Alternate the neem with spinosad (capt jacks deadbug or monterey)…still considered organic as it doesn’t affect beneficial bugs as it does the plant killers and a lot better than pyrethrins.
Personally, I alternate with neem and essential oils reserving spinosad for outbreaks though I am mostly an indoor grower with 9 month winters
I think I am going to have to try and pick the brains of you organic growers, after doing some more reading of course, so my questions only sound mildly stupid lol… I would like to find more organic ways for pest control, as I know I will be facing Rose Chafers, June bugs/larvae, Stink bugs, and the ever present ants…
Hope it’s not getting too warm for you yet, and duck them bullets… I only have to worry about dodging bullets during hunting season. Stay safe
So, gale force winds last night. My straw mulch is all over the yard and probably the neighbors. It did a number on my tomato plants. All the seedlings survived miraculously. Little tough mofos! I can’t really try to stake the tomatos or mess with them right now either as I have a doctors appt and a client following. I’ll have to really assess damage when I get back home this afternoon. Ugh!
Soap wort … soak flowers leaves stem roots in boiled water 20 minutes. Cool. Strain and bottle. Use to clean garden surface area, add to plant water or spray plants in veg. Bugs ingest it and die. More saponin than soap nuts.
Rosemary and Sesame oil at 0.05%, peppermint oil at 0.04%, thyme and cinnamon oil at 0.03%, garlic oil at 0.02% and an emulsifier such as castille soap, aloe vera gel etc.
Its easiest to put all the oils into a 10ml bottle counting drops as the above %'s then add equal amount of the emulsifier…shake it all real well ~2-3 minutes then let it sit for a couple hours to make sure it doesn’t separate then when ready to mix up with water you’ll use 1-2 drops per 8oz water.
If you want it to last longer then you’ll want to add vegetable glycerin at 20% soooo 32 oz water x 20% = 6.4oz. Take the 6.4oz vegetable glycerin and add 4-6 drops of the oil mix then add this to 1 quart (32oz) water…stir/shake well and let sit for an hour to ensure it doesn’t separate. If it does, shake/mix more
OR
If your on a budget and don’t have access to these oils then just go to the garden store or home depot and pick up any essential oil bug mix like Zero Tolerance by Ed Rosenthal, Essential Defense, Dr Earth Final Stop etc
Have you tried an Insecticidal soap yet @Meesh? Safer soap is one iv used before seems to do a number on soft body insects really fast might do a number in the hard shells also maybe google it find out .
I’d say try trapping them first by laying down wet cardboard or something similar they like to congregate under such item then give them a surprise attack!
I did an extensive Google search last night @Tinytuttle traps or ugly old chemicals like malathion works on them. The only safer one is spinosad. I’m gonna try that
Completely forgot that I won the Highrish promo. Thought I won Lemon haze seeds, but alas I won some Fem seeds! Holy Punch an Indica dom hybrid. It has 5 stars on a few websites. Anyway, imagine my re-surprise when the mail arrived today. Super cool! Got a t-shirt, some stickers and some fancy rolling papers with the mini filter things on there. The fem seed gods of the universe have smiled down on me
One step forward one step back. Pincher bugs scissored a few leaves on the babies. They still seem to be hanging in there, but I am so frustrated. Tonight I’m trying Spinosad. Been to windy to spray again. I don’t want bug spray landing on me. I put the whole flat on top of my metal chair back there. Hoping it helps, but the wind is blowing again pretty good and I’m worried they are all gonna get thrown off. The bugs also ate more of my jaguar marigold sprouts. I am just at a loss here. I also bought some Sevin powder. A bit more hardcore, but I’m running out of options and heart everyday when something new is destroyed.
So the good shit got an entire cotyledon munched yesterday, but it’s still alive. Really hope it makes it! I moved the whole flat of babies yesterday to fool these stupid bugs. Don’t see any new munches on them today thankfully.
FWIW I just heard a mention that Spinosad combusts into a neurotoxin & that’s why it’s ok for veggies but banned by CA’s herb czars(was wondering why, myself). If i use it this year it’ll be minimally…last year used it pretty thoroughly.
Hmmmm there is no mention of spinosad in any of those links however there is spiroxamine…the 2 are related though spiroxamine is chemical based and up there with pyrethrins in my book whereas spinosad is made from bacteria spinosyn A and D…completely different. I suspect the powers that be are trying to make BTI the go to as I haven’t seen it in any of the stores until this year.
Time to do a bit of research for personal clarification
I did notice that (absent on the CA list) but I also noted it was hear-say from youtube. Agreed further info is needed & that’s what I’m half-assed-ly doing here.