When I see one such bark scrached tree in Chandigarh,it pains me the most. If you want to kill a plant or a tree,tell its medicinal value,rest of the job will be done by the people. See the accompanying picture of the Arjan tree. Someone talked about it on a channel,mentioning that the plant is good for heart,and some people scrapped the bark. Did someone tell you that what you are eating is sheer poison? The tree bark has been removed mercilessely. See the colour of the bark and the exposed area. It is deep black and shows the kind of pollutants it has been loaded with. The tree is standing by the side of the road and is loaded with pollutants. The medicinal value of the tree is only when it is in the wilderness,in hills or in virgin lands. Beware of this aspect lest you should be rendered paralytic after consuming it. There are some insects on our mango tree that have appeared in large numbers. As we walk down under the tree,they fall on the head. These insects also enter our house. What are these and how can these be controlled? Amrit Pal,Mohali These insects are the mango hoppers and they are in their adult stage at this time. These can be controlled by spraying sevin. Dissolve two grams of sevin to a litre of water. Repeat after 10 to 15 days. Spray at noon as the insects come down at that time. My grapevine leaves are being eaten very fast. The green part of the leaf is eaten and what remains is the leaf skeleton. What is this due to? How can we control this? Renu,Chandigarh The insect in question is chaffer beetle and it appears during evening hours. It is thus advised to spray sevin as explained above. Can I sow ladyfingers now? What should be the distance between plant to plant? Mankinder Singh,Chandigarh Yes,you can sow ladyfingers now. But make sure you sow barsati bhindi because that is resistant to virus. The row to row distance should be kept at 45 cm and the plant to plant distance should be 15 cm. Can I plant caladiums now? Where can I get seeds? Gurnam Singh,Chandigarh Yes,it is never too late. The caladiums are available as rhizomes in any nursery or ready plants. (For gardening queries ASK DR GREEN at satishnarula@yahoo.co.in)
