There's been a lot of buzz about banana skins keeping aphids away [Google it], might be worth a try. Threw in another cool link. Washing formulations change. We tried an experiment to kill some crabgrass in the driveway, way back, in the olden days, by throwing a bucket of leftover floor suds on it. Spic'n Span, in those days, turned out to be TSP [ tri sodium phosphate] in an orange box. LOL! Fertilizer ! Dish formulations are changing, most of them are too harsh on fine fabrics now, though i can still use palmolive green liquid. Using some in the oven, was a disaster, it wouldn't all come off, and it scorched, with a dangerous smell. I used years ago, in a spray bottle: ~2 Tbs oil [light, veggie], a small squirt of dishsoap to make it stick, & maybe a little alcohol or vinegar, some garlic or hot pepper... Some aromatics and herbs work as a repellent, so, he he, well, why not just use dirty dishwater? he he, It's a silly notion, that i like my plants too much, to ever try. There's always other stuff, that would make a gummy mess. Besides, it would hurt their feelings. :] Baby shampoo, sounds good. Do they even still sell soap? I couldn't find any anymore, at the S&S. Ivory Snow is now a detergent. Did they have to take it off the market, because there might be a bad cow in the tallow? Who knows. Murphy's Oil Soap is good on scale, and a lot of other pests. Cycle it , with the Safer's, 2 uses of one, then, 2 of the other, The Lemon oil-furniture oil, might have a bigger kick, than cooking oil, in soap / oil combos. Some bugs can't take lemon or pine scent. What about the cheap pine oil cleaners? The store brands have 18%. That might be hard on plants, but heck on bugs, if some one gets daring enough, don't use more than a teaspoon per gallon, and use it late in the day. Great thread. Here is a link that might be useful: Banana skins, aphids, and odd stuff

Dr Bronners Sal Suds Soap (or any other bronners liquid soap) and Neem Oil in a solution consisting of 2 tablespoons of each in a gallon of water is an excellent organic pest control. I use the following organic pest control solutions in order: 1. Manual control (squish em) 2. Diatomaceous earth - dust the plants with it 3. Dr Bronners Sal Suds 2 Tblspoons + Neem Oil 2 Tblspoons + 1 gallon water spray on plants. Diatomaceous earth is a mechanical control, diatoms are microscopic exoskeletons of ancient organisms. They act as little razor blades, cutting into the insects and causing them to dehydrate. The Dr. Bronners/Neem is a chemical control, organic, but chemical. I use this only after the first two methods have failed. To make it, use warm water and add 2 tbls sal suds soap and 2 tbls cold pressed neem oil and shake to mix. Spray on plants. if you want add some rosemary oil for spider mites, clove oil kills mite eggs, so add some of that if necessary. Here is a link that might be useful: Growing Your Greens This post was edited by humbll on Thu, Dec 4, 14 at 1:22

It's still early in the season here. Pruning, otherwise known as Me vs. The Garden is still progressing. Sort of. At this point, I've done all the 'easy' roses. The ones that go snip, snip, snip. What's left are things like Queen of the Prairies and Clair Matin, the ones that need saws to cut out old canes that should have been cut out years ago, except that I never bothered to get the saw out of the garage. The early roses have started blooming. R. hugonis, R. primula and Glory of Edsel. The lilacs are in full bloom, the doublefile viburnum is turning white, and the first of the tree peonies are opening. The early iris are fading, so it's time to anxiously await the opening of the first TBs. The bloom stalks are there, the flowers are starting to show color, but are at least a couple of days away. Having drastically redone irisdom a couple of years ago, I'm refusing to mess with the bed until it starts crowding. The result is a bigger and better show every year. This is the way it's supposed to work, but doesn't always. People are starting to drop hints about garden visits. That means it's time to start taking the quarry work seriously again. Most of the beds are dug to about a foot, then amended. Since we start with heavy, rocky soil, the result is quite good rose soil and a pile of rock. The exception has always been a relatively small area with bedrock near the surface. It started off garden life as an iris bed. The small, early iris species that were placed there didn't mind the almost total lack of soil. It was close enough to their native habitat. But over time, as the garden vision changed, it was thought desirable to have a deeper bed as a more normal extension of the rest of the garden. So the rock had to go. The rock is still going, and the excavated topsoil still sits on a tarp in the middle of a garden path. I refuse to even think about how many years this has been true. Last summer, I got the hole to a point where there is deep enough soil for most things. However, the hole produces about the best paving stone I've dug here. Paving stone has uses, and if I don't dig it out of that hole, I'll have to *horrors* BUY it.

Thanks, NHBabs. I've got a half gallon pump sprayer I can use. I'll try to get out there soon to spray a couple of the heavily aphidized and see how it goes. The detergent is a good idea -- I want to keep the bees, butterflies and birds happy and well. Steve, thanks so much for finding and posting that Booth cartoon. That expression is in my family lexicon for any high drama panic "emergency" theatrics. Stay cool everyone. Wonder if it will really rain this afternoon ;)