Natural Pesticides

Discussion in 'Planting, growing, nurturing Plants' started by Fouad, Jun 17, 2009.

  1. Fouad

    Fouad Junior Member

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    does anyone know of a natural brew for natural pesticides to protect a vegetable graden from insects
     
  2. gardenlen

    gardenlen Group for banned users

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    Re: Natural Pesticides

    g'day fouad,

    things like garlic, hottest chillies and rhubarb leaves are used by some, neem oil is another, even heard of someone who swore by juice made from carrot tops, his reasoning nothing ever eat carrot tops. keep in mind if low impact natural products are sued un-wisely then the bugs can become resistant especially in the case of neem.

    but no matter what you use they are all non-specific so can and will kill off or deter beneficial bugs as well.

    we find realy healthy plants can resist major bug attacks, and using high nitrogen garden foods inceases their attractiveness to bugs. our best control methods are low key no sprays anymore we do safaris, ie.,. early morning grub searches mostly on the brassicas, evening slug and snail safaris with the use of beer traps or coffee spray when needed.

    len
     
  3. lovingmygarden

    lovingmygarden Junior Member

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    Re: Natural Pesticides

    I wished the local possums knew about nothing ever eating carrot tops, they have decided they are rather tasty after I covered my lettuce to protect them from being eaten lol.
    Got any ideas on repelling possums?????(wildlife friendly only of course)
    lovingmygarden
     
  4. gardenlen

    gardenlen Group for banned users

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    Re: Natural Pesticides

    g'day lmg,

    couple things, never tried them as i have never had the problem.

    from the least to the most:

    quasia chips, get them from the produce agency of fruit grower supplier.

    real hot chilly paste and dolop it along where they may walk ie., the top of a fence or tree branches, no permanent damage but when the tread it in they lick it off and it has a burning senstation on the lips mouth area and they don't come back to there.

    build a feeding sation away from the garden and deposit pieces of fruit there of a night try not to feed them bread and honey, the bread no good for them, no good for us either but that's another story.

    build a possum proof fence around the garden, big job but long lasting and works against all intruders apart from bush turkey's, send e/mail for details.

    no good going for the trap and release as another will fill the space.

    best i can do.

    len
     
  5. Michaelangelica

    Michaelangelica Junior Member

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    Re: Natural Pesticides

    What do you mean by "protect"?
    pesticides don't "protect" they kill things

    Anything that breaks down or came from a plant, Quassia,(Said to respell possums. Also available from https://www.fragrantgarden.com.au/ ) pyrethrum ( not synthetic -most are), neem (great stuff), derris dust ( watch, often "boosted" with synthetics). All these need to be handled with care (although Quassia you can drink!) and some kill many non-target organisms like fish.

    Look to biological control and companion planting and soil health for "protection". Although very smelly sprays may confuse insects.
    :idea: I have also seen a spray made up of blended target insects. Perhaps seeing your relatives in bits on your dinner puts bugs off :!: ? :)
     
  6. Fouad

    Fouad Junior Member

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    Re: Natural Pesticides

    ok thanks guys yea i did mean natural repelents for insects, cheers i will try the garlic, hot chillie and Rhubarb mix.
     
