Organic way to keep bugs off garden plants

I'll have to try the soap mixes. I hesitate to use BT, as it's not species specific. I don't like using things that kill unless they are either specific, or controlable. Yeah, I despise those cabbage loopers, but I like the monarchs, and question marks, and lots of other butterflies that are killed by the stuff. It may not harm mammals and birds, but it harms way too much other wildlife to suit me.

Meg

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All life requires death to support itself. The key is to have an abiding respect for the deaths that support you. --- Mark T. Sullivan

don't know if anyones mentioned this (haven't read the entire post). but neem works good for us.

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"Let the beauty we love, be what we do. There are hundreds of ways to kneel and kiss the ground." Rumi

That diaper thing gave me a good laugh!!! I might try a different version with some cat mess. I am soooo sick of flies in my house. My daddy was from Alabama and I know those country fixes work. :haha:

I heard at a farming conference that you can use coffee to get rid of slugs, dries them all out. Maybe just spray it on?

Best way to get rid of bugs in the garden is guineas They will eat all those little bugs including the nasty green tomato worm and all the ticks in your yard too. We are virtually tick free round here :haha: Good little birdies they are.

Be careful not to spray your tomatoes with tobacco, it will kill them. It is reccomended that you should wash your hands after you smoke before handling
tomatoe plants.

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I happen to feel that the degree of a person's intelligence is directly reflected by the number of conflicting attitudes she can bring to bear on the same topic. :haha:
Lisa Alther, Kinflicks, 1975

I use earthworm castings and putting them in a Mircle-gro waterer this mixes the castings into the water and when it dries out it leaves a dust on the leaves and stems and we didnt have any beetles biting on our plants>it doesnt hurt people or pets but it does fertilize and has been used as a pesticide in the California areas.We produce earthworm castings and have found that is a good thing to use but it doesnt even bother the worms that find the garden.

Boiled and stained rhubarb leaves. The leaves are poisonious.

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There are a couple of new products approved by the Organic gardening groups for use the same day as harvest. Unfortunately, I don't have the names handy, but will repost them soon. I bought them from Johnny's Seeds.

The first is a water soluable version of BT. This eliminates some of the difficulty handling and applying a dust and provides uniform coverage. Those who dust recognize how sometimes the volume applied is not very uniform.

The second product is a water soluable combination of Diatomaceous Earth and botanic grade pyrethrin. It has the same advantages as above. Pyrethrin is the oil from the Pyrethrin chrysanthemum. Pyrethrin combined with the synergist piperonyl butoxide is extremely common on the market place, but is not organic garden approved because of the piperonyl butoxide. (jury still out)

Another technique is to use row covers. These products let most of the light through, but if used properly prevent access by many bugs.

Keep in mind that using the terms, pesticide or chemical, is politically correct mumbo jumbo. Non-toxic is an oxymoron. Everything is made of chemicals. There are no tests to determine whether something is a pesticide. A pesticide is anything used to kill a bug. Anything SOLD as a pesticide must conform to EPA laws which require safety data etc. Home made remedies are still pesticides, even if they are made of seemingly harmless ingredients. Many home made concoctions are more toxic than commercially available products.

The advantage to using a commercial product versus a home made concoction is that the toxicity data is known, mixing percentages/application instructions are included and information about which insects are affected is on the label.

Most soaps have pesticidal qualities. There are insecticidal soaps available, but they are a bit pricy. The advantage to using them is the label instructions. I have heard of 1 tbs dish soapn per gallon for treating some insects.
Gary