Buzz Nausea, king of the aircraft-men

[hirez]

Coriander, right? Is it me being useless, or is it the Thompson's Gazelle of the herb world? If it's not being attacked by slugs, it's a mob of aphids and/or deciding to grow around corners out of spite.

On the other hand, it could just be that my fingers are too solder-burned to be green these days. While I've coped with being a sad disappointment to my parents over many things, being able to kill plants with a single glance is a little too much to bear.

It's always the stupid things that bite a chap in the arse like that.

Comments

[d-floorlandmine.livejournal.com]

Thompson's Gazelle
I've now got the image of grazing animal with a circular clockwork magazine and spitting a stream of .45 rounds. Or a confused bloke in a pinstripe suit and white tie, trying to cram a deer into a violin case.

[echo-echo.livejournal.com]

Lucy seems to be able to grow it, personally, it doesn't happen for me. I kill the stuff, which is probably for the best as I don't actually like it.

I think maybe an indoors south facing window and well watered is ideal.

[bogwitch64.livejournal.com]

Being able to kill plants with a single glance could come in quite handy. Just think about it:
MOTHER NATURE STRIKES BACK!
In a world of concrete and steel, Mother Nature strikes fear into the hearts of city-dwelling-denizens. Green, green--everything is overwhelmed by green! Choking off our subway tunnels! Eating through our electricity cables! No television! No telephone! It has even crumbled our satellite recievers! Ahhhhhhhhhhh! Who do we call? Who shall we turn to?
Da-dada-DA! It's hirez! Able to solder at the speed of light! Killing greenery with a single glance! Look, there he is! Follow the swath of dead greenery to freedom, my friends! Freedom!!!!!!!
You'll save the day, my dear. You're my hero.

[hirez.livejournal.com]

:p

Disturbingly, that's about the polar opposite of what I'd like.

[bogwitch64.livejournal.com]

You and me both, deari-o. XX Good luck with the herbs. I've got a green thumb, myself. I can grow a booger, as long as it's outside. Inside--I kill everything.

[aoakley.livejournal.com]

Can't say we've had a problem growing it, although our garden is full of lots of other tasty treats that the slugs and aphids would much rather munch on.

Fennel, on t'third hand, has now become a gigantic weed, to the point that we're ripping it up on sight and feeding it to the chickens. Which should make for interesting tasting eggs.

Slugs can be reasonably easily dealt a pleasant death by an easily-approachable deep pot of beer (half-bury an old glazed mug, for instance, and use a few pebbles to stack an old upside-down saucer above it for a roof - you don't want your beer getting diluted by rainwater). Dispose of dead/drunk slugs and renew the beer every 2-3 days- in extreme cases you may find that the mug fills with slugs to the brim in fairly short order.

Aphids, unfortunately, are very difficult to selectively kill and also difficult to kill using chemicals if you require the crop to remain safely edible. There are lots of chemical sprays available but check that the one you get specifically states that corriander will be edible after use (there are many which can be safely used on, say, cucumbers, that'll give you a tummy ache when applied to, say, walnut). You may need to ring manufacturers for assurances specific to corriander.

An easier and safer anti-aphid scheme is fly paper; just a patch of strong paper coated with a non-drying glue. Unfortunately this is non-selective and will also trap bees, ladybirds and other insects you probably want to encourage. If your crop is sufficiently distant from flowers and other things that attract "nice" insects, then fly paper may be okay.

If you really, really want to be environmentally friendly about killing aphids, you can buy bulk lots of ladybird larvae- through the post (http://www.harrodhorticultural.com/HarrodSite/product/Pest%20Control_Biological%20Pest%20Control/GPC-530.htm)- which will happily munch on them. Unless you keep your corriander in a sealed greenhouse or cold-frame, they will most likely bugger off very quickly. For 13 quid delivered you could probably buy a lot of fresh corriander from Tescos. There are also biological weapons against slugs (nematodes, tiny worms) but they're even more expensive and you've got to be the kind of moron that thinks lottery tickets are good value to use these instead of a beer trap.

Using a cold-frame will help deter new infestations, but intensify existing infestations.

[jenwrites.livejournal.com]

I can't even keep spider plants alive inside my damned house, so you have my admiration for trying to grow something useful in the great outdoors.

[hirez.livejournal.com]

Ma & Pa farmed and now garden. Trying to look after anything more demanding than myself was mostly pointless when I was all about beer, youthful misbehaviour and road accidents. However, now I've calmed down a bit they're expecting me to be, well, vaguely useful. Otherwise it'll be tutting and comments about 'taking after the milkman' again...

[inulro.livejournal.com]

I have to admit to not having had much luck with coriander myself. I'm not a brilliant gardener but I can keep most things (at least technically) alive.

[aoakley.livejournal.com]

I'm amazed people have such trouble with it. You are actually planting it in compost in a sunny location and remembering to water it every day in the summer (unless it has rained), right?

Baby Bio (http://www.bayergarden.co.uk/products/product.aspx?productid=9) will rescue most "I forgot to water it for a fortnight" situations provided you do subsequently remember to water it every day. It's like gardening necromancy juice.

[aoakley.livejournal.com]

grow around corners

Just a check - is it in a position that gets lots of sunlight throughout the main part of the day (10am-4pm)?

If not, it may be trying to grow in the direction of better sunlight. That also means it is currently getting insufficient sunlight, which will weaken it against attack by aphids/slugs. Not that we're expecting it to turn, Triffid-like, upon its predators, but unless you have a massive infestation of pests it should, in good conditions, be able to grow back faster than a small number of pests can munch it.

[red-mel.livejournal.com]

Our corinader died last year. Andrew is talking out of his bum. I can grow most herbs but corrienader even i have trouble with it.

Feel free to take any cuttings you want from my herbs xx

[hirez.livejournal.com]

I suspect it's because it's in the kitchen window, so not getting enough light, planted in peat which dries out too quickly and in a small pot. Pushing water uphill with a rake, I fear.

And it's being a bloody awful year for Mediterranean-type plants.

[red-mel.livejournal.com]

Mine lived outside, last year, for a couple of months but then gave up the ghost.

[bogwitch64.livejournal.com]

Ok, fer serious now--aphids? Try this:
http://www.drbronner.com/drb_index.html

The peppermint kind works great against aphids. So does the lavender. Give the coriander a good dousing and aphids vanish. The soap washes away without residue so no badness for the belly OR for the earth. Double edged sword, here--it also washes away with every watering and rain. It must be reapplied daily. Just how big is your coriander patch? If it's not big, it might be worth your time.