If the post was current, I'd say: #1 suggestion would be to stop using any household cleaner (dishsoap) as a way to clean leaves or in an insecticidal capacity. See something I wrote about it below. BTW, disregard any argument that goes something like "I've been doing it for years and have noticed no adverse effects ......". The fact is, it destroys cuticular wax, and if it gets to the roots, root lipid membranes. So, it prevents or limits roots from taking up water/nutrients, and destroys the mechanism by which plants limit water loss from their foliage and protect against insects and entry of pathogens. If you need a product to clean leaves or to use as an insecticide, insecticidal soaps are made from long chain fatty acids, formulated to be safe for most plants, though there are a few plants sensitive even to insecticidal soaps. A mix of 70% isopropyl/rubbing alcohol and water at 1:1 or 2:1 (2 water: 1 alcohol) if all you need for mites. Spritz the plant thoroughly at 4 day intervals, making sure you coat the entire surface of the plant, including inferior leaf surfaces and and leaf axils where they tend ti hide in the dark. A change in watering habits or a change in your grow medium are usually all you need to be rid of gnats. Unless your pot is 5" deep or less, avoid the advice to water when the top inch or two of the soil is dry. It's a recipe for over-watering and the very idea is enough to make a gnat's eyes spin in anticipation of the orgiastic frenzy induced by media the surface of which provides a never ending supply of wet/rotting organic matter. This should be helpful, as would be changing to a highly aerated medium, the surface of which dries quickly, and using a "tell" to "tell" you when it's time to water. Detergents Dishsoap/ detergent’s effect on plants varies with the mode of exposure. Dawn, Palmolive, Joy, ...... dishsoap, as an example, are each and all a mishmash of chemicals, at least eleven of which are phytotoxic. If the top of the plant is sprayed thoroughly with even mild detergent solutions such that all surfaces including leaves are covered, the detergent can easily dissolve the protective coating of cuticular wax on the leaves of the plant, causing abnormally high rates of water loss and possible necrosis of all or part of the leaf. Cuticular waxes prevent leaves from drying out, and help stop pathogens from attacking the leaf. Strong solutions will even dissolve cell membranes, causing death of the cells. If a detergent solution is used as a soil drench or makes its way into the soil as a consequence of over-spray or run-off, the effect on roots is immediate. Because one of the main function of roots is to absorb water and nutrients dissolved in water, they lack the waxy protective coating that leaves employ. Detergent solution in contact with root cells can quickly dissolve the lipid membrane surrounding cells, killing the cells and inhibiting water/ nutrient uptake. Hair cells growing as appendages off larger roots do the lion’s share of assimilating water and nutrients, and these very delicate cells would be the first casualty of any detergent in the root zone. There are widely available insecticidal soaps, designed to be used topically and made mixing potassium with only long chain fatty acids, carefully selected and specifically formulated to be safe for mammals & birds, death on most insects they contact, and most important, safe for plants. If you need something "soapy", it would be much better if you selected a product intended for use on plants than one intended for other purposes. Using a 'tell' Over-watering saps vitality and is one of the most common plant assassins, so learning to avoid it is worth the small effort. Plants make and store their own energy source – photosynthate - (sugar/glucose). Functioning roots need energy to drive their metabolic processes, and in order to get it, they use oxygen to burn (oxidize) their food. From this, we can see that terrestrial plants need plenty of air (oxygen) in the soil to drive root function. Many off-the-shelf soils hold too much water and not enough air to support the kind of root health most growers would like to see; and, a healthy root system is a prerequisite to a healthy plant. Watering in small sips leads to avoid over-watering leads to a residual build-up of dissolved solids (salts) in the soil from tapwater and fertilizer solutions, which limits a plant's ability to absorb water – so watering in sips simply moves us to the other horn of a dilemma. It creates another problem that requires resolution. Better, would be to simply adopt a soil that drains well enough to allow watering to beyond the saturation point, so we're flushing the soil of accumulating dissolved solids whenever we water; this, w/o the plant being forced to pay a tax in the form of reduced vitality, due to prolong periods of soil saturation. Sometimes, though, that's not a course we can immediately steer, which makes controlling how often we water a very important factor. In many cases, we can judge whether or not a planting needs watering by hefting the pot. This is especially true if the pot is made from light material, like plastic, but doesn't work (as) well when the pot is made from heavier material, like clay, or when the size/weight of the pot precludes grabbing it with one hand to judge its weight and gauge the need for water. Fingers stuck an inch or two into the soil work ok for shallow pots, but not for deep pots. Deep pots might have 3 or more inches of soil that feels totally dry, while the lower several inches of the soil is 100% saturated. Obviously, the lack of oxygen in the root zone situation can wreak havoc with root health and cause the loss of a very notable measure of your plant's potential. Inexpensive watering meters don't even measure moisture levels, they measure electrical conductivity. Clean the tip and insert it into a cup of distilled water and witness the fact it reads 'DRY'. One of the most reliable methods of checking a planting's need for water is using a 'tell'. You can use a bamboo skewer in a pinch, but a wooden dowel rod of about 5/16” (75-85mm) would work better. They usually come 48” (120cm) long and can usually be cut in half and serve as a pair. Sharpen all 4 ends in a pencil sharpener and slightly blunt the tip so it's about the diameter of the head on a straight pin. Push the wooden tell deep into the soil. Don't worry, it won't harm the root system. If the plant is quite root-bound, you might need to try several places until you find one where you can push it all the way to the pot's bottom. Leave it a few seconds, then withdraw it and inspect the tip for moisture. For most plantings, withhold water until the tell comes out dry or nearly so. If you see signs of wilting, adjust the interval between waterings so drought stress isn't a recurring issue. What I use for grow media: Al

