The Ladies have arrived

Last year when I thought growing Vendaikkai/Ladies finger is such easy task I was in for a surprise. When the plants were right about ready to fruit, there was mealy bug infestation. And we did not have a clue what they were or how to control them. We had one or two harvests but then forced to take down the plants that time. 

This year we were a bit equipped and experienced how to prevent/control the white bugs and so this Aadi month we sowed the Vendaikkai seeds for this year in containers.The containers were kept in sight always monitored very carefully. Mealy bugs are usually present in the underside of the leaves. So you can predict how tedious this monitoring task could be. Hence we did not sow very big and had just 4-5 plants. This is kind of a trial run for us to check how experienced are we in controlling the mealy bug attack. 

After three months,looks like we passed. There was NIL attack by the bugs(Touchwood) and the plants were healthy and happy and started producing good quality fruits. Here is a round up..

Sowed on : Last week of July

First harvest on : Third week of September - to get good healthy plants we had plucked out the first few flower buds.

Just Hatched :D

First true leaves

A good drench of rain giving them a boost

Almost 2' now

Buds forming

Impressive

:)

After this success, we have planted some more plants (around 10) in the ground and they are progressing slowly. Now fingers crossed!