I've heard people mention useing (for bug control) soap, vinager, & oil (vegitable). Without useing major chemicals (7 dust, etc..), what can I dust, or spray my food plants? How is it mixed? Can anyone tell me how to get white flies off my greenbeens?

Thanks

animalfarms

-- animalfarms (jwlewis@indy.net), June 16, 2001

Answers

One of my favorite organic/biologic pest controls is to introduce spiders and let them control pests naturally.

-- Jay Blair in N. AL (jayblair678@yahoo.com), June 16, 2001.

Remember that anything you use to get rid of bad bugs will also get rid of your good bugs. Then you can get stuck in HAVING to use something to get