  7. spiraleddie

    spiraleddie Junior Member

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    Re: Natural Pesticides

    Hi, i have pimple gall (psyllids) on my lilly pillys and as they are still quite small they seem to be suffering under the assault, if they were bigger i woudnt worry. My research (internet search:)) has shown that confidor is the most common treatment which has imidacloprid as the active, a systemic pesticide that gets into the whole plant and prevents insect attacks. I got a little excited when i realised imidacloprid can be used as i use the pesticide regularly at work when preparing flea treatments and i thought i could make my own brew :). but i have found that imidacloprid is at the forefront of being blamed for the reduction of bees in europe and continental US as the imidacloprid is found to remain even in the pollen and this pesticide is used alot in canola oil production among other crops. Since i like bees and other insects adding a long term pesticide to my garden would likly have a lingering effect.
    So i am looking for something that will get into the plant to kill the psyllids as the pests live inside the leaves in the pimples that they form, but something that will not linger too long to cause friendly fire. imidacloprid is a nicotine derivative so i think that a nicotine spray will have a similiar lethal effect but the problem/advantage? is it breaks down quite fast, so i would need to apply it regularly.
    does anyone have any ideas about a predatory insect i could encourage or a companiion plant that may help reduce the psyllid numbers, the garden bed is still quite young with the plants still establishing, so im confident once the garden is established that there will be a range of insects that will keep things in balance.
    Anyway this post is more me thinking outloud than a real question but any feedback would be welcomed.
     
  8. Ojo

    Ojo Junior Member

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  9. milifestyle

    milifestyle New Member

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    Re: Natural Pesticides

    I have found this true of both Tagetes sp. and Calendula sp. Great ant deterrents.

    Also, fine sawdust around each brassica can slow snails down. Flour and anything powdery is also good but it needs replacing every night and often "glugs" with moisture before the snails come in contact with it. Sawdust is better.

    There's a few theories on this method. Basically it dries the slime on slugs and snails and they cand cross over it.
     
  10. Michaelangelica

    Michaelangelica Junior Member

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    Re: Natural Pesticides

    cofidor is systemic so you might like to avoid eating any lilly Pilly fruit produced

    You might like to try a Hoticultural Oil,(0.5-2%) perhaps one boosted wit NATURAL pyrethrum flowers( grown in Tasmania commercially).
    or
    Buy the flowers yourself and boil them up to extract the pesticide.

    There was a thread here on Horticultural oils??
     
  11. permup

    permup Junior Member

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    Re: Natural Pesticides

    Permaculture is about putting the elements of nature in place, so that pesticides, natural or otherwise, are not required. Setting up that natural balance can take time, but include:

    - Ensuring the soil is continutally fed. Strong, healthy soil means strong healthy plants which will resist attack from pests and disease.
    - Adding ponds to your garden. Aim for 15% of your property to be devoted to water. Use this water for food production if you want to. The water attracks birds, frogs, lizards, bees, dragon flies and any number of other predatory insects which will control pests. Water is also the reason that possums eat your vegetables. They are looking for water. Give them a pond.
    - Making sure you have flowers in your garden. Make sure the bees are attracted to your garden to control and balance.
    - Interplant herbs among your veg. The powerful aromas of herbs are a huge detractant to pests.
    - Use guilds to protect certain plants.
    - Make sure you don't plant rows of the same veg. There is nothing easier for a pest than a good line of cabage to attack. Intersperse your plants and confuse them.
    - Increase the biodiversity of your the plants in your garden and the content in your compost.
    - Don't use anything that will kill bacteria or any other living thing in your garden.
    - Sacrifice certain plants if they are under attack. Leave them alone and let the pests have them. Some for them some for you. You will find they will only attack the weakest of your plants anyway.
    - Place barriers over fruit and tomatoes to stop fruit fly. Place nets or baskets over brasicas to stop white butterfly laying their eggs on them.

    You get the idea.
    Paula.
     
  12. Michaelangelica

    Michaelangelica Junior Member

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    Re: Natural Pesticides

    Agreed, with a very new garden, or one previosly chemically driven, this can take three years You need to tread gently at first, don't run out and spay the first creepy crawly you see. it may be your friend or provide food for your friends.

    Still, occasionally, some bugs are resilient.
    The cheapest and best pesticide for a small garden is the thumb and index finger judiciously applied. That why God gave us an opposable thumb.

    There is a good article on Horticultural Oils in
    Hort Journal Australia June 2009 pgs.24-28
    https://www.greenerpublishing.com.au/
    Unfortunately the article is not available on line.
    OOPs
    It is supposed to be

    https://www.hortjournal.com.au/
    [​IMG]


    [​IMG]elcome to Hort Journal Australia.
    Australia's most exciting new trade media and communication solution for Production, Wholesale, and Retail nurseries, Councils and Local Government, Garden Designers and Landscapers, Professional Horticulturists and Gardeners, and all Allied Industries.

