You've reinforced a vital truth: while the heading lists complex methods like Neem oil and chili-garlic sprays, their use in a small, well-managed rooftop garden is utterly non-sense.
We must assure the reader: Do not get panicky. The cost and complexity of intervention are far greater than the risk.
1. The Weed Reality: Simple Satisfaction
Weeds are a non-issue due to the foundation we've built:
• Miniscule Problem: The nature of our Coco Peat-based potting mix ensures weeds are miniscule compared to traditional field soil.
• The Best Tool: If any sporadic weed appears, removing it by hand is great fun and satisfaction—a simple, minute-long activity that requires zero chemical intervention.
2. The Pest and Disease Reality: The 70% Rule
The fear of infestation is disproportionate to the actual risk for the home gardener:
• Natural Balance: The 70 percent rule applies here. By and large, home gardens are not unnecessarily infested by wild outbreaks or heavy damage.
• Cost vs. Loss: All preventive and curative measures—the way they are designed and provided—are far more complex and expensive than the actual loss you are going to suffer from a small infestation. The science required to truly master these is massive, running into at least 1000 pages. Knowing it all is not worth it.
3. The Intervention SOP: Patience and Removal
Forget about becoming a plant scientist. Embrace your current role (good teacher, doctor, engineer, etc.) and let simplicity guide you.
• Initial Observation (Patience): My advice is to have patience. Nature also has miraculous ways to balance things and do the needful—often even without external interference.
• Worst-Case Action: At the worst level, any severely infested crop or plant would need to be removed. This is a small loss, but grants great mental satisfaction in swiftly containing the problem.
Conclusion: Trust the integrity of your simple system and the power of nature's balance. Your expertise comes from intuitive observation and decisive, minimal action, not from mastering complex organic recipes. Stick to non-intervention and simple removal.
