Thanks everyone! Now I'm wondering exactly what I used last year. Probably any old thing in my cabinet. Oh well, I'm still here so I clearly didn't poision myself. STacey ******************************** Not true. This is why people die from cancer years later. If the soap solution is too strong it can damage or kill the plant. therefore it might be a good idea to first test your solution on a branch or two for awhile before spraying all your plants. Some plants are much more sensitive then other plants. You are suppose to use dish soap and not detergent. good suitable dish soap is not easy to find. My garden has lady bugs and no aphids to be found. If I find aphids I will note the place and then upon finding a ladybug will move it to the aphids.

Sorry, I have not used any oil based spray's lately cause I have a west facing balcony in central TX and it gets HOT! But until I burned some plants by spraying neem oil in the late afternoon (which is the hottest time of the day on my balcony) I think I used 1 tblsp per gallon. Here's a recipe I found on the web RECIPE: homemade Horticultural Oil spray:KEEP OUT OF REACH OF CHILDREN! 1 tablespoon vegetable cooking oil (corn, soybean, peanut or sunflower) per gallon of water. To increase efficiency, add 1 teaspoon of NON-DEGREASING liquid dishwashing detergent per gallon of water (addition of soap increases the risk of plant injury) Hope that helps.

Hi cuped..., That is the coolest mix I have heard of in my 50 something years. neem oil is great. It is a vegetable oil and used as a medicinal by itself. By itself it is just a repellent. It can be placed into pesticides and that changes the effects. It is highly useful by itself in a mix of 32 oz. of water with two small cupfulls of the neem and a teaspoon of Ivory liquid. I have had nothing but good luck with this and the organic gardener/garden nursery here in the area swears by it as i do also. I have checked many websites and it is said to be non-toxic to animals, people, bees etc. My bees thrive and so do my lady bugs. Thanks for the tip, Happy growing, Rosa

thanks for the reply dan! i had read on another website that someone used a homemade insecticide soap against leaf miners which is why i was planning on trying it. i have read some of the many threads on leaf miners, but nothing too promising has been revealed. is there anything you, or anyone else here, has had success with against leaf miners? the most useful advice seems to be to pick off the infested leaves, but that's pretty much going to mean all of my tiny chard plants... any ideas if i can still pick off nearly all the leaves and the plants will still produce new leaves? this is my first year gardening, so any advice is much appreciated! i know that for harvesting the chard you can pick off some stalks and new ones grow, it's just that my largest plant is only a few inches tall at this point, so i'm worried about the resilience of such small plants. and any reason why i shouldn't use murphy's or other soaps on plants/leaves that i plan on eating? thank you!