    FOUND IT!!
    [​IMG]
    https://www.hortjournal.com.au/currentissue.shtml
    It is not the easiest article to read, a good edit would have helped.

    i doubt it, I live near a creek. i think they are hungry and omnivorous.
     
  13. IntensiveGardener

    IntensiveGardener Junior Member

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    Re: Natural Pesticides

    When i was just learning how to grow food i grew some very healthy and productive sprouting broccoli in spring.
    When the weather warmed up the cabbage moths appeared and soon my plants were covered in green grubs.

    My wife suggested natural pyrethrem and i replied "that herbal hippy crap doesnt work.".
    She made me spray them anyway and several weeks later i was once again picking delicious, grub free broccoli. :)
    I recoment it, it works.
    It is used commercially around here on berry farms.
    :)

    Another good natural pesticide is pomigranate pith (the white stuff under the skin and between the fruity pips.)
    IG
     
  14. Michaelangelica

    Michaelangelica Junior Member

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    Re: Natural Pesticides

    Thanks for the tip on pomegranate. if i could onlywork out how to cook with them I love the look of the trees in fruit.
    I'll swap you with: a decoction tomato leaves will kill black spot on roses.. You also need to pick up and burn any infected leaves that fall to the ground.

    Dipel and a judiciously placed egg shell on each cabbage are two other cures for CWMB
    I was sceptical about the egg shell but a local nurserywoman told me that the CWMB are very territorial. when they see the white shell on the cabbage they think it is a relative and move on. She also suggested using little paper cut outs looking like CWMB on string, flapping in the breese, for the same reason.
     
  15. Michaelangelica

    Michaelangelica Junior Member

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  16. eco4560

    eco4560 New Member

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    I've done the white paper on a string decoy this year. I have had some grubs, but not as many as last year so it might even be working. I'll get a crop of edible cabbages by spring.

    Ps - MA I'm trying to PM you and your in tray is full.... Can you delete some stuff? Talk about popular!
     
  17. Michaelangelica

    Michaelangelica Junior Member

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    I have some collies I am hopeful of and some eaten stumps.

    Well they could be all telling me what adope I am?
    Seriously, the MB size is seriously too small for a moderator, i was able to change it myself with the last program but have been too lazy to work out how to do it with this one. So instead i am setting up a constant whining, winge to Admin.

    Grasshoppers:-
    With the looming Grasshopper crisis among us, I am again reminded of their high food value. Anyone with any good recipes?

    A friend got rid of his grasshoppers by blending them in a domestic kitchen blender and then spreading the resultant goo around the garden. He said it worked brilliantly ("Let this be a warning to others"?)
    Although he did end up seriously beaten by his wife when she found out what he had done with HER blender.

    Also went into an Indian grocery at Burwood, Sydney last week and was amazed to find VERY cheap neem oil for sale.
    I don't know how strong it was.
    I used Neem Oil when I had a huge grasshopper infestation and it worked almost immediately, killing a few but mostly upsetting and confusing them terribly and making them go away.
     
  18. Auki

    Auki New Member

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    great tip thankyou - will be trying this one out
     
  19. skiinginthedark

    skiinginthedark New Member

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    The only trouble i've been getting that i have found no answer to is 'Epilachna vigintioctopunctata' the 28 spot potato (and other solanum + some cucurbits) leaf eating ladybeetle. Anyone had any success with neem, chilli, garlic, quassia, natural pyrethrum etc on these critters? I pick them off all the time but they are faster than me and decimating my potatoes. Tubers seem ok but im guessing far less plentiful than if the plants still had any leaves left on them! Maybe its cos im trying to grow dutch creams - my fave variety..?
     
  20. pestguysau

    pestguysau New Member

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    Thanks for sharing...
     

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