Organic Garden Pest Control

[Guest guest]

Howdy y'all,

 

Four-lined bug, eh? I wonder what that is. Maybe make a pepper spray or

> soap spray for it? They might deter the bugs and not hurt the plants.

>

 

That might work .. there are many ways to deter garden pests without using

chemical poisons that we would not want to feed to our family.

 

Soap sprays can fend off some insect critters but some others will laugh at

it. A tablespoon of Ivory liquid in 2 gallons of water is a good start ,,

gotta avoid the nice smelling soaps and go for those that have no added

fragrance. Chopping and then boiling garlic and onion and peppers .. then

straining it through a cheese cloth .. and adding it to a water spray often

helps. Last year I boiled a lot of dried Oregano leaves and used it like

this .. it worked for some critters but not for others.

 

This four-lined bug .. not sure what it is but if its eating produce then

its not friendly .. and there are many colorful pests (and friendlies) in

any garden. We had some very beautiful 3-4-5 colored insects chowing down

on our produce last year and though I expect to see fewer this year .. they

will come around. I say there will be fewer because we planted a lotta

plants that are supposed to attract friendly critters that feed on the

unfriendly critters.

 

There might come a time that you'll have to use a pesticide .. NOT a

chemical pesticide because it is harmful to humans .. but all pesticides are

not harmful to humans. There are a number of biological and microbial

pesticides out now .. I used one last year and I can't tell you the name now

cause its out in my barn and its raining cats and dogs .. but it is one that

the EPA has said is not harmful to humans .. and use of this product does

not violate Certified Organic status (which is mostly hawg warsh in the

first place). The instructions say we can eat the plant its sprayed on

within a few hours. The way it works is .. it gives the bad critter an

upset stomach .. it stops eating .. and it dies. The 3 down sides are:

(1) You gotta spray it on the top and bottom of the leaves and that is not

easy .. (2) It takes like 24 hours for it to work .. (3) If it rains you

gotta put it on again as it will not adhere to the plant. When you have

sprayed it on the top and bottom of the leaves you will understand what a

tough job that was so rain is not something you will look forward to.

 

The up sides are .. it is not harmful to humans or to most beneficial bugs

because they usually don't feed on plants anyway .. they feed on the bad

bugs.

 

If anybody is interested I will give them the name of this product .. when

the rain stops. ;-) Meantime, I betcha that your local farm store or

garden shop or whatever can give you advice on this and probably other

biological/bacterial products that are tough on bad bugs but not harmful

to humans.

 

(Clipped)

 

 

> Tina Sams

> _The Essential Herbal Magazine_ (http://www.essentialherbal.com/)

> _Download Mar/Apr '08_ (http://tinyurl.com/dhpph5)

>

 

Y'all have a good one .. and keep smiling. :-)

 

Butch ... http://www.AV-AT.com <http://www.av-at.com/>

 

PS: One thing we should not try to save money on is our garden sprayer.

Last year I wasted money on two from Walmart .. I thought I was upgrading

when I got the second one but it was just a tad better than the first ..

then I spent around $50 for a super nice one from a farm store. An

adjustable METAL nozzle is the best .. and for safety reasons the device

that holds the air pump plunger in place needs to be sturdy.