mgpaquin According to this site, the tomato yellow leaf curl virus does not survive in soil. I'd do some more research to make sure that's what all the research says. I also found the site linked below that describes an odiferous "invention" to repel whiteflies using fermented eggshells and eggwhites as the ingredients. It sounds pretty smelly, if you know what rotten eggs smell like! Here's the process described in the link. I don't know if it could be reproduced by home gardeners or not, since the information given appears to comprise some sort of formula that someone wants to take commercial. I'm also not sure if you're supposed to spray the plants with the resulting smelly mess or water the soil with it. The author says the plants themselves begin to smell of sulfur and thereby whiteflies are repelled, so I concluded the soil around the plants should be watered with it. Yet, in another place the author mentions "placing" it on leaf surfaces. If the plants smell like sulfur, I suppose any fruit would taste like sulfur, and nobody wants tomatoes to taste like that, but who knows? Maybe one tomato plant in a container could be sacrificed as a test! ===== There are many parts of an egg including the albumen or egg white. Typically, the albumen accounts for about sixty-seven percent of an egg's weight. The albumen contains more than half of the egg's total protein, minerals and vitamins. The albumen contains protein, niacin, riboflavin, chlorine, magnesium, potassium, sodium and sulfur. The pest repellant is produced by fermenting eggshells with a portion of the albumen attached thereto. Fermentation is the chemical process that breaks down organic materials. The process is carried out by bacteria, molds and yeasts that are present in the air. It is believed that the fermentation process liberates sulfur from sulfates and sulfides present in the amino acids of the eggshells and albumen. A chemical analysis of chicken eggs was undertaken and the following results were yielded. One-hundred grams of fresh chicken eggs contains approximately 70.83 g of water, 12.14 g of protein and 11.15 g of lipids. Minerals present in the eggs were as follows: 56 mg of C, 2.09 mg of Fe, 12 mg of Mg, 180 mg of P, 130 mg of K, 138 mg of Na and 1.44 mg of Zn. Vitamins included in the fresh eggs were as follows 0.087 mg of Thiamin, 0.301 mg of Riboflavin, 0.062 mg of Niacin, 0.120 mg of B6, 1.547 mg of B12 and 520 IU of A. The chicken eggs also included amino acids in the approximate quantities: 0.820 g of Lysine, 0.392 g of Methionine, 0.289 g of Cystine, 0.596 g of Threonine, 0.759 g of Isoleucine and 0.686 g of Phenylalanine. Methionine and Cystine both include sulfur. Methionine is represented by the following structural formula. ##STR2## Cystine is represented by the following structural formula. ##STR3## Since the eggshells and albumen contain amino acids that comprise sulfur, sulfur dioxide is created during the fermentation process. Sulfur dioxide is a colorless gas with a distinctive odor. The sulfur dioxide contributes to repelling the pests as it is placed on the leaf surfaces of the plant. The plants also absorb the sulfur present in the mixture of eggshells and albumen and give off a sulfur smell that repels pests. Another important element in the pest repellent is sulfide. Sulfide is a chemical compound that contains sulfur and another element. All sulfides contain the sulfide ion, a single sulfur atom with an electrical charge of -2. Sulfide ions are present in some proteins which make up living things. Since eggs are high in proteins, sulfide is present in them. During the manufacturing process of the pest repellent sulfur from the sulfide is liberated by the fermentation process. The best contemplated process for producing the pest repellant, involves collecting eggshells with part of the albumen attached thereto. The eggshells are placed into a metal or plastic container with warm or hot water. Over a period of time, the water coupled with bacteria and other fermenting agents dissolve the eggshells and cause them to decompose and liquefy. The mixture of water, eggshells and albumen are allowed to ferment for a period of time. Typically, the mixture ferments for at least twelve days. Heat may be introduced into the curing time to increase the fermentation process and cause chemical bonds to be broken thereby more quickly liberating sulfur. Likewise, the mixture may be stirred occasionally to increase the fermentation process. Typically, the mixture is tested using a hydrogen sulfide test kit to determine whether it is ready to be applied to plants. The mixture is ready for use as a pest repellant when the hydrogen sulfide is present in at least an amount of 0.424 mg/I. The mixture is then strained to remove visible or non-liquid particles. Silt sized particles may remain in the mixture due to the calcium in the shells. Typically, the calcium carbonate of the egg shells does not breakdown entirely leaving silt sized particles which may be filtered from the mixture. In the preferred embodiment, the silt sized particles are left in the mixture and are applied at the base of the plant adding nutritional value to the mixture. The preferable ratios of chemical compounds in the mixture are 250 ml of H2 O to 24.3 g of CaCO3 to 1.060-5 g of H2 S. The following is the structural formula for the pest repellant. ##STR4## The following are examples of the effectiveness of the pest repellant mixture. EXAMPLE 1 A mixture of hydrogen sulfide and calcium suspended in water, as mentioned above, was applied to a poinsettia plant. The poinsettia plant was placed near a gardenia bush that was infested with white flies. The poinsettia plant was monitored and visually inspected bi-weekly for approximately five months during warm weather. Visual inspections of the poinsettia plant revealed no white flies, larvae or white fly eggs present on the leaves of the poinsettia plant. The plant remained healthy and productive with blossoms and leaves of deep color. EXAMPLE 2 A gardenia bush that was infested with white flies operated as a control. White flies were visibly present on the leave surface of the gardenia bush. A second gardenia bush was placed within approximately a foot of the control. The second gardenia bush was treated twice a month with a mixture containing 0.424 mg/l of H2 S as mentioned above. Visual inspections of the gardenia bushes were conducted over a four-month period of time. While the control remained infested with white flies, no white flies were present during the visual inspections on the second gardenia bush. Further, neither larvae nor white fly eggs were found on the underside surface of the leaf. The second gardenia bush remained healthy and did not become infested with the white flies. It is to be understood that the invention is not limited to the exact construction illustrated and described above, but that various changes and modifications may be made without departing from the spirit and the scope of the invention as defined in the following claims. Here is a link that might be useful: Patent application

