sign of disease within the pumpkin leaf, i forgot to take some pics out of annoyance.

Lol...sorry about the infestation. I have gotten to appreciate farmers more now, seeing all they go through to feed the nation. . On a serious note, our government really needs to step up it responsibilities towards agriculture.
Pls, if truly your case is an infestation outbreak as described, do consult other means to help eradicate the problem. There are inorganic / organic insecticides you could employ on your farm.
I would love to see the picture of the ugu with the disease so I could analyze further.
Thanks

jidestroud:


Thanks a lot for the insight, will try to lay my hands on the black soap ASAP. But I hope neem leaves will work just fine in place of neem oil.

u welcome. the neem leave solution can only give u a fair result. but the neem oil is just best in this approach. check organicfoods he is a regular supplier in this Agro section.

jidestroud:
Day 27: (Scent leaf propagation "Basil"

Basil to be

All I have to do now is wait for roots to develop. This should take roughly about 2weeks. *i'm a very patient farmer. Lol

I was inspired to try this out! I used mint leaves I have no clue what the local name is probably efirin?

Anyway wish me luck

babythug:


I was inspired to try this out! I used mint leaves I have no clue what the local name is probably efirin?

Anyway wish me luck

Haaaaa!!! Woah!!! That's a bit to much for that jar, and moreover, you were supposed to cut from a stem with about four leaves from a newly budding stem as indicated in the pictures. I hope you do get a positive result all the same.

jidestroud:

Haaaaa!!! Woah!!! That's a bit to much for that jar, and moreover, you were supposed to cut from a stem with about four leaves from a newly budding stem as indicated in the pictures. I hope you do get a positive result all the same.

That's mine own trial.. let's do it now and find out what will be the result

Ndbc:


That's mine own trial.. let's do it now and find out what will be the result

Yea, that's more like it. The roots should appear in a couple of days from now. .

That's the pest invasion of my vegies and the suspected infestation..

Though the suspected disease did not affect the other part of the farm..

Day 48 (Tomato plant infected)

Thank God for the rains, but it's a no no for my Tomato plants. Just two days of constant rainfall, one of my Tomato plant came down with a bacterial disease / leaf roll disease (probably caused by white flies, the weather etc)/ dark leaf spots.

I had to take off the whole plant, no time for second-guessing. It was properly disposed off and my hands thoroughly washed.

Off to the store to make my tomato plants and homemade remedy ASAP.

...continuation (Tomato disease remedy)

Since most of the treatments for tomato plants are the same, here is my homemade remedy. Let's see how it works.



Step 1: Mix 2 tablespoons baking soda with in 4litres keg .(Note: Not baking powder)

Step 2: Add in 1 tablespoon vegetable oil, or cooking oil of your choice. This helps the spray to stick to the leaves.

Step 3: Add in 2 drops of dish soap to help emulsify (mix) everything. Use a gentle dish soap since many have harmful chemicals and are not good for soil life. I used to use morning fresh

Step 4: Pour into you spray bottles or sprayer and spray on tops and bottoms of leaves till dripping, pls do spray the surrounding soil too.

Duration period: early morning and evenings for the next 2weeks

WARNING: Start spraying in the morning or evening – Spraying in the heat of the day can harm your leaves


It's sunny already, I'll be doing the spraying in the evening.

Nice one boss.... I just made a small nursery for pepper, tomatoes and Okro.

Will transfer them into cement bags when the time is right.

Kudos.

Neduzze5:
Nice one boss.... I just made a small nursery for pepper, tomatoes and Okro.

Will transfer them into cement bags when the time is right.

Kudos.

All the best, please keep us updated on your progress.

Day 48 (...continuation) Baking soda fumigation spray

Could wait to get back from work (ofcos, I work ), had my tomato plants invading my thoughts all day. Losing another plant wasn't just conceivable

Got the baking soda/oil/morning fresh soap ready in no time. Let's wait and see the plants improve. . This is going to be my next two weeks schedule (praying with my homemade spray.

Oh! Did I forget to mention, they have starting flowering

I almost forgot this aspect (Money spent today)

Additional cost details on the garden:

1. Baking Soda (200g) = N300
2. Power oil (sachet) = N100
3. Morning fresh liquid soap (already in use at home)
4. Transportation to store = N100

Total Cost= N500 only

Isn't it just so beautiful?

Ndbc:


That's mine own trial.. let's do it now and find out what will be the result

Are you trying to shade me??!!

Day 50 (Corn update - Corn earworm prevention)

Today makes it 44days after planting. My Corn have started to develop ears, so it's time to take necessary precautions against the every Corn farmer's nightmares; Corn earworms.

I checked out about 7 agricultural outlets to get any Bt products (Bacillus thuringiensis), to my greatest surprise I couldn't. They kept referring and referring. Sad morning it turned out to be.

