Comments on: The Conundrum of Managing Pests & Diseases on Edibles

By: A Poison is a Poison is a Poison

A Poison is a Poison is a Poison — Thu, 04 Aug 2011 11:04:51 +0000

[...] there was a post to his blog written by one of the event sponsors, Garden Safe. This screen shot from the post shows Smith eating a [...]

By: cas

cas — Tue, 02 Aug 2011 05:58:31 +0000

My composter has turned into a giant ant hill over the last few days. When I turned it I found it is full of white larvae. Any suggestions how I can destroy it without harming the beautiful soil. I can’t believe how fast this happened. Hope you have a solution.

By: P. Allen Smith

P. Allen Smith — Thu, 28 Jul 2011 17:42:17 +0000

Lisa,
Good tip!
Thanks for sharing!
Allen

By: Lisa L.

Lisa L. — Thu, 28 Jul 2011 16:43:01 +0000

I’ve been using Ivory soap. I just heat up enough water to fill a spray bottle, cut off a piece of the soap and let it dissolve in the hot water. When cool, I spray the plants. It has kept leaf cutter bees off my new rose bush. I make sure the spray bottle nozzle has a “foam” setting so that I get good coverage. It has not burned any leaves yet, even on my delicate Columbines. I recently used it on the leaves of my zucchini to keep away the pincher bugs.

By: louis j. desena

louis j. desena — Mon, 25 Jul 2011 22:43:08 +0000

i have a “question”—i have 3 butterfly bushes in full bloom-i have a water feature to supply water they need.why is it that i do not see butterflys arround my bushes??????-last season they were “loaded!!!

By: Kerry Michaels

Kerry Michaels — Mon, 25 Jul 2011 21:38:27 +0000

We were plagued by an infestation of brown tail caterpillars this spring. They have really nasty toxic hairs that cause seriously bad rashes and if inhaled, can send you right to the hospital (who knew there were toxic caterpillar hairs that could kill you????). Anyhow, we got busy spraying them with Garden Safe insecticidal soap. Which was very effective. I also was really pleased that the sprayer is so good and accurate that you can really cover some distance with a stream of the soap. It allowed us to spray nests that we otherwise wouldn’t have been able to reach. Thanks!

By: Rosedale Garden

Rosedale Garden — Mon, 25 Jul 2011 19:26:32 +0000

Here’s a soap recipe I have:
GARLIC INSECTICIDAL SOAP
12 cloves garlic chopped
4 oz. Mineral oil
soak 1-2 days, strain
3-4 drops ivory, put in sprayer
add 2 C water
shake well *nonselective*

By: Donna Betts

Donna Betts — Mon, 25 Jul 2011 19:23:29 +0000

I have used “Planet” Dish washing soap 1 part to 3 parts water and
it seems to be very effective — especially for aphids.

By: Kirstin Schuyler

Kirstin Schuyler — Mon, 25 Jul 2011 17:21:35 +0000

Do you have a recipe for insect soap spray…I seem to have lost mine. Thanks!

By: Hynes blog | Kemchotv

Hynes blog | Kemchotv — Sat, 23 Jul 2011 07:48:46 +0000

[...] The Conundrum of Managing Pests & Diseases on Edibles | Allen's … [...]