In regards to Louisiana_botanist and anyone else interested in the effectiveness of Mosquito Barrier... I purchased two bottles of this to help combat the army of mosquitos that we had just in our backyard. The first application I added a little more of the product than needed but we had severe mosquitos. The product claims to also repel fleas and ticks which is a plus since we have two dogs. I applied the stuff with a sprayer following instructions and sprayed entire yard and some of the tree near our patio. Once you apply it, your yard will smell like garlic for an hour or two so be sure to spray it in a way so you don't step on the grass that was just sprayed (I sprayed it walking backwards) so I didn't track the smell in the house. The next night we went to see how well it did, surprisingly enough it worked well. Instead of getting bit 8 times while constantly moving around for 2-3 minutes, I didn't get bit at all for 5 minutes while even standing still but I did see at least one mosqutio while out. It lasts for a good while so long as there isn't a heavy rain or you water the lawn more than once a week. General application would typically last 2-3 weeks for me due to needing to water at least twice a week and/or rain. The "barrier" tends to be breached by a few mosquitos as each day passes until they increase in numbers where you notice them again and need to spray a second application. Since I used to live in New Orleans I know how bad mosquitos can be there but I would say you will definately see a difference after using this. The cause of my mosquito problem was due to a neighbor with a water fountain in the backyard that had lots of standing water. Now that they have let it just dry out, I have 1/10 the mosquitos I had before and haven't needed to spray anything in over a month.

I used to use Boric Acid, but don't anymore. I now use Insectigone for Ants, a diotomaceous earth product. Being non-toxic, it can be used around wildlife, pets, children, plants, etc. Three weeks ago, before the continous rainfall we've had since then here in the east, we noticed 3 nests close to our home, one of them but 2 feet from the foundation right in the middle of of a perennial flower bed. We applied the DE in all areas and in 3 days there was no activity in any of the nests and there was a lot of dead ants. I would highly recommend this product. It is not an 'instant' killer, but it really does the job for us. We have a log home and ants are always a concern. Every spring we use the DE around the foundation of our home, and then reapply in the mid-summer. Last summer we had a serious problem in our pump room in the basement, but we got rid of it in about 4 days with the DE and there's been no signs of it since. Hubby had run out of DE when applying it and a corner had been left without treatment. In this area we actually used it both inside and out. Here is a link that might be useful: Diatomacious Earth.

Don't worry too much about the ants. As you say, outdoors they are everywhere, and indoors you may also meet them often, especially in holes at the bottom of pots kept in greenhouses. I think that you should give your seeds more time to germinate. Last year it took some of my mint varieties three to four months to sprout, others sprouted within two weeks. Another thing is that many mints love wet feet, but I'm afraid that this is not true for the seeds because moulds may spoil the seeds. Storage, age and growing conditions of the seeds may also be important. Were they kept cool before sowing? Do they need a cold period for germination? Is it not too hot in your place? Seed of some (hybrid) mints including peppermint is often inferior to mint grown from cuttings, but there are also species that do perfectly well when grown from seed. Do you have experience with growing native Australian mints? Have a nice mint-growing season! Janus