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Seek advice for organic pest control

rochesterroseman

15 years ago

Another rose season is upon me, and I still don't have an effective way to control rose midge, thrips, and other rose pests. The midge are especially distubing since they eat the buds before they can even develop. I have tried insecticide soap, but it has no effect on midge, and partial effect on other insects, and it usually burns the leaves on my roses, so I regret everytime I use it. It's not a great solution.

Any ideas for me? Thank you.

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Comments (3)

henryinct
15 years ago
I am quite certain that there is no organic control for midge. The good part is that you can control midge without spraying and indeed spraying will not control midge anyway. I have always controlled midge by putting down insect and grub killer. This is a granular product sold to protect lawns. It has a minimal effect on the environment as far as I know and two or three applications a year is enough and you may need only one. I'm as anti-chemical as anyone but it is either this or no roses.
rochesterroseman
Original Author
15 years ago
Thanks Henry, I just saw your postings about this on some other threads, and I will be buying some soon! how much should I use per rose bush? I hope it's not too late to start using this for this year. Also, will it help with any other insect pests?
Jeffrey
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hi sharon, thats great to hear your organic efforts are going well. organic gardening isnt new at all in fact it really is the old way of gardening before companies started making all those fancy synthetic treatments and fertilisers available. Your leaf eating worms sound like caterpillars, or loopers, and the black bugs eating the new tips are most likely aphids. If there are only a few caterpillars you can just pick them off. aphids can also be knocked off with a jet spray from the hose (just cradle the area in your other hand while you do so the plant doesnt flail about). mzounubi, you may get different pests where you are but I find with citrus its the aphids, scale and the fruit fly that are just attracted to them like a magnet. to control the scale and aphids you can use an organic pest oil which will suffocate them and with my citrus I do sometimes resort to this because they can be such a problem with citrus trees, to protect mine from fruit fly I use calico bags and once the fruit starts forming I bag the clusters of fruit and it has worked 100% for me at keeping the fruit fly out. For 100 fruiting trees though, it could be a lot of work unless youre really dedicated but there are also fruit fly lures and traps available to hang in trees as an alternative. trance
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Try making traps for the cucumber beetles. Another person on this site posted a recipe of red dye #28 and clove oil. You mix the two together and place it in metal or glass containers around your garden (pure clove oil will melt plastic). The females are attracted to the clove oil but upon ingesting it the red dye somehow kills them within a few mins. I was skeptical as my garden was seriously infested but after only one day of setting a few traps I could only find a few beetles. The red dye is kinda hard to find and it has to be #28. I was able to find mine online. I ordered those dental disclosing tablets which contain red dye #28. Mix a few of those with a few tablespoons of clove oil and you should see results. Also, a trick with the squash vine borer I read was to slit the vine where the damage is and remove the bug. Then cover the damaged part of the vine with dirt. While I still lost a few plants with this method it did save the vast majority that were infested. And you have the satisfaction of killing the stupid things! I have not yet found a good solution with the squash bugs. I'm going to try DE and see if that works. I tried hand picking but with 200-250 squash, pumpkin, and gourd plants I just can't keep up. Sorry to be long-winded but I'm also a newbie and am currently having these exact same problems in my garden:)
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henryinct
15 years ago
Jeffrey, The ground needs to warm up before the midge flies can emerge. If you do the math to determine when they must have emerged for midge damage (by the grubs which have to have hatched from the eggs) to appear in late May, I would guess it has to be by the first of May around here. I put the granules down in early April to give it time for rain to water it in. I would think that in Rochester you should be putting it down no later than now. You need to put it down everywhere the midge grubs might be. Don't forget that the wind can carry them so they might be away from the rose. I put it everywhere even on the paths. Henry

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