Hi, the white dots are normal to many F. teas, the powdery stuff is probably mildew. If you're spraying it a lot for humidity, that's a likely cause (unless it's close to other plants with the same problem, in which case it might have been 'caught' from another one). If the top of the soil has the powder too, it's probably staying wet and you need to allow it to dry between waterings. You can just scrape up what's on top of the soil and wipe off the leaves. Is it getting a lot of sun all day? Have you considered getting it 5-6" under T5 fluorescent lights for around 15 hrs a day? And for humidity, use a tray underneath with pebbles high enough to keep the pot from touching the water in the tray - more effective than spraying. If you have a bad case of it, a mild house plant fungicide might be needed, but wait and see because teas don't always react well to chemicals.

PostPosted: Sun Sep 09, 2007 6:58 pm Post subject: Reply with quote Handling Peach Leaf Curl naturally. I add 1/4 to 1/2 ounces of Tea Tree oil to winter dormant oil spray, already mixed. I apply just before or just at the beginning of pink bud and normally it knocks the leaf curl 100%; I only get a few red bubbles here and there. On bad years, with more humidity, leaf curl might affect nectarines anyway, but not as bad, as they are more prone to leaf curl. I used to use 1/4 ounce per gallon of winter spray, for dryer springs, but wetter springs need 1/2 ounce per gallon of winter oil spray to be totally effective. It is a bit expensive, the Tea Tree Oil that is, but probably no more then the chemical alternative and it is safe, that give me a peace of mind. David _________________ PostPosted: Mon Sep 17, 2007 7:15 am Post subject: Reply with quote Edit/Delete this post David, Where do you get tea tree oil? This year, it was really dry. I did not spray anything on my peaches and nectarines. Out of several hundred thousand leaves, I've only got less than ten that showed some infection. All of my peach trees suffered one breakage or another due to oversized fruits. I have been thinning aggressively, but went on 2 months vacation and when I came back, each tree has a breakage. I would call it truly fantastic fruit sets on all stone fruits this year. Joe PostPosted: Mon Sep 17, 2007 7:58 am Post subject: Reply with quote Joe You can find it at Health food stores or stores with Healthy food departments; now you can find it even in some pharmacies and etc in their cosmetic department. I have preferred to use Tea Tea Oil by Jason's, a health food cosmetic company. Though am sure there are other brands which might do as good. I can sense such things and how well they will work in my own body and the bodies of other individuals. We do fine a much more expensive line of essential oils from Young Living, but that is good expensive and good for plant needs. Essential oils are processed in different ways, often the cheaper the oils are, the more chemically and unnaturally they are processed, where as the more expensive they, the more natural and viable they are. Jason's I guess is of good quality, but not too expensive. I used to buy it a Raley's, but now buy it at at Vitamin Shoppe online, or now they have a Vitamin Shoppe in Modesto CA, so their are a few stores in CA, in larger cities; their vitamins run 25 % or less in price then local health-food stores. I have tried other Tea Tree oils from Health Food stores, but have settled on Jason's, I guess it is good quality, compared to many, and not too expensive and easy to obtain. Sorry, when you ask me a question, I feel the need to tell you why and what for, I guess it is my nature to share and teach. Interesting you considered it dry this spring and summer, on a year like this year, my trees would of been devastated by Peach Leaf Curl. Last year was really bad, Peaches were ok, using the spray, but nectarines had a partial bad attach, but quickly recovered. Peaches only had a few pea size bubbles here and there. Yes, a very good year for stone fruits, my trees had more fruit then I have ever seen, pollinating time was ideal, nice sunny weather and no rain most of the time. Like you I kept thinning and thinning and still had too much fruit for the limbs to handle well. What got me was the last blooms. I thinned the peaches when the fruits were a bit smaller then golf balls and noticed a lot more the size of peas. Usually the smaller ones all drop off, when the large fruit is present, but apparently it didn't happen. I had to thin thin clear into June and early July on some varieties. I thought I had my plum/pluot tree well thinned too and I was wrong here too. Massive amount of small fruits that didn't get sized up as it usually does, but the fruits were not much smaller then store size. I usually just thin a bit more and produce larger and less fruits. I did notice that my plums and pluots were not quite as tasty as they usually are. My early Granada Pomegranates are late this season, compared to the past, but that could be maybe because of the amount of fruit, not sure. I planted a Wonderful and its sibling Granada in one hole and as one plant, only a few years ago, so this is the first real decent size crop, with the tree being around 10 plus feet tall; I prune off the fast sucker growth from the top, so it stays more balanced and rounded, but let it grow taller. I am sure in following seasons the fruit may be larger and even more plentiful as the root systems gets larger. I have not gotten a lot of fruit the last couple years, as it was young, but I have been eating the Granada's starting before now, more like the first of Sept. They are ripening, I tried one the other day, edible, but still lacking in prime sweetness and flavor; cool nights and especially frosty nights help to force flavor and sweetness. When I was a kid growing up here in the Valley, we got cooler weather before now many times and always had killing frost to beans and squash and etc before Halloween. We pretty much years ago, could expect a pumpkin killing freeze a month to a couple weeks before Halloween, that was back in the 50s, 60s and early 70s. David _________________ Living in Waterford CA, east side of Central Valley CA, USDA zone9b, on edge of Sunset Garden Book zone 14. Surviving, but wishing I was in a warmer zone. Love to experiment and push the limit on plants. PostPosted: Mon Sep 17, 2007 1:00 pm Post subject: Reply with quote Edit/Delete this post David, Thanks for the info on Tea Tree Oil. i ordered mine from eBay. Will try it out this season. Will try to apply copper during the leaf fall, maybe lime sulfur during the dead winter, and Tea Tree oil during pink stage. i just came back from my Canada trip and they have problem with the rains. The trick for them to have their plums and peaches set fruit is to drape over a breathable row cover during bloom to channel away the incessant rains. I will try to do that this year in case we have a very wet year. I still have my Last Chance Peach loaded, and they should ripen very well towards the end of the month. Joe PostPosted: Mon Sep 17, 2007 7:40 pm Post subject: Reply with quote Joe I guess the row cloth might help, if you had bees under the row cloth to pollinate the blooms. If you go down near the ground with it, the bees will most likely not find their way in. The row cloth could help warm up the blooms, so the blooms could be pollinated, if the bees were around. Blooms will not pollinate below certain temps, but you may already know that. When it is cool and rainy, the trees will hold blooms longer. I know I want to add polycarbonate extensions to my house, where I have like guavas. They need more winter protection and when they have really ripe fruits in fall, the rains make them split, even if the ground does not really get wet. I guess like Cherries, the rain on the fruit causes them to swell and split. David _________________

