Costa Farm and Greenhouse
by webgarden ~ March 24th, 2008. Filed under: Business, Techy Stuff.I was surfing the web today and typed in Costa greenhouse to see how highly ranked in Google they are. To my suprise Costa Greenhouse is listed with a WARNING stating “this site may harm your computer”
and then, after clicking on the link, a second warning comes up, and takes up the whole page:
This is really BAD! First of all, this is a huge deterrent for your customers! Nobody wants to go to a site that could harm your computer! Secondly, if Google flags your site as being malicious – it is nearly impossible to get back into Google’s “good books” I really can’t believe that an international greenhouse & nursery doesn’t have a full time web developer taking care of this!
Then, after closer inspection of the site, I realized it is not THE Costa greenhouse in Florida – but Costa Farm & Greenhouse – a smaller and lesser known greenhouse and nursery. Good news for Costa Farms Florida! But I still think their web developer should be on top of closely associated names. Costa Farms should be actively developing new content to help them rank under both Costa Farms, Costa Greenhouses and Costa Nursery so that when a user is searching under any name, the correct Costa Farms comes up! Doing this will improve their google rankings, protect their reputation and help avoid confusion.
Do you think their web developer should be more on top of this? Why do you think he/she isn’t?
February 3rd, 2009 at 9:32 am
I have many orchids purchased over the years and produced by your company.
Many have recently developed a disease, like a white snow flake type fungus that also produces a sticky transparent residue on the leaves and surrounding area. It must be contageous as it has been spreading to my other orchids as well.
Can you please help me with this problem, I would like to save my plants.
Thank you,
Jaap van Hell
781-237-7178
June 30th, 2009 at 4:40 am
Sounds to me like you have either mealybugs or aphids – both of which are insects and are easily controlled with quick, timely action. The unfortunate side of having these pests is they can get into the tiny nooks and crannies of a plant, often avoiding contact with the pesticide. Repeat applications may be necessary in this case.
The sticky residue you noted is a by-product of both of these insects: honeydew. If you ever witness these insects outside on your native plants surrounding your home, you’ll notice the same sticky residue. Additionally, ants will often hang out with these insect pests forming a symbiolic relationship and helping to protect them. In turn, the ants feed off the honeydew! Quite interesting…
Anyway, something as simple as a hard jet of water will knock off these insects and give you some control. If you want to go the less toxic route, use a dilute solution (10%) of rubbing alcohol and water and spray the plants once a day. Do not leave them in the sun, as they will burn. The quickest (and much more toxic) method would be any pesticide you find in a home/garden store. They all supply the same stuff – and most of these pesticides are broad spectrum so they’ll kill a large range of plant pests.
Good luck with your orchids!