Stirring the compost and other things

 I meant to post this yesterday but closed the window and forgot it wasn't finished.

 Supposed to get rain somewhere in the county but only a 20% chance not good odds but who knows. It's breezy and the clouds have moved in but they aren't dense clouds. It's winter here, what can I say.

Other than the garden I'm trying to come up with another informational topic. Will see what I get to by the end of my gardening. No pictures as I forgot my phone yesterday when I took scraps to the compost and stirred it around. The big leaves aren't breaking down very quickly so I tried to dig them under and get dirt and stuff covering them. Was tempted to pull the larger ones out but didn't feel like getting my hands dirty. I'm a gardener, that's part and parcel of the whole gig right? 

So for topic I will talk about bugs, a particular bug I discovered on the trumpet vine yesterday.

My initial response was mealybug but then got a closer look (as much as Rocky would let me) and realized it was a form of Cottony Cushion Scale. Another wild guess of course and after doing an image search I am correct on the second guess. If you click on the left picture and zoom in close to the leave stem you'll see two brown lumps with some white and a telltale scale snugged right next to the main stem. Also that cluster of brown shells on the other leaf is a give away. These are a type of soft scale the other type in the family is armored scale which are harder to get rid of.

Mealybugs actually move and are a different shape, these were stationary and other signs were evident as well. (There is brown papery stuff at the joints of the vine branches but that's something else I need to research.)

Where did they come from? How did they get this bad when it's been so cold? 

First, they walk or are carried in by ants. The males are winged and the females are stationary and have that typical scale case when they mature. So all it takes is a male coming in to find a female and you have an instant invasion. 

Now how to deal with them. Because that white fluffy stuff is essentially a kind of wax it sheds any type of spray you may want to use other than an oil spray. Across the board the recommendation is Neem oil, which I have mentioned previously. Organic, high temperature tolerance and the only draw back is getting all the parts where they may be hiding. I haven't found any suggestion using a systemic but I suspect that may help as well. As long as it isn't on something edible.

And thus an accidentally delayed post is finally finished. I may address using organics or the new line of systemics for vegetables next time.