By Victoria Torley

 

Right now, my Stanhopea wardii is in bloom, and the fragrance used to fill the entire space. But it doesn't today. What could overcome the perfume of such a lovely flower?


Right now, my greenhouse smells, reeks, stinks of stale beer.


You guessed it, I have slugs. I only noticed them this morning as I was spraying the orchid roots, and I knew exactly what to do. I grab a couple of cans of Pilsen and start setting out trays of stale beer. Not sure why they like it stale, but that’s okay because I really don’t feel like carrying a salt shaker out there.


Slugs can play havoc with a lot of plants, but they have a special affinity for Cattleya orchid leaves, so it's better to be safe than sorry.


While we are on the subject of pests, what about wasps?


I trucked on down to the orchard, where I was attacked by wasps who decided to mutiny when I tried to collect the bounty (Mutiny? Bounty? Got it?) because they didn’t like the idea of my collecting anything out of a tree they had selected as home. It may have been cowardly, but I ran.

When I finally stopped running,  I couldn’t run like I used to. I realized I needed to go back and do what I had intended; I needed to check the fruit. When we talk about our orchard, we aren’t kidding. There are 35 or so fruit trees down there, and we are hoping for our first real harvest.

For quite a while, we fed the fruit trees by spreading fertilizer on the surface of the ground starting at the drip line. That was great for the weeds but not so much for the production of fruit.

This year, I fertilized the trees the hard way. Starting at the drip line with a giant hole punch,  a serious aerator. Dig down into the soil about 3 or 4 inches, then drop a tablespoon of fertilizer into the hole and cover it up.

Now the food is down near the roots of the tree, but past the roots of the weeds. Circle the tree with the aerator. First circuit, 15 holes. Second circuit, out from the first, 24 holes. How big the tree is will tell you how far out you have to go, how many circuits you have to make, and how many holes you have to punch in the ground.

I think I would rather be chased by wasps. Can you say, “exhausted?”

Plant of the week. Stanhopea wardii is easy to find in Costa Rica as a medium-sized, hot to warm growing epiphyte occurring on trees and on rocks in humid cloud forests.

It can fill an entire house with its pleasing scent. This species blooms 3 to 10 flowers long, a crowded inflorescence arising on a mature pseudobulb, and lasts from 2-4 days, carrying jasmine, candy, and scented flowers. They must be kept in a wire basket or mounted on a plaque as the inflorescence hangs pendant from below the plant.

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Find more interesting stories about gardening in Costa Rica on the AM Costa Rica Garden Magazine. Questions on this article, Ms. Torley, gardener columnist, can be reached by emailing victoriatorley1@gmail.com
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