Some big ego's in here, kind of sad to see. I would like to inform all interested that the Australian Aboriginals have used Melaleuca (Tea Tree) for thousands of years. When ever they had a cold/sore throat or just wanted a boost (tonic) they just boiled up the leaves in water and drank the tea. I've tried it and enjoy the taste, I also noticed quite a bit of oil floating on the surface of my tea. No ill effects at all. The paper like bark is also excellent for cooking fish in. I have also used Tea tree oil as a preservative when boiling up extracts of herbs/mushrooms. They never go off and don't cause me any problems internally. This post was edited by MycoMac on Wed, Jun 12, 13 at 7:05

Yes, mosquitoes become infected with heartworms when they bite an infected canine. It is not too difficult to find an infected canine though, because for some reason people like to tempt fate and not give heartworm prevention, and of course wild canines are not protected. Here's a newflash for you: mosquitoes FLY! You don't have to live near an infected dog for an infected mosquito to bite your dog. It is stupid to try to save money by not giving heartworm prevention. The average cost of treating heartworm disease is $800, depending on the size of the dog, and that is without complications. It is extremely dangerous to treat heartworms, you must keep your dog absolutely calm or a dead worm can clog an artery in your dog's lungs and kill him instantly. How many months of heartworm prevention can you buy for $800? Is it really worth risking your dog's life? There is absolutely NO PROOF that any "natural" preventatives work. NONE. Why do you think heartworm prevention is harmful? What is the basis for that? Show me the evidence. Rabies vaccines are required by law for a darn good reason- it is a human health risk, and 100% fatal in all mammals. I am a minimal vaccine person, but there is no way in heck I would ever not vaccinate for rabies.