Terpguy, I'm grinning about the Dr. Bronners. In the 70s, when all the back-to-the-landers first got going, anything "natural" was way in, and nothing was more way in than Dr. Bronners peppermint soap. We used it full strength for showers - poured on rough loofahs, of course. :) Washed dishes with it, cleaned floors and windows and cars - it was ubiquitous. I feel more grounded w/ a small bottle in the cabinet at all times and have never minded the strong aroma - probably still influenced by the mindset of the time. When the eucalyptus and almond Dr. Bronners came out - well, the stratosphere was a better place. That said, a commercial grower offers this recipe for a homemade insecticidal soap: For a gallon of water - 1/2 to 1 cup alcohol 1 tbsp cooking oil - Canola being preferred 1 tbsp Dawn dishwashing soap One question - what are people's thoughts about 1600 X-clude? It's also recommended by one of the commercial growers. The label says active ingredients are Pyrethrins; Piperonyl Butoxide, Technical (equivalent to 1.76% [butylcarbityl] [6-Propylpiperonyl] ether and 0.44% of related compounds); and N-Octyl Bicycloheptene Dicarboximide. All these are under 3%. It's swell to use - in the garage (if it's gotten too cold outside), outside w/ no wind and in late afternoon (no direct sun), or in the greenhouse, put a lot of plants together, stand a couple of feet away, and spray with a few sweeps back and forth. Repeat in a week. Supposedly, it's okay to use in the house, except for fish and birds, but I won't do it w/ our 3 cats and 2 dogs. The can has those warnings about if it's swallowed, if in the eyes, if on skin or clothing, and if inhaled. Nope. The label says it kills just about everything that attacks indoor/outdoor plants and ornamental trees, including ants and gnats, plus kills cockroaches, spiders, flies, crickets, silverfish, fire-brats(???), and moths. There are several pdfs available online that give complete label info, but I don't know how to link to them here. This last summer, my plants stayed inside. The 2 summers before, they got sprayed w/ the 1600 X-clude twice before coming in, plus a couple of times during the summer. This year is the first time I've had problems w/ pests. Dunno if it's cause and effect. Spider mites got going before I even knew it - barely beyond newbie grower. Since then, I've used lots of Safers or equivalent and have wiped a lot of leaves w/ alcohol. Another factor may be that I used to wash leaves w/ my fingers under running water whenever plants were flushed, and I've cut way back on that for several reasons - too many orchids being one. Bottom line is so far, I've been reactive, rather than pro-active. Good topic, Kevin, esp. because orchids have to be inside in the Northland. Whitecat8 Here is a link that might be useful: 1600 X-clude

You're not going to be able to totally get rid of your bugs until you've had several hard freezes outside. The ones that are outside are going to get back in. The best you can hope for now is to keep the levels down. The fogger machine works because the bugs can't get away from it. When you coat the tops and bottoms of the leaves at the same time and all the surfaces on the bugs get coated with something that either penetrates their bodies or smothers them, it's just not good news for them. Of course you have to keep at it every few days because ones that are in egg stages still hatch and have to be killed too. No--I didn't get the cheapest fogger they had because I needed higher volume to fill my larger greenhouses. I didn't see what size your greenhouses are. Maybe a smaller one would work. Another plus is that you don't have to be in there at all while you fog, always good when working with chemicals. Your most infested plants, you should get them out of the greenhouse. If destroying them is not an option, cut them back, and pull all the leaves off of them and give them a dormant oil spray like for a fruit tree and then put them back. You need a good coverage with any spray, but especially a dormant oil spray. It works by smothering pests and eggs and it will damage soft stemmed plants, but it sounds like they're damaged anyway. It's a last resort option. Rotate your sprays, different brands of sprays work the same way. For example some attack the nervous system. If you use a spray that attacks the nervous system 3-4 times in a row, even if it's a different brand, then it'll quit working as the bugs adapt. I put a link on there for you to a chart, the chart starts on page 3 of the link. What I did was to print out the chart and then take it to my bug killers and look at the chemicals on the bug killers, then when you find what class they're in, write the class on it with a big magic marker number on the front. Then you rotate your sprays according to action and class. Use a calendar to schedule and rotate your sprays. Write down what you used, what strength you mixed it and what date. Insecticidal soap is a good one to use in between sprays if you can't remember what you used last time because it's not one they can get used to at all, but good coverage is the whole key, so therefore the fogger really helps. I've been doing this for a living now for 3-4 years and I had terrible trouble with bugs the first couple of years until I got the fogger and got my spray rotations happening. Yes, it will cause the humidity to go up, but you can always heat and vent it back out. Just don't water too much either. It sounds like you also have problems with high humidity, overcrowding and possibly overwatering. Good luck, and if you need any support, you can e-mail me, too. Here is a link that might be useful: insecticides modes of action

