froggie always gives me a scare

 This little guy often gives me a fright, springing out of one of the boxes as I am tending to the plants. I think it's a helper, not a pest. 

Snail invasion

 Caught one in the morning munching on my kale. 

Came back at night to see if there were any on my plants. This was the haul...

They have been feasting on my sayur manis and kale...

The following night haul... 

The big monster mama too.

Them in action... 

yummy ginger leaves

 Yummy for these buggers...

So many leaves gone!!!

This is what it looks like when that caterpillar makes a home...it seals the 2 sides of the leaf...

zero care vinegar

 Pineapple scraps put in water and just let outside to ferment. It worked but because I was not checking it at all, a lot of the water evaporated.

I use this vinegar to add to my pest deterrent sprays. The spray itself is a mixture of neem leaves water. cooking oil, dishwashing detergent and this vinegar.

long beans and ginger leaves attacked

These little fellows look like butterfly caterpillars. Lost quite a few long beans...

and their cousins gobbled up my ginger leaves...

bitter gourd bugs

These fellow really have a feast on my bitter gourd plants. If you look carefully you can see 2 generations there.

Only good thing is that they dont fly much so its easier to guide them onto my hand and then feed them to the fish.

predator insect home coming along

 I just pruned some bamboo. Went towards the bee house...

please get out

 Please wasp, can you look for a home outside? 

I want these guys around but this is a bit too close

cant afford to neglect checking underneath leaves

The majority if insects seem to love the underside of leaves. 

The top of a chili leaf...

The bottom...

Distraction

I've been letting the undergrowth grow out a bit, one reason to see if insects will be drawn to something else other than the edible stuff we want. This distraction seems to be working. A thorny plant popped up that is growing really fast and the bugs seem to love its leaves more than the surrounding veggies.

Bee home

I've been trying to attract bigger insect predators that hopefully will feed on the smaller bugs and larvae that have been feasting on our veggies. Started by placing some flowering plants between the veggies.

That yellow flow plant seems to grow quite easily and lots have sprouted in random places too.

Now I am looking for any kind of small cylinders to attract the bigger insects to make it their home. We got lots of bamboo around which will hopefully do the job. I have also been keeping my eyes open for cylinder type waste that will hold the bamboo together. 

Cut each bamboo at its own sections and inserted into a toilet roll as the holder...

I will try placing it in different spots in the garden. I'm sure the insects will have a preference as to how much sun and shade they want. This fence has a good dose of morning sun and is not shaded at all. 

Hmmm...the rain is going to get to the toilet roll very fast. Nevermind, this is experimental, just like the entire garden. 

Also trying bamboo directly to this smaller fence.

 

banana status

 Just a pic of the bananas

Fingers crossed they ripen and stay on the tree, especially with these little devils around...

curry leaf spider

 Lots of curry leaves damaged by this fellow...

Ladybirds mating

 Ladybirds mating... I think

grasshoppers must be super healthy

 Caught this fellow feasting on our veggies. 

It finished off quite a bit of kale.

New snail

 Spotted this tiny guy on my kangkung. 

As usual most pest end up in the fish pond as snacks.

Baby grasshopper

Tring to blend in with my sweet basil.

The tip of my scissors at the bottom is a good reference as to how small that fellow is!!

It would make a nice snack for my climbing perch if I could catch it.

dragonfly feasting on a bee

 Dragonflies are under the "helper" category, but unfortunately, their diet also includes other helpers...

New red bug

 Fed the whole leaf with its red invaders to the fish.

losing nearly 50% kangkung to white flies

These tiny white flies suck the life out of plants. and they multiply underneath the leaves which make them tough to spot. They seem to love kangkung and chili leaves.

You can see clear evidence of them here...