I am in agreement with comments above... the single most important thing you can do to reduce pests, in my opinion, is provide healthy soil. It is not often mentioned that most plants _do_ have defenses of their own; what we consider to be "flavors" are often chemical defenses against insects. Provided that the plants are healthy enough for those defenses to be effective, they can often fend for themselves. Cucumber beetles, for example, are attracted to compounds given off by plants under stress. This could be caused by disease, inadequate water, or previous attack by other insects - such as squash bugs. Given a high organic matter, pH-balanced soil with good drainage & adequate water, plants are healthier & less attractive to the beetles. While there may still be some present, their population is considerably smaller. The second thing, as mentioned by Lacyvail, is to create (or at least not discourage) a local ecosystem that encourages beneficial insects. It has often been mentioned by those who purchase those insects, that it's hard to keep them around. To do so, you need to provide a food supply for all points in their life cycle. A wide range of flowers, with long or overlapping blooming periods, is helpful. In addition to perennials _near_ your vegetable garden, plant annuals _in_ the garden. And for the larvae - which represent your true resident population - you might need to learn to tolerate enough of an aphid population to sustain them. If you are accustomed to killing off your aphids early, you might be inadvertently destroying the next generation of ladybugs & lacewings as well. For severe infestations, it might be more effective to go after the ants (which usually spread the aphids) rather than the aphids themselves. There may be some truth to companion planting; I rotate all of my vegetables each year, and have noted some good combinations (such as beans & Swiss chard). There are also some plants that don't play well with others, such as okra. If your garden is high-intensive/high-density, then it is more important to know which plants _do not_ grow well together, than it would be with conventional methods. But I think that for the most part, the issue is not which plants grow with which - it is to grow as wide a range of small plantings as possible, as opposed to large blocks. Large blocks of anything (mono cropping) promote the easy spread of insects or disease, and provide a stronger scent trail for flying insects to follow. When I began saving seeds seriously, it forced me to alter the way that I gardened. If I wanted pure seed, I had to provide space & barriers between different varieties. This meant that my beans & tomatoes, for instance, could no longer be grown together in one place, but were spaced out in different "cells" throughout the garden. In any form of experimentation, there are often unexpected results... and in this case, the fringe-benefit was an enormous reduction in insect damage. This is not to say that I have no damage - only that it has been reduced to the point of being (usually) tolerable. One last note... to encourage greater soil fertility, about 10 years ago I began to leave clover alone when weeding. I would still pull it out if it was directly in a row, but in paths & between rows was OK. After years of this, I now get a good stand of clover in the garden. When rabbits get in (as they always do) they prefer the clover in the paths to almost all of the vegetables. I guess that makes it a "trap crop" for rabbits. ;-) Only when I began to grow soybeans did I find something they like even better (and "like" is an understatement).

Sorry that didnt' go well, but kudos to you for trying to help your plant. "this past spring, and all the leaves started going quite wilty. As I've started learning more about plants, I thought I'd investigate. As it turns out, it was VERY rootbound -- as in the roots had broken through the plastic pot and roots have completely enveloped the plastic. " I would assume it was getting/staying too dry at this point, with very little soil in the pot to get/be moist. It could have been near death already at this point if wilting a lot. You didn't remove the old pot before putting your plant into a bigger one? That's a huge no-no, but not chiding you for taking bad advice, it happens and is beyond your control. Not writing a paragraph about it to dwell on it, just to make sure we understand what's going on, and ask you to please not do that anymore. If roots that were almost always dry, from being outside of the pot, have lately been surrounded by moist soil, that could be a problem. Does that sound applicable? The more lively roots inside the original, smaller pot, are probably those which could most easily branch out into new soil in a bigger pot, but not with the walls of the old pot in the way of that. If you start snipping brown parts off, a little at a time, and don't get to a point where there's green inside, it's dead. Hope that's not the case! As sad as it may be, are you able to add a pic of your distressed plant? If needed, you can at least get plenty of sympathy.

Congrats, Midnight. Growing a clivia to blooming size from seed is a great accomplishment. I hope you'll start a separate thread with pics once the blooms are open. Great plants! Socks, Disneyland and I have a lot in common, heh heh, and no, not because I'm "goofy"! I like a lot of the plants they use, and how they create such cheerful/jarring combinations. I just planted a bare root 'Disneyland' rose, which, while not jarring, is certainly perky like the many they have planted there. I've been gardening since I was five years old and have reached the point where I just plant what I enjoy and what makes me smile, so "tastemakers" be damned, lol. The brighter, taller, and stinkier, the more I like my orange marigolds. I actually struggle to find non-dumpy dwarf types. Usually I get them from Select Seeds or Seeds of Change...what about you? Take care, Grant

hello Max, welcome. You live in Ventura now and are moving to Costa Rica by next year.....dang you. When you get to CR you will be able to grow most anything tropical you want. In addition the markets will have more variety of fruit. I imagine you could still order from nurseries in Puerto Rico like Montoso or Govardan or possibly find local nurseries. Soon we'll all be jealous of you (at least I will). So far you are already doing a great job. good luck, -Ethan