Introduction

[H.R.]

Hi all,

I'm new and I wanted to introduce myself.  I live on the 2nd story of a condo complex; I have my garden set up on my 4x6ish balcony.  I've grown lemons, oranges, tomatoes, cucumbers, and corn.  I also have two apple trees (honeycrisp, red gravenstein), a pomegranate tree, a plum tree, an avocado tree, and a dragon fruit tree; these are still too young and have not begun producing fruit, but are growing fast!  (I also have a dwarf pink lady on order for bare root season.)

I also have a whole watering system set up which I can describe in detail later; e.g., it's not connected to a waterline and uses an automatic time.

I've learned most of what I know through a few years of experience.  Most recently, I've been learning with how to manage soldier fly larvae.  When I first saw them in my compost, I almost fell over because of how they looked and sounded --- they were like something straight out of a horror movie and the sound they made reminded me of turning oatmeal.  I actually first thought they were supersized weevils (from a pasta infestation) that I had thrown to the worms. They ended up driving out most of my earth worms from the compost.  That said, these guys have done a MUCH faster job than the earthworms ever could in creating usable compost.

Moving forward, I'd like to share my gardening experiences and ask some questions to help understand how to do a better job of it in the space that I have.

Thanks!
Hijinio
(e-hee-neo)

[Lauren Angelo]

Hi Hijinio,

Thanks for introducing yourself!  You will find a few other converts to black soldier flies on this list, and many of us went through (and/or are going through) the same experience of disgust turned to admiration for how effective they are, even compared to worms.  

I would love to hear more about your watering system.  It's inspirational to me that you do as much as you do on a condo balcony!

Lauren

[H.R.]

Hi Lauren,

Those larvae are interesting creatures. I thought they had died... no
movement. Then in the past week, and on two separate days, there was
a mass exodus! They bolted out of the compost bin holes and flooded
my deck. Then, poof! They disappeared the next day. I have no idea
where they went because there was nothing left behind except for 2-3
dead soldier flies --- did they hatch and then eat the larvae skin...
or did something come in and eat them during the night???

The water system is a fairly straightforward solution that uses some
common 1st world and 3rd world solutions. I essentially use a 32
gallon trash can for a water tank. I've attached a water timer that
would normally go on an outdoor water faucet. From there, I have a
water line with drippers that go into the plants. The 3rd world
solution is that it works using gravity, similar to how buckets are
hung above gardening plots to provide irrigation; that is, the water
tank sits at a level *above* the rest of the plants and gets the
needed pressure to send the water through the line. I collect the
water needed for the tank from the shower when runs to warm up in the
morning.

Hijinio