Hi, I'm new here and had a question about neem use. I have used it in the house on mature plants- it takes a while, but seems to work. I've heard about peppermint tea too- that is said to wipe them out pretty quickly. I have some in my small greenhouse- not many, but I don't want them to get out of control. I have seedlings in there too. So, my question is, can I use neem on seedlings? Should they be bottom watered with the solution? Is it safe to spray it directly on them. I use it now on my benches, but I really want it to go into the soil after the little bastards living in the soil (pardon my french!) Hope you can help! Tessa (aka dirtdigr) Visit me at... Here is a link that might be useful: Blunders with shoots, blossoms 'n roots

Hi Shelly, Congratulations on your success. My family thought I was totally bonkers last year when I proudly pointed out my sprouts to everyone who would listen. I never felt this way about my tomato seedlings. Yes the mix makes all the difference. I used Pro-Mix and Melanie Mason's method with great success. Here is a link to her article. There are several other good DL articles posted by gracegardens.com which you may have already seen. My snowdrops are ready to bloom today but of course the temperature will be a lot colder this weekend. I think we hit 65 here yesterday...I was almost ready to run outside and clean up the garden but I restrained myself. You must have a lot of property to plant all those seedlings. I cannot wait to see pictures of them. http://www.gracegardens.com/gghspun.htm Jean Here is a link that might be useful: Homespun Hybridizing

"Nor is there any evidence to support tolerance or resistance build-up with fungicides as there is with pesticides." This is not true. Not only is there abundant evidence that fungi develop resistance to fungicides, one of the recommendations is to alternate fungicides with different mechanisms of actions to reduce the likelihood of fungicide resistance. Daconil has a lower risk of inducing resistance than some fungicides since it has multi-site activity, but the risk is not zero. See the article linked to here discussing botrytis resistance to daconil. http://www.springerlink.com/content/q3043555764x438q/ And Bayer's fact sheet discusses this problem. http://www.bayercropscience.com.au/resources/uploads/label/file7420.pdf As noted, if you use the same fungicide repeatedly, the risk of resistance increases due to selection of those organisms that naturally have resistance to the fungicide. There is a wealth of literature written on fungicide resistance. The more we use the same fungicides (and anti-biotics and pesticides, too), the more we select out for the resistant organisms. We have seen this phenomena happen time and time and time again in human medicine. The same is true when fungicides are used in plants. So far, daconil has shown low rates of resistance, but as the article on the Chinese greenhouses shows, low rates are not zero. And in time, the repeated use of the same fungicides will select out for the resistant organisms as has happened so often in the past. That is why it is recommended to use multiple agents with different mechanisms of action. See link below if you would like to know more. Here is a link that might be useful: Fungicide Resistance