Nematodes and my insecticidal soap concoction
playinmud
16 years ago
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hostamanfred
16 years agolast modified: 9 years agosassy7142
16 years agolast modified: 9 years agoRelated Discussions
Non-detergent soaps for homemade insecticide
Comments (14)To be honest, I have used whatever kind of liquid dish washing soap/detergent I have on hand. We try to get Ivory dish soap just because hubby is allergic to a lot of other brands, but couldn't find it last time and the cheap stuff from Aldi works just fine. Have always had this solution work on killing bugs, and have never damaged my plants with it at the killing-bugs dilution rate. (If you double the amount of dish soap it does hurt plants, can be used to kill small weeds.) I go with about 1 Tablespoon of dish soap per quart of water in a spray bottle. I also have Murphy's Oil Soap but didn't know that I could use that, besides it is kind of pricey. I used to use this spray on some kind of worms that attacked the pine trees at my previous home almost every year, and on ants and aphids. At my current house I have used them on ants, cucumber beetles, and Mexican bean beetles/bugs in the garden. It works, and you can just spray/soak the area afterwards to get most of the soap out. No aphid problems here since I have so many lady bugs. I also don't see how a $1 bottle of dish soap that makes gazillions of quarts of bug spray (and can also be used for dish soap) doesn't blow away ANY prepared commercial product economically. Yes, I imagine you could hurt some plants if you were careless, but all you have to do is wash the plant off afterward with water anyway, so what is the big deal? I even rescue the worms I find in that area and wash them off with water, too. Marcia...See MoreUt oh! IndoorPharm Insecticidal Soap Used Outdoors
Comments (5)Kubotabx2200, you're right! :) It is a pleasant smelling concoction. According to the label, it was developed with scent in mind for indoor use. However, it also mentioned applying at dusk to keep it out of sunlight and give it more drying time, but maybe that applies to indoor spraying as well. In any case, i just checked on the plants, and they don't seem to have suffered any REAL harm. I'll clip off the sagging roses just because they look so sad. It's hard to tell if those aphids that remain on the underside of the leaves are dead or not. They look dead, but are they just trying to trick me so i'll give them another bubble bath? :)...See MoreNematodes...First Timer... :-(
Comments (17)Oh, Karen, I got a knot in my stomach when I saw your pics. I'm all too familar with what nematode damage looks like. I'm sorry. That Gold Standard has a real bad case of them. Maybe GS is a fave of nematodes cause they really hit one of mine hard too. Today I spent hours in my gardens. For the first time I have hope since I first spotted an infected leaf this yr. (which was over a month ago) Last weekend I started spraying the ZeroTol using a 2% solution instead of the weaker solution that was recommended by the manufactor. I finally noticed a difference today in the decrease of plants that show damage! Should of used the 2% solution from the very start. Today I took my Gold Standard that was riddled with nematodes and decided to experiment with Bruce's "bleach water soak" and see what happens. I also put a couple August Moons in bleach too. Right now they're soaking in it and tomorrow morning I'll plant them somewhere "downstream" from any of my other hostas. I dug a nearly mature Gold Standard up, divided it into many plants, cut off the leaves to about 2-3" from the crown and put them in a 10% bleach water solution. Then of course I poured scalding water in and all around the hole. Just for the heck of it I poured 50% bleach water in and around the hole too. Soon I'll post pics of this years hosta hospital. Janice, You mentioned INTEGRITY....What's that? Sad isn't it? Greed replaced integrity a long time ago. I've always enjoyed sharing my hostas with friends and family...and now I feel that I can't, and that bothers me. Karen, one good thing....Gold Standards and Blue Cadets are cheap, vigorous and are rapid increasers so you may want to just pitch them and start over. If you decide to treat them using the ZeroTol fungicide, I found a cheaper place to buy it. I ordered another 2.5 gal and I saved about $40. No charge for hazard material shipping either. I think it was $114.00 plus $14.17 for shipping. The company is E H Griffith..... I plan to stick with the ZeroTol this year since that's what I started with last month. PS...Your front cottage garden is lovely....See MoreNematodes?
Comments (33)Aw, that time of year again. Nematode time. Don't ya just hate 'em? Well, I think I've tried more of the commercial and homemade solutions than anyone and here's my conclusion, the pros & cons. HEAT TREATMENT: Pros...works 100%, it's a cheap treatment. Cons...it stunts the plant for years, it's time consuming, carrying boiling water to the dug hole is dangerous and back breaking. 10-15% BLEACH SOAK (overnight) Pros...Works 100%, it's a cheap treatment. Cons...dangerous working with bleach, and again carrying boiling water to the dug hole is dangerous and back breaking. ZEROTOL Pros...none noted Cons...Expensive, illegal to buy now, need to wear head to toe protective clothing while applying. DR DONNER SOAP & MOUTHWASH SOLUTION Pros...Smells nice, (used only once). Cons...more expensive than some of my other experiments. Only used once and saw no change. MERIT GRANULARS Pros...Easy to apply, effective, moderately priced Cons...None. NEEM OIL & DISHSOAP Pros...Easy to apply, very effective, Moderately priced. Highly concentrated. Cons...can burn the leaves. smells bad. PLANTS LEFT IN BLACK BAG & HOT BLACK CAR FOR OVER 2 WEEKS Pros...80% of plants nem free the following yr. Cons...none REMOVING AFFECTED LEAVES Pros...prettier plant Cons...fear of touching and spreading nems to other hostas. I have plants that I have been treating for several yrs and show NO signs of nem damage now. I also have plants that show damage this yr for the 1st time that are in a bed that have never had nems before. I again treated today with the Neem Oil and dishsoap....See Moreplayinmud
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14 years agolast modified: 9 years agoJanice
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14 years agolast modified: 9 years agoJanice
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