homemade pesticide

Good points lads,

Had a look & just found some better news(albeit old) on the subject,

Can you dig it? | Special reports | guardian.co.uk

So, like you say, we can discuss the subject, whilst not condoning the use

 

There, see: the EU isn't all bad! Thank you, Ziggy.

So, back to the original question about home-made pesticides. I'm trying Neem oil solution - which is home-made, after I bought the oil on Amazon! I'm trying to kill off my infestation of black mites on a pear tree. The recipe is for a litre of warm water, a teaspoon of cold-pressed oil of the Neem tree and a teaspoon of horticultural soft soap or of washing-up liquid. It's supposed to be effective against biting and sucking insects such as mites and aphids, and not harmful to bees, ladybirds, etc. I'll let you know what happens, but I might need a week or more to assess the situation.

Concerning washing-up liquid, I'm happy to use my Ecover brand, but I'd worry about more main-stream ones containing chemicals harmful to beneficial insects.

Concerning a 'nicotine wash' made from cigarette butts, remember that the liquid would be very dangerous to children and pets.

Matthew.

 

well then, as I said it has to be kid-safe (and by proxy, bird, pet and nosy neighbour safe) so organic is perfect! I honestly can't see how cooking up a concoction using plants/veg/etc can be seen as non-organic?

Anything that'll drive aphids off my cherry tree they've been vandalising for the past 2 years (cashing in on the fact I have no time to do something about it) will be cool! Even if made from used loo roll! And if it can keep in check all those ants that have set up an aphid farm on the said cherry tree, all the better. I even know where the ant nest is and I haven't destroyed it, so the EEC can bloody well come and take it with them!

i do know ladybird larvae eat aphids, but I don't exactly know how to set up a ladybird nursery. And buying the larvae is, frankly, going to break my bank.

Actually I've been successful in drowning a whole lot of slugs in beer when I had a slug infestation a couple years ago, I did put up "drink responsibly" signs all over the beer traps but the slugs still went for them like mad. A happy death, what can I say. So the EEC can't get me there - THE SLUGS HAD BEEN WARNED!!

Can't even use that now tho, for fear of the kid finding the beer quicker than the slugs :DOH:Luckily, there aren't that many of them about this year, so far anyway.

 

Oh please do Matthew, that's exactly my problem. I'm also regularly fighting off aphids on my house plants, but because they're small and portable I can at least stick them in the shed and spray.

BTW I've been using a thing called Nature's Desinfectant the last couple of weeks, it's a fungicide derived from citrus. Meant to be safe in greenhouses and - voila! - kids play areas. The only problem is it's not very cost effective, the bottle cost about a tenner and you're meant to use 40 ml per litre of water, it's a 500 ml bottle so you do your maths but i've already got through 1/3 of it after only 2-3 uses. It did bring my mould-ridden tradescantias back to life tho.

I actually got it mainly to prevent damping-off on seedlings, I'll update you in a couple of weeks when I have some results, but as I say the stuff is expensive. There's got to be a home-made citrus concoction! Maybe using just the peel which we chuck anyway would be ok. I'll try and google some info.

Oh youre absolutely spot on, on both points Matthew.

I'm wondering whether soap nuts are any use? I've got a whole bag of the stuff.

 

I'm been completely organic for at least fifteen years, and can't imagine putting chemicals into any garden now (including this one, in my new house on the Yorkshire coast). With organic methods, and the creation of appropriate habitats for helpful fauna, one can work towards establishing the natural ecosystems, which will keep problems to a minimum with little or no further intervention. (A little 'Gaia-rden', perhaps!) One word of caution about "organic", though: remember there are organic poisons (such as what you might distill from foxgloves) - so something doesn't have to be good for you or the garden, just because it's organic!
Matthew.

 

Just chuck cooking oil into diesel with a 50 diesel 50 oil mix, so long as vehicle is not a PD or TDI no problem though in cold climates ie winter run 60/40
Even works with used chip shop oil if filterd through a nylon hose / stocking or tights
Legally you can use this for 1000 litres then you have to declare for tax

Jack McH

 

Wow. You're a pro, Jack! Not sure my relation will be adventurous enough to give it a go tho, he's always very worried about bad fuel damaging his poor old van. But I'll pass it on!

BTW virtually any vehicle can run on anything that has a high percentage of alcohol in it. Beer won't do but whiskey is the thing!

(if ever whiskey becomes cheaper than fuel that is)

 

Happily, I can confirm that my pear tree's infestation of black mites has been greatly reduced - by something like 90%, I think. That's after two thorough sprays with Neem oil - specifically, using a litre of warm water, a teaspoon of Neem oil (bought on Amazon) and a teaspoon of Ecover washing-up liquid (in lieu of horticultural soft soap, which I haven't yet found locally). The pear tree is perking up, thankfully.
Matthew.

 

Thanks Matthew, I'll certainly be ordering some neem oil soon.

Would anyone know of any organic/kid safe fungicides?

 

Aha!


Organic fungicide
Ingredients

• 1 gallon water
• 1 tablespoon baking soda
• 2 1/2 tablespoons vegetable oil

Directions

1. Pour ingredients into a large sprayer and shake well. Spray on affected plants (top and bottom of leaves). Continue to shake ingredients periodically to ensure it says well mixed.

effective against late tomato blight, powdery mildew, anthrocnose, early tomato blight, leaf blight and spots.
To get the best level of protection, you will need to reapply this solution about once a week and especially after it rains. In fact, if you want to be certain that your plants will not get attacked with fungi, you should be spraying them routinely as soon as you put them in the ground BEFORE anything beings to attack them. If you are combating a very aggressive fungus problem (like blight) you should try to spray the plants daily. Spray plants in early morning or late day when the sun is least intense to prevent leaf burn.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/3010054

 

also

Evidently cider vinegar works (5% acidity) as a control for apple scab, leaf spot and mildew. Dilute 3 tablespoons (45ml) with one (US) gallon (3.8l) of water and spray in the morning.

A few years back there was news that a German research group had found that milk diluted with water made a good fungicide. There were various suggestions about the ratio some said 1 pint of milk to 8 pints of water (1:8) while others advised 1 pint milk to 4 pints water (1:4). I recently had some mildew on the main onion crop and used the 1:4 dilution (plus a very small amount of approved liquid detergent wetting agent) to spray the soil as a nutrient additive. Unfortunately, because the onions were quite closely spaced, a lot of the spray went on the leaves of the onions and cured the mildew problem!

Bracken spray
Effective against blackfly on, for example, broad beans and runner beans but not against cherry blackfly.
The bracken must be gathered when brown and brittle dry. Pulp the leaves and store in paper bags until wanted. Using a graduated jar, measure out 120cc (4fl oz) of the bracken and pour on 420cc (14fl oz) of hot water, stir and allow to soak for twenty-four hours, strain, then bottle into airtight jars and keep out of reach of children, of course.
For use as a spray, dilute 25cc (1 fl oz) to 4.5 litres (1 gal) of rainwater and spray each day for three days.

and more on Sprays for pest organic control | Grow Organic Food