Organic insect control.

[wildeyed]

I think I am going to give this garlic spray a go. My bean and cuke sprouts keep getting et :cry:

http://www.recipezaar.com/68652

[Gormy Cuss]

1. Add some cayenne.

That helps with certain garden pests.
Go lightly with the spraying though because garlic acts against some beneficial insects too.

I plant it at the base of my fruit trees to discourage borers and it seems to help.

http://www.howtopedia.org/en/How_to_Use_Garlic_as_a_Natural_Pesticide

[crispini]

2. See, Cayenne totally screwed up my sprayer, so I sprinkle it on now.

You must have some kind of super sprayer?

Also, you can buy a sprayable hot pepper wax at most organic nurseries.

[wildeyed]

3. If you used dried hot peppers and soaked them in the oil overnight

with the garlic, would that work?

[crispini]

4. Now THAT is a good idea!

Might have to try it! Just strain carefully, you don't want to have to go buy a new sprayer like I did.

[Gormy Cuss]

5. When you say "sprayer" what do you mean?

The hand bottles sold for misting plants do clog, but cleaning it out after each use works for me. My Rodale gardening book recommends making up only as much as you need for each application and I think clogging is one of the reasons, because when I tried hold the solution for a week or so the spray nozzle clogged and I ended up tossing it.

I don't use the large sprayer for these home remedies because it would be expensive to replace that one.


on edit: the nozzle jet needs to have a fairly large opening. Some brands don't have that.

[crispini]

11. My 1 gallon hand pump sprayer.

It wasn't too spendy to replace but I certainly don't want to replace it all the time, haha.

[hippywife]

6. Maybe a little companion planting?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_companion_plants

[wildeyed]

8. I have inter-planted marigold and nasturtiums already.

I get confused about what to plant next to what. I rotate tomatoes, peppers, basil and eggplant together because I understand they attract nematodes if plant them in the same spot two years in a row. But other than that, I can never remember what likes what :shrug: Guess I need to spend some time with my gardening book.

[hippywife]

10. I think the link I posted should

give you the info you are looking for. If you click on it, you'll get a pretty good chart. It does get a little confusing at times trying to figure out where to put things. :hi:

[LiberalEsto]

13. Try white icicle radishes

Last year I planted them around the squash, along with nasturtiums. They really helped keep the bugs away.

[madeline_con]

17. Marigolds supposedly keep nematodes off tomatoes.

All I ever got was weird little mites with netting on the marigolds. the tomatoes do better without them. I'm in central FL.

[HillWilliam]

14. I planted mirabilis (four o'clocks) last year

and will do it again this year because of the success I had. Not only did it keep the japanese beetles and the other nasties off my veggies, they smelled SO GOOD! in the evenings. They're irresistable to many insects and absolutely lethal. Along with neem and volck, that's all I did last year; not a drop of chemistry. Had the best, least-molested crops ever. Every year beforehand, I did battle with beetles of every sort (I'm in north central NC), all of which got more garden than I did.

This year I'm adding milky spore (available at Lowe's) and that's about it. Otherwise, I'm staying away from the chemistry and sticking to what worked last year.

Try www.buglogical.com for ladybugs, lacewings, and other predators. I've had good luck with them. Their shipments always arrived alive, in good shape, and went right to work. When I moved to the country, I found I already had plenty of ladybugs and mantises, so I haven't ordered any in the last couple of years. But Buglogical are pretty good folks to deal with if you need predators right away.

[Alameda]

22. Great link, thanks!

[ThomWV]

7. I've heard of this old method, but I don't know if it works or not

Capture a bunch of the offending bugs. Put them in some water and then run them through a blender. Then spray the resultant juice. The notion is that some of the bugs you capture will be diseased because if you catch enough some of them always are, and by grinding that bad boy up and spreading him (or her) all around you spread whatever it is that makes the bug sick - and hopefully die.

Like I said, I dunno ...

Sounds like a lot of luck and a nasty job all rolled into one to me, but I just thought I'd pass it on.

[wildeyed]

9. I will save that for a last resort.

:o I can see how that would work. Think about it. If you were eating something, and you came back one day and found mangled body parts of your friends and neighbors all over it, you would probably stay away, too.

I am not entirely sure what is eating the plants. I don't see anything on the leaves. Do sow bugs eat plants? I seem to have large numbers of those. They did not seem happy about the soapy water I poured on the sprouts today, either.

[underpants]

12. rub bacon on a string to keep away rabbits

not really what you were asking but I hear that it works. Just be careful not to trip over the string yourself :-)

[badgerpup]

15. The Jerry Baker compendium works quite well too...

I use a variation of his bug spray- tobacco tea, antiseptic mouthwash, and either Ivory or Dove dishwashing soap as a surfactant. The recipe calls for having Fels Naptha soap (grated, boiled down and emuslified with the Dove/Ivory), but it clogs my sprayer.

Works a treat on hoppers, earwigs, aphids, webworms, and things that eat my peony and clematis leaves :grr:

I use Red Man tobacco (leaf, not 'snoose') for making the tea...but be aware that it will ferment if you leave it in a closed jar...and the stuff is HIGHLY TOXIC.

[BelgianMadCow]

16. insect cover

thin fabric with a fine mesh you can grow the plants under - keeps the moisture and temp up, allows rain through, keep out flies and other insects (eg carror, leek).

You can leave it lying on the plants in principle BUT I have found cats lurve to play with it in that setup - so I make tunnels with the stuff. Also easier to not damage your starting plants like that.

I had a hard time finding it inexpensive - then I ran some old see-through drapes (don't know righ word :-/) and pinned them together. Works perfect :D

[Kolesar]

18. Do you bury the edges of the row covers in soil to keep them secured in the wind?

Is it necessary to close up the row covers tightly to keep the insects from finding "any" opening? Is it akin to closing all the tent zippers because you know the mosquitos are plotting to find their way in, or is it fine to just drape the row cover over the plants?

For the last few years, I have used row covers to keep the tomato plants warm in May. This year I want to use row covers to keep out the cabbage moths and cucumber beetles.

[BelgianMadCow]

19. I didn't, put bricks every 4 feet on both sides & at start and end

I've read digging it in is fine as well - but I want to be able to remove it & weed as needed.

I do think it has to be closed completely - actually, when pinning one drape to the next, I rolled the seam up a couple of times and used a lot of pins, otherwise it starts gaping at the seam between the pins.

And, finally found that you will keep out ALL flies and moths using a mesh of 1.35 mm x 1.35 mm or finer. That is like the mesh you have on insect windows for your house (hope you know what I mean), I thought it had to be a lot finer. Am gonna look into the cost of that, since it's more rugged and will probably last a lot longer than drapes.

What kind of cover have you been using?

[Kolesar]

20. I have been using spun row cover so that I can produce early tomatoes

I use election sign wire frames to form hoops. A 6 foot x 25 foot row cover covers the row well.

I have not used row covers for insect defense yet. This month I bought a 6 foot x 50 foot row cover from www.gardeners.com . It is the "summer weight" product and it specifies 85% light transmission. It is a bit thinner than the product I bought at the local garden center a few years ago. I want high transmission because the garden gets shaded starting at 4 P.M. BTW, the thicker one has held up well!

Thanks for the advice. There's a bumblebee trapped in the row cover right now.

[dgibby]

21. I think the word you're looking for is "sheers".