What to use for pest control in the garden?

I bought a relatively new product last year called "Diatect V". Its approved by the USDA National Organic Program and OMRI, the Organic Materials Review Institute. It can be used mixed with water or as a dust. It is a mix of organic grade pyrethrin (.5%) and diatomaceous earth (82.45%). I like to mix it with water and spray it because it eliminates the risks of handling and applying dusts. Mixing with water and spraying makes it simple to apply a small amount over a large area. It doesn't work on scale, but seems to be extremely effective on everything else. I bought it from Johnny's Seeds.

 

You could crunch marigolds and make a tea out of it, spray it around the garden, also try onion water. Made by cutting up some onion, and letting it soak in the water, it works great And no it doesnt affect the flavor .....

 

:haha: :haha: There are almost as many treatments as there are pests. What pests are you speaking of? Bugs, bandits, or what? I love "Gardens Alive" as these have remedies for almost any pest you can think of.

 

Gardens alive has great stuff, but their prices are crazy.

 

I love neem oil. It's safe enough to use around pets and little kids, and it will get rid of bugs like caterpillars or aphids. It basically causes them to become anorexic, and they die from starvation. It takes a couple days for them to die off, but it's worth it. I spray about every two weeks in the evening.

 

JJ,
Where do you buy the neem oil. Do you dilute it? What does the label say about spraying on the day of harvest?

Why do you spray so often? I spray once or twice at most each summer, depending on whether there is a problem.

I know oils work well on fungal diseases. Does neem oil have an active ingredient besides the oil?

A product I like to use on catepillars is BT. (Bacillus Thurengensis) I don't think I spelled it correctly. Its an naturally occuring organism that attacks the larval stages of beetles and moths. Some versions attack mosquito larvae. I just bought a container that is soluable and can be sprayed. You won't find products with BT at home dippy.

 

I buy neem oil at the nursery or a hardware store. I mix about two tablespoons to a gallon and use a garden sprayer to coat all the leaves of the plants. You can spray up until the day of harvest. The reason to spray so often is that it will keep pests under control. They have cycles (eggs, adults, eggs) and spraying every two weeks will catch any newly hatched buggies. Neem oil is the only active ingredient in the spray.

 

After several years of being organic I can hardly remember what my pests were.

I make sure my wasps and birds are happy to take care of caterpillars and spiders.
I use corn meal to keep fungal disease out. For some reason since I started using corn meal under my roses I no longer get aphids.
I use liquid seaweed to keep spider mites out of everything.
I use beneficial nematodes against fleas, grubs, ants, and thrips.
I use strong vinegar against weeds.
I use my lawn mower against weeds.
I use my watering regimen against weeds.
I use BtI against mosquitoes.
I use ammonium sulfate (very sparingly) against slugs and snails.

 

And I use Sevin!

I've been using it for over 40 years and it hasn't killed me, yet, nor do I have any diseases related to it. AMOF, I don't have ANY diseases. period!

Have a good summer.

 

by using biodegradable dish soap and a dish pan to wash your dishes in, you can water your plants with the water and kill many pests as well as giving your plants a little added boost.

My grandmother did this, as did my parents, and now I do.

 

...and it did about the same for my squash bugs. heh.

 

Check out www.dirtdoctor.com and you'll find all sorts of ideas on how to handle various insects, diseases and such. There's a lot of great suggestions here! Thanks! TXjudi :yeeha:

 

See "string bean" thread.....question.....how do you keep birds from eating your crop?

 

put a mesh net over the garden.

 

Hi for more informations about Neem oil and how to use Neem oil and for other eco friendly garden products visit http://www.greeneem.com

 

What is suprising is no one thought of mums thats a organic insecticide ,pyrethurm is made from that and you can interplant you marigolds and garlic

 

Organic pest control starts with PROPER PLANT SPACING plus companion planting of flowering plants that attract beneficial insects. For the vegetable garden I use lots of nasturtium and calendula.

also, a good stream of water to blast away bugs can be more effective than chemicals. An ivory soap solution can take care of pests like aphids and thrips if you need something stronger, add chewing tobacco. good luck!

 

I love one of the methods mentioned by Dchall, wasps and birds. The common wasp, which builds those honeycomb-like nests under your eaves, are one of the best friends that you can have. They are very welcome in my garden, especially among the brassica family. They will find every cabbage butterfly worm if you give them a chance. There was one time last year when I went through the broccoli very thoroughly and would guarantee that not a single worm was left. Then I watched a wasp inspecting one plant and I laughed as it was smelling a worm that was no longer there. Wrong. Suddenly it darted in and fell to the ground with a large cabbage worm in its grasp. I was impressed!

The feathered pesticides in my garden are house wrens and catbirds. Wrens have nested in the same house every year for almost 30 years. They handle the small pests quite good when there are 5 or 6 hungry mouths to feed. Catbirds take care of anything too big for the wrens to handle and are the only birds which I have seen tackle European earwigs.

Between the wasps and birds, I have very few pest problems other than rabbits and squirrels. .17 air rifle keeps them at bay!

Martin