Well, the carnage has continued, although there is not much left to chew on. I've been checking every night, sometimes twice a night. I've found out that sow bugs are much more active around dusk and early night...but still no evidence that they are doing the damage, I haven't found any more up on a plant. And I'm slowly but surely depopulating them from my garden boxes. This evil being finally got to the squash and the best plant now has a skeleton of 8 stems with little diomond shaped tufts of leftover leaves at the end of each stem. But I have not seen anything on the plants and I've been checking for 6 nights now. The damage seems to be done after I look and since many times I've looked at 2-3am I'm beginning to think it's happening in the morning when I've asleep. That leads me to suspect a bird. But a bird can't climb out on the stems of a squash plant, and they won't support it (unless it's a tiny bird). And the squash leaves were 5-8 inches above the ground, not to mention the bean leaves as much as 12-18 inches up. So a tiny bird couldn't get to the squash leaves unless it can hover and eat at the same time...is this possible? Are there nocturnal humming birds that like squash leaves?? I'm trying two more tricks...cayenne pepper powder on the remaining leaves, and some rat traps baited with pumpkin seeds. I just read that birds aren't bothered by the cayenne unless it gets up in the air as a dust. So what can I sprinkle on leaves that would repel a bird? Apparently the aptly named methyl anthranilate is unpalatable to birds and can be sprayed on plants. Has anyone tried this?

Geckos can make your life a living hell. I learned that the hard way. I remember lying in bed watching a couple of them mating on the ceiling one evening, this was shortly after I bought my house; and thinking they were so cute. I inadvertently encouraged them because I have automated outside lighting and this attracts a lot of insects. Fast forward 15 years. Now I kill them whenever I see one. Please allow me to debunk some gecko myths and give you the benefits of my experience with them. Geckos are beneficial: Not necessarily. We have an infestation of a type of gecko that originates in India, so they are not indigenous and they compete with our beautiful little skinks, who are. I see about 500 geckos for every skink. And the skinks are losing the battle... Geckos can be relocated, just take them outside: I found a three legged gecko in my bathroom one day. Not wanting to harm it, I carried it to the bottom of my garden (2500 square meter property). A day or so later, guess what? There was a three legged gecko in my bathroom again. Geckos are territorial. Geckos are harmless: They may well be, but their poop is not. Google and see for yourself. Geckos have "communal toilets", if they decide your kitchen counter is going to be "the spot", they will keep coming back until you kill them. I have seen a gecko come in from outside, poop, and then go back outside! They usually do it from a height (cornice) and depending on the size and consistency of the turd, it can splatter quite a bit on impact (read kitchen counter, dish rack, bedside table, windowsill etc). Bear in mind our variety can grow to 4 inches or more (excluding tail) and output will be in proportion to input. Not convinced? Read on.... I have been unable to keep the geckos out of my ceiling void. My ceilings are encrusted with gecko poop. From time to time I have to go up there with a paint scraper, vacuum cleaner and a bucket. It's impossible to get to it all, and I'm not talking about a few hundred turds, there are thousands of them! My house is surrounded by huge trees. Broken and cracked roof tiles are the norm. Consequently there are leaks from time to time. When one of those "communal toilet" areas gets wet, the poop starts to ferment. As I write this, I'm breathing in the stench of fermenting gecko poop. It permeates the whole house - all the time! Did I mention the climate here? 40 degrees (C) in the shade on some days, and after the rain, up to 60% humidity inside. Still getting those warm sqooshy sentimental feelings when you think geckos? Have you ever woken up in the night because of a disgusting smell? That's right, a gecko above your head pooped on your pillow and you just rolled your face in it! Have you ever reached for your freshly made cup of coffee only to have to pour it down the sink because as you were reaching for it, there was a little plop? Yes, you look up and a gecko has just crapped in your coffee cup! Have you ever been reading in bed, all freshly bathed and ready for sleep, only to have to go and wash your hair because a gecko on the ceiling let go a nice big wet one? I'm safe, I live on the 12th floor: Don't kid yourself. Remember that box of stuff auntie gave you, the one she's been storing in the attic, the one with the gecko eggs it? As long as there's food for them, they'll stay. And they're not afraid of heights. Oh, and they travel by car too! My carport is infested, nothing I can do about that. They poop all over the cars. The poop is corrosive enough to eat the galvanising off metal. I've been driving along the freeway only to have one pop up from under the bonnet. If you find a straight stretch of freeway and get your speed up to about 140, it might just blow away. But don't count on it. Don't make the mistake of leaving a car window open when you get home either. Sooner or later, a gecko will find it's way into the car interior. It will then do two things. It will poop all over the interior, and if it can't get out, it will die. Then it will stink. A lot! If it dies in an inaccessible place like the innards of the dash, or one of the air vents, you will be stuck with the smell for the duration of the decomposition process. If it's in an air vent, running the aircon may reactivated the decomposition process from time to time thanks to condensation that may form. And believe it or not, I could go on! Even after all this time I still don't like killing them. But small geckos become big geckos. And few become many. And dead geckos don't poop!