completely. Now hers are doing fantastic and spreading. By next year, you'll be smiling at them.

yourself. Also peppermint essential oil is good. Mix with water in a spray bottle and mist your plants. I spray my plants, walls, doors outside to keep bugs and frogs and lizards away because i don't want them falling on me or getting inside house.

they will disappear .. :)

waterings also quit feeding it lavender is a lean plant I have plants that I started 4 years ago and have only been fed 4 times in all that time and they are thriving even a the green house we do not feed our seedlings also lavender from seedlings is VERY slow not just slow after you get them established you can take cuttings to propagate them much faster (reletivly it IS lavender)

attracts sooty mould that turns the leaves black and the plants can't photosynthesize so once they take control, they can do quite a bit of damage. They are most active in warm, humid conditions so won't be a problem all throughout the year but it's good to have organic strategies to use from your toolbox when needed.

My philosophy is to work WITH nature, so here are some options for you to consider:

1. White flies do best where the soil is deficient in phosphorous or magnesium. I don't know if you've had a soil test done,but you could probably guess this is part of the problem. Mineral deficiencies can be easily corrected over time by adding the minerals to the soil. Part of my regular maintenance regime is to add 1 tblpsn of Epsom salts (magnesium sulphate) – which is cheap and easily available from the chemist, produce store or supermarket – to 9L bucket or watering can. Water in monthly. You can also add dolomite (calcium & magnesium), rock phosphate (these are the rock minerals I refer to in the above post which provides a balance of soil minerals) or wood ash (if you have a fireplace) to the soil. i.e. tip the scales in your favour by altering the environment so they won't want to live there!

2. Spray with a certified organic oil based product like Eco-Oil that will suffocate them. Check after 2-3 days and spray again if needed. It's useful to have a product like this in your arsenal.

3. Try growing LOTS of nasturtiums under the plants being affected. (See http://themicrogardener.com/20-reasons-to-gr...)

4. Grow pest-repellent plants in your garden to use in homemade sprays or as companion plants to protect against white flies. Penny Woodward has an excellent book (on my bookshelf) called 'Pest-Repellent Plants' which is worth borrowing from the library. She lists many plants including lavender, basils, calendula, onions, pyrethrum, rosemary,thyme, tomatoes, derris, feverfew, quassia, rhubarb and wormwood that are effective against white fly when used in a variety of ways. I won't list them all here but you may want to pick up some ideas from her helpful book.

5. You can also try making your own yellow sticky traps as a last resort as these also attract beneficial insects. The idea is the flying insects are attracted to the colour and get stuck there. Sticky boards are made from lightweight plywood painted yellow or you can use cardboard (cover in yellow contact or paint to make it weatherproof). Use 6 cm x 15 cm or 30 cm x 30 cm as a size guide depending on the area you have to cover. Spread with glue or spray oil to form a sticky surface. Attach with a paper clip and hang or secure to a stake. Replace traps weekly or when full.Traps should be positioned 60 – 70 cm above the plants to be effective if hanging. Yellow sticky traps can be used for white flies, winged aphids and leaf mining flies too. (See http://www.asktheexterminator.com/Pest%20Con... photo). Hope this helps!

grass clippings and not enough browns to balance it); not enough air or too wet. As Sia says, making compost is fairly straight forward but it's a bit like baking a cake - you need a balance of moist green fresh ingredients (which contain nitrogen - like your food scraps, grass clippings and manure) and brown dry ingredients (which contain carbon) - about 2 parts brown (such as dead leaves, dry grass clippings, hay etc) to 1 part green. You also need to get air into the mix so the right kind of microorganisms can go to work and it doesn't become anaerobic and smell and sufficient moisture for them to go to work and break it down. You can do this by adding both coarse and fine materials, watering them in as you go and turning regularly to aerate. Always finish with a brown carbon layer (this stops rodents and flies etc tucking into your food scraps) too! Hope this helps.