What are these Insect eggs?

I have wasted hours this week on one Dianthus leaf.  Under the leaf was a beautifully patterned cluster of eggs.  Who's Eggs? Have you tried looking for insect eggs on the internet? I have a well worked copy of Judy McMaugh's "What Garden Pest or Disease is that?", nothing amongst the images in there.

When we looked at the eggs under a hand lens we found a neat crown around the head of each one.  This at least led to Google-ing insect eggs in neat patterns with a crown and I found ... Stink Bugs.  Problem is that Stink Bugs appear to be a North American.  I left the problem at this stage, too much time already.

Today I have returned to the now rather withered leaf and discovered the eggs are hatching... right now! I feel very paternal, all warm and fuzzy.  The little "nymphs" are bright red but appear to darken soon after hatching.  They look like Aphids, but as Minh quickly pointed out Aphids are born live not from eggs and there are no little horns on their backs.  Well of course I'm all fired up again so more web searching leads to a distinct body shape but still frustration that I can't find anything definitively Australian. Back to Judy McMaugh, great resource and sure enough I have found Green Vegetable Bugs Nezara viridula. The Yanks call them Southern Green Stink bugs, so I think we are on the right track.  



Sadly they are sucking pests so we don't want them in the nursery and a judicious spray of Confidor has been applied this morning.  Confidor is a very valuable systemic insecticide for sucking pests like Aphids. I believe it is very safe to use but please always take great care with any garden chemical.
 


The children in the jar on my desk have been spared.... for now.

By the way, the yellow Apple Cucumbers I was puzzling over last week turn out to be a variety called Lemon! How 'bout that.  I think there will be lots of Australian gardeners puzzling over their Cucumbers this year our seed supplier tells me ours hasn't been the first report.  

Why are my Apple Cucumbers yellow?

I have been looking at the Cucumber Crystal Apple fruit growing at home and wondering when they would turn creamy white like the picture on the label... and they haven't.  I received a polite query from a customer today about yellow fruit and then discovered that Mark  has experienced the same with his plants.  It's beginning to sound like a theme.

My first concern in these situations is that we have labeled plants correctly, no problem there. I checked the seed packet we have used this season, no problem there. I did a Google search and hey presto, most Cucumber Crystal Apple images are quite yellow if not as lemony as the one above from our home garden.  Only 1 in 10 is creamy white like the image we have used on our label or the one below from a seed company. 


 I can't find any information on why some fruit will be yellow and others white. There is some discussion about fruit turning bright yellow once it is over ripe but nothing conclusive. My own experience has been that the fruit is perfectly tasty but it is a little confusing knowing when to harvest, there is no obvious indicator that says "Hey, pick me now!" One theory appears to be the fruit will be larger and whiter if it is protected from the sun. The plant is a rambly vine type that can be tied to a trellis nut we have just let it scramble around.

Relative to Continental (Long Green Burpless) and Lebanese Cues the Crystal Apple is a poor cousin but it has a very loyal following. My Grand Father, Dave loved his Apple Cucumbers. They are very flavoursome and especially gassy, I think he liked that. Crystal Apple is an heirloom variety first released in New Zealand in 1934 and it appears to be considered quite a novelty in the northern hemisphere.

If you know any more about Apple Cucumbers, please let me know.  

By the way I've had the regular summer question again: "why do my cucumbers (Pumpkins, Squash, Tomatoes, etc.) have lots of flowers but no fruit?"  Answer: No Bees. Almost certainly, pretty much every time. Try tapping the flowers to release some pollen, alternatively brush pollen from one flower to another.

Our Sleek New Baby

Her she is. Our shiny new Red Ferrari, sorry Mosa Seeder.  Fresh off the boat from Italy.  We plan to do all our direct seeding from this baby. Large & small seeds directly into punnets and small pots. I might have to get a decent tarp to put over her at night to keep the dust off.



This is Mark thanking Mike Walker for his work importing and setting up our new baby.  How's this, both these guys come from Southport Lancashire. It's like a Monty Python sketch they get going.  I'll report on how she runs (if you're interested) over the next few months as we make each other's acquaintance and find out if she's  Bianca or Katherine.

I'll also thank Mike and give him a well deserved plug

Argus Pacific - Forestry Equipment & Wholesale Nursery Supplies , Industrial Equipment Supplies

Anything from seeding machines to fertilizer injectors and Dry Ice Blasting units!!???  It does strike me that Lancastrians could sell ice to Eskimos (2 from 2).
Mike won our business because he made an extra effort and his service through the whole process has been terrific.  Thanks Mike. You can call Mike on 1800 731114