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XP: "organic" insect spray?
XP from Gardening:
Hi everyone?
I?m a lurker here and had a quick question. I?ve got a beetle eating my veggie garden (LOVING my pepper plants and sage plants)?it?s not a Japanese beetle b/c I?ve seen them. Anyway, I went to my local garden center and they sold me this ?organic insecticide? that is made up of mostly canola oil and this stuff called pyrethrins?the woman said it was organic and safe to use on veggies. So I was about to use it yesterday when I decided to look it up first and in my Google reading it doesn?t sound organic to me for some reason?sure pyrethrins are made somehow from chrysanthemums but when the label on the bottle tells me to keep away from water sources it just has me a little nervous?does anyone actually know anything about pyrethrins? Is it really ?organic? or just ?natural? and would you use this stuff on your veggies?
Any other beetle stoppers out there? We have the beetle bags for the Japanese beetles but these are smaller and narrower?brown to black with a skinny white pin stripe and some orangey-red color on them.
Re: XP: "organic" insect spray?
It's hard to tell what bug you're talking about without seeing it, try this Pest and Disease Detective. There are lots of bugs that fit that description.
I would not use that spray, or any spray, on my veggies. Don't resort to pesticides. Pesticides are designed to kill any living creature they touch, they're not magically somehow only killing the beetle. You run the serious risk of poisoning your pets, and yourself. Plus, that pesticide is also going to kill any beneficial insects that might be keeping your beetle population down.
Knock the beetles off the plant into a cup of soapy water. Check all the leaves, especially the undersides, for their eggs and clip all affected leaves off. Try planting some companion flowers. Marigolds are especially good. Here's a great article on Natural Insect Control.
I would try something else (first). I have read about companion planting and tried to do it but I think if you're already infested it is probably too late to start shoving plants in the ground.
My eggplants were being eaten by slug/weird bugs and I tried a mix of Dr Bronners and water and they mean it when they provide the dilutions...I put like 1/4 DrB and 3/4 water and killed my plants
Doing this during the heat of the day probably didn't help. D'oh!
You could try these- IF you use the Dr. B's I strongly suggest following the recommended dilution!
Grind 3 large onions, 1 bunch of garlic and 3 hot peppers. Mix with water and leave overnight in a covered container. In the morning, strain through fine strainer or cheesecloth and add sufficient water to produce approximately one gallon (16 cups) of pesticide.Soak 10-15 diced garlic cloves in a pint (2 cups) of mineral oil for 24 hours. Strain and add to a spray bottle.
Annie B. Bond, Care2 Green Living Executive Producer, offers a recipe for all-natural insecticidal soap spray, which uses 1-2 tablespoons of a natural liquid soap such as Dr. Bronner?s Pure-Castile soap in a quart (4 cups) of water. Once this solution is mixed, it can be added to a spray bottle.
Source:
http://organicgardens.suite101.com/article.cfm/natural_garden_pest_control#ixzz0t6PQrd00
I was fooled by pyrethins too, and my cat almost died for it. Natural does not mean safe!
If you don't mind me asking how did that happen? Simply by touching areas that had been sprayed? My dad recently got some of that but they have a cat!