Improvisation;
I will be using just vegetable oil instead.

Goodness, at least I got a pressure spray 2litre bottle.

Additional garden cost:
2litre pressure spray bottle = N1500

Day 50 ...continuation

Since I opted for organic garden (though I once used synthetic fertilizer 'urea' on the Corns), my cucumber needs to be treated too organically.

Time to make more neem leaves/fruits/seed blend and a half tea spoon of baking soda plus vegetable oil.

This will be my cucumber plant insecticide for next few weeks. Already seeing traces of green worms attack.

Note: I have come to this understanding, you can't run away from plant disease/pests. You must surely come to with this. So prepare yourself adequately else, every effort will go to waste.

Weldone sir..

Hi @jidestroud please i don't know what did this damage to my maize plant. It suck out the maize from its root, i guessing its grasscutter but how can i prevent it?

My maize is 2 weeks old.

Most likely done by pouch rats (okete). Set traps around the farm and check inside blocks that have been left around for long.

oyetpel:
Hi @jidestroud please i don't know what did this damage to my maize plant. It suck out the maize from its root, i guessing its grasscutter but how can i prevent it?

My maize is 2 weeks old.

Firstly, that's a beautiful setup u have there.

That's definitely an animal pest (rats, chicken etc), and i'm putting my money on a rat There's really no specifics to eradicating animal pests other than setting traps. You will need to set traps around ur garden size maize field. This should reduce activities on your garden.




A quick tip to how to plant Corn to achieve maximum harvest.

You should always plant extra seed to allow for losses due to insect pests, ground squirrels, erratic rainfall at planting etc. You can plant either 2 seeds per hole or 1 and 2 seeds alternately per hole, and then single to 1 plant per hole when the maize is 6-9 inches tall. One grown Corn plant per hole is best. I always trim down mine to this.

Once again, you have a beautiful setup there. Keep me updated on its progress.

frisky2good:
Most likely done by pouch rats (okete). Set traps around the farm and check inside blocks that have been left around for long.

Exactly.

frisky2good:
Most likely done by pouch rats (okete). Set traps around the farm and check inside blocks that have been left around for long.

Thanks

jidestroud:


Firstly, that's a beautiful setup u have there.

That's definitely an animal pest (rats, chicken etc), and i'm putting my money on a rat There's really no specifics to eradicating animal pests other than setting traps. You will need to set traps around ur garden size maize field. This should reduce activities on your garden.




A quick tip to how to plant Corn to achieve maximum harvest.

You should always plant extra seed to allow for losses due to insect pests, ground squirrels, erratic rainfall at planting etc. You can plant either 2 seeds per hole or 1 and 2 seeds alternately per hole, and then single to 1 plant per hole when the maize is 6-9 inches tall. One grown Corn plant per hole is best. I always trim down mine to this.

Once again, you have a beautiful setup there. Keep me updated on its progress.

Thanks.

I will sure do, this is my first time of planting it.

babythug:


Are you trying to shade me??!!

Lol..

jidestroud:
Day 50 ...continuation

Since I opted for organic garden (though I once used synthetic fertilizer 'urea' on the Corns), my cucumber needs to be treated too organically.

Time to make more neem leaves/fruits/seed blend and a half tea spoon of baking soda plus vegetable oil.

This will be my cucumber plant insecticide for next few weeks. Already seeing traces of green worms attack.

Note: I have come to this understanding, you can't run away from plant disease/pests. You must surely come to with this. So prepare yourself adequately else, every effort will go to waste.

Do you boil the neem leaves and seed or just ferment it ?

Ndbc:


Do you boil the neem leaves and seed or just ferment it ?

Everyone keeps saying boil, but I prefer to grind mine and ferment for about 24hours before use. I believe it keeps all active ingredients intact (Not proven, just my assumption. I could be wrong though)

jidestroud:

Everyone keeps saying boil, but I prefer to grind mine and ferment for about 24hours before use. I believe it keeps all active ingredients intact (Not proven, just my assumption. I could be wrong though)

Copy that..

I also have this maize garden in front of the house.

The ropes are thatched together to keep off goats.

The maize is a week old.


6 were affected by the disease on the leaves below, so i uprooted the 6 and planted another 6 on the heap i uprooted the affected once from.

oyetpel:
I also have this maize garden in front of the house.

The ropes are thatched together to keep off goats.

The maize is a week old.


6 were affected by the disease on the leaves below, so i uprooted the 6 and planted another 6 on the heap i uprooted the affected once from.

Sorry about the loss, but point of correction, from the picture ed, that ain't a disease but indicates damage done by insect pest (beetles). There are a lot of organic insecticides out there which you can use to resolve this issue.
Also, you could check out your plant at night. You would be amazed at your findings. Since it's a small size garden, try handpicking the beetles.