Day 40 - Mealy bugs on the Vendakka

 I have bhindi on my mind.  For many reasons.  There is a private joke I share with my bhindi-loving friend Sagarika, for one.

More recently, last night I tried roasting/ air frying some vendakkas in a new gadget I have acquired, tossing it with some spiced besan flour and the results were "interesting", shall we say.

And now today morning I see mealy bugs on the few vendakka plants I have growing in a pot.  They grow despite my care, not because of it, let me assure you.

The gorgeous flower - Abelmoschus esculentus  - with that beautiful incandescence in the middle against a velvety crimson/purple at the base.    I believe "esculentus" means good for human consumption. My husband agrees.

The five lobed leaves are large, and the lobes emerge as the leaves mature, I noticed.  Do you spy the one fruit?

And see those mealy bugs now, sucking the plant sap near the bud.

This stem is mealy bug paradise. The sap suckers are at work, sucking the life out of that tender shoot.

I will note if the ants that "farm" them and feed on the "honeydew" they produce come, over the next few days.  At the moment they are absent. I do see the gnat-like male bugs - they have wings, and their sole job is to mate and die.  No feeding or anything.  What a joyless life, from my human perception.

What I Do need is some ladybugs to come and feed on them.  No such luck as of now.

Oh and one last thing - guess which country has the Bhindi as national vegetable??

Ans:  PAKISTAN.  How delicious!!

Every time I eat bhindi I am being antinational - how thrilling!