Return of the Aphids - an Update

Peppers under duress - this is getting serious

Update - 42223 1747 at this moment - I’m providing an image update to this aphid situation which has gotten very serious because the aphids sucked the sap out of the pepper leaves and these little peppers are barely hanging on - the update image has nothing to do with this direct, but there is SO MUCH info in the update image - you wouldn’t believe it. And consider this, how can a 2-dimensional image appear 3-dimensional in our minds? Must be some calculations associated with that and they must happen in our brains I reckon, but I ain’t no effing bot, and I can tell the difference. This is war with the aphids and I play to win, but I know sometimes I don’t. - end of update - tis now 1749

remember the Waxhaws….~~~~~

Before I get into this week’s Monday “missive” (thanks P&S), here is a link to an ongoing short-story I’m working on that I will be updating regularly “on the side” and will then post links to it here every Monday assuming I have made updates:

Pee-Wees and a Wolf!

Now with that said (and in the future, I’ll put the link at the bottom of the article), let me get to the update.

Today’s date is Monday April 17, 2023 - or 41723 as I like to say in “shorthand”.

I had been at my getaway place for over a week and things are going well there, but when I returned, I noticed the pepper sprouts still hadn’t grown as well as most of the other types of plants. Upon close inspection, sure enough, the aphids had returned and they seem to be most fond of the pepper leaf (both sides).

This was discouraging and I know the origin of the aphids - they came from last year’s ghost pepper plants I tried to save without success. So this has been a good lesson for me and in the future I will be more careful about bringing grown pepper plants inside in hopes of keeping them alive over the winter months. Unfortunately when the plants are inside, not only do they not get rained on as is normal, but neither are there birds and other “critters” that keep the aphids in check. My wife suggested we ought order some ladybugs, and that is not a bad idea, but it could be sort of like what happened when they dropped some rabbits in Australia and it changed the whole ecosystem in unexpected ways. For now I’ve refrained from taking my wife’s suggestion on this, but it might not be a bad idea for next year.

What I decided to do was take the peppers outside (along with the okra, which is doing okay, but also seemed to possibly have a few aphids. I proceeded to carefully wash the aphids off each of the sprouts and this was 3 days ago. Fortunately, the weather has cooperated and the low temperature in the evenings has stayed above 50 degrees F so that I could leave the plants outside.

In addition to the aphid issue, I’ve noticed the leaves on the pepper sprouts (especially the first ones that formed) were curling up and I suspect the grow lights were too intense for them - another lesson learned I reckon.

The good news I think is that since I’ve washed off the aphids (and they have not returned yet in a noticeable way), the pepper sprouts seem to be recovering, but the plants are not as far along as I was hoping. But, that is the purpose of this effort, and a lesson learned will help me do better next year. These plants are still alive and I’ll be watching them close - they mean a lot to me and peppers are truly my focus.

At our getaway place, the guide I’ve checked indicates that May 8 is the beginning of the timeframe when it should be safe to plant the peppers, tomatoes, cucumbers, squash, zucchini, and the okra (I think) in the ground. I’ll be watching the weather forecast closely and if it seems safe to do this I will plant them earlier, or it could be a cold spell is predicted, in which case I will wait.

So, let me literally go take a picture of the plants still here at our “main” place and then maybe I’ll add one more picture (a non-garden one) after that to wrap up this weekly update missive.

A bit of good news in the basil is doing real well and I’m a big fan of basil as is my wife who makes an easy pesto sauce that freezes well and can last for a long time if it stays frozen.

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OK, I think I’m going to search a bit in my archives and just post an image that appeals to me for the fun of sharing it.

OK, I can’t resist. This is the scoresheet from the “Oh Hell” card game I played with family and made a most memorable come-back…..it is the basis of why I think I’m one of the best Oh Hell players around! If you know the game, there is a whole lot of information on those seemingly “random” numbers being used to keep score. Suffice it to say, my final score was 120 and that was one of the “funnest” games we have played in a long time - or at least it was for me. I could almost tell you the whole final hand out of memory because that is the way my brain works I guess!

Hope all are well and I encourage everyone to plant a seed for the future!

Ken

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~this is a superfluous edit on 41823 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~

a dentist just took some contaminated material (“tooth decay”) out of one of my teeth (#30 - Molar #1), and he said it was deeper than expected as the drills drilled down. Apparently the x-ray he consulted was more than a year old and I did suggest to him - maybe we ought take a close-up? Anyhow, thanks to novocaine I didn’t feel a damn thing while he was drilling but it wasn’t easy keeping my small mouth open during the procedure and that hurt my jaw muscles strained - anyhow….if you think I’m full of it then consider this:

And here for the fun of it is a link to my master’s thesis - it was about uncertainty.

Master's Paper | A Decision Framework to Assist Local Communities in Managing Troublesome Solid Waste | ID: v118rg34n | Carolina Digital Repository (unc.edu)

https://cdr.lib.unc.edu/concern/masters_papers/v118rg34n

I’m not afraid to put myself out there because I have nothing to hide and I play a mean game of Oh Hell and the aphids are on notice - some birds are coming to eat you up.

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Just in case somebody might be wondering, let me share this:

So, I’ve already pissed away $40 - 2% basically and I don’t make investments lightly these days, and you can rest assured I have attitude aplenty.

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Update Image - tis 3-dimensional shown 2-dimensionally if you can imagine that:

Ken

ps - I already have taken the images, or some of them, that will be on next Monday’s post.

pss - 42223 1811 - I should know better, but here is one of Monday’s images to be - it is a real image, unedited, as taken by the camera I used as a tool when I took it - and I can prove that if need be, but why should I. Anyhow, here it is and I should know better I reckon…..but I just love to share.

These babies are all grown up! They are ready.