As a consumer, do not fall for "appealing" vegetables and fruits!

We as consumers, are sometimes equally responsible for adulteration/coloring of vegetables and fruits, because we tend to judge by the "outer color" of them and do not buy them if they are dull. We go for the more appealing, shiny ones. Hence the vendors are "forced" to make them look more appealing.

This is very common with many fruits and I have learnt this year abt these :

1. Apples
2. Mangoes
3. Litchi

- Apples : which are shiny, are wax coated.
- Mangoes : which are too yellow on the outer, may be ripened using the chemical called as "carbide"
- Litchi : Are spray painted to make them look reddish!

Click on the pic below to see the video!

Here is the list published by the Environmental Working Group of the 12 Most contaminated foods:

Peaches

Apples

Sweet Bell Peppers

Celery

Nectarines

Strawberries

Cherries

Pears

Grapes (Imported)

Spinach

Lettuce

Potatoes

How To Detect Carbide Ripened Mangoes

How to clean pesticide and toxins off the fruits 

Wax Coating on Apples

And there's more than just fruits and vegetables...

There seems no end to human greed and today (7/2/2015) I came across a post, which was telecasted on TV and newspaper's as well - "PLASTIC RICE". Yes, you read that right.

It is so saddening to see that China is manufacturing this rice made out of plastic, that is being exported to Asian countries - including Singapore, Indonesia, Vietnam, and India. Yes, it has already entered India. The government has taken action, but look at the ridiculous things we humans are capable of doing!

It cannot be differentiated just by looking at it. It smells and tastes different after it is cooked. Imagine what can this plastic do inside our tummy and how our health is at risk! You could read about it more here.

As the old saying goes - "dont judge the book by its cover", give a thought and change the way we look, lets get logical and consume healthy food!

[Disclaimer : All the pictures and videos I have used in this post are sourced from the internet]

Red Pierrot Caterpillar - could be chomping up your succulents without your notice!

I learnt about a new insect today; rather a larve : the Red Pierrot Caterpillar.

I had got this beautiful Kalanchoe sapling from Raigad, which I had seen for the first time in my life and without knowing what plant was it, I picked up the sapling, looking at its beautiful vibrant flowers!

After almost a year, it flowered and I was all happy, until last week, I suddenly saw that their condition was not so good.   I was out of station for 4 days and had told my maid to water all the plants regularly while I was away.. I forgot to mention not to water the cactus and succulents on a daily basis! So, the first thing that struck to me was that I did a mistake and probably she watered them regularly as any other plant and so the succulents are rotting and that made my heart crunch. 

Suddenly it struck me to shout out in "Cactus and Succulent India" FB group and I am so grateful for them, that I was able to rescue my plants and learn something new! 

It was not due to hot summer or overwatering, it was these tiny Red Pierrot larvas moving all around and inside of the Kalanchoe  leaves and gulping up the flesh inside the leaves, that would leave only empty leaf cover and which would dry up after 1-2 days, giving us a look as if they dried up due to too much of direct sun or due to overwatering!

See how intelligently they get inside the leaf, start munching and move around the leaf, leaving behind their poop! :-P 

I found 17 of them in 4 plants and removed all the affected leaves and discarded them all.

If you wish to grow them, leave them as host plants and they could turn into butterflies one day. I was not so kind hearted this time, as this was my first time on my favorite plant and I could not take the shock. Hopefully I will get more forgiving in future, as I have learnt to be forgiving on my cauliflower munching insects!

So, next time you see such a mysterious way your succulents are dying, do make a closer check!

Solarization : Healing the soil affected by Nematodes

What is Solarization?

The term "Solarizing" may sound fancy, however is nothing but spreading the soil evenly and building up heat in the soil with the help of the sun for about 2 weeks or more.

Why Solarize?

This is for the pest control.

In container gardening, it becomes important to solarize the soil once you are done with one round of crop in that container.

Solarization during the hot summer months can increase soil temperature to levels that kill many disease causing organisms (pathogens), nematodes, and weed seeds and seedlings.

Identification

You may not be able to visually make out seeing the topsoil that it has been affected by nematodes. hence keep a check on the roots when you are done with the crop and uproot the crop. The plant also hints us that it is affected with nematodes, by sudden halt of growth and the leaves withering, and when none of the remedies seem to work, nematodes may be the cause because it has directly affected the roots of the plant! Overall the plant suddenly becomes weak, and perishes.

Nematodes and Nitrogen-fixing nodules are different!

A snippet from here - " The appearance of the galls on the roots can be confused with nitrogen-fixing nodules common in the legume family. However it is easy to distinguish between them, as the nitrogen nodules can be easily rubbed off while the nematode galls cannot be removed. "

Procedure to Solarize

1. Empty the potting mix from a container on a tarpaulin sheet (newspaper would not do until the potting mix is in smaller quantity in balconies; the sheet should be strong and waterproof in case water falls on it, or the pets step on it, the wind may be strong etc) as shown in the below pic.

2. Spread it evenly, breaking it down with gardening tools if required.

3. Separate the roots from the potting mix. 

4. Observe these roots. If they are affected by nematodes , or ants may have layed eggs and would be building a community, as in below pics.

The root at the left is "normal" root, where as at the right is affected by "nematodes" because the roots have knots kind of structure

A closer look of the nematodes affected root.

If the roots are affected with nematodes, solarization of soil is required for 4-6 weeks. If not, 2-3 weeks is good enough.

5. Spread it evenly and irrigate the soil to keep it moist (the heat builds up when the moisture exists) and cover the tarpaulin sheet completely as shown in below picture and keep some weights on the sheet so that it is not affected by the wind. 

6. Wash the container thoroughly (some suggest washing it with bleaching powder and exposing it to direct sunlight for drying, if affected by nematodes)

What after 6 weeks?

After 6 weeks of solarization, add about a handful of neem cake to this potting mix. A handful of Honge cake is also beneficial. It further heals the soil. As a general practice, it is always recommend to add these cakes to the potting mix to prevent such incidents. 

Then for the crop rotation, it is recommended to plant marigold in this potting mix to further heal the soil and after the marigold crop, you could confidently use this potting mix for the next veggie crop.

What if I do not solarize?

Looking at the wait time (6 weeks), it is very easy to get tempted to just discard the affected roots and re-use the potting mix for next crop, without solarizing. But the sad news is that the potting mix is STILL affected and the next crop you put in there will also fail for sure.

Prevention is better than cure

The use of Neem Cake and Honge Cake in the potting mix is for prevention, which should be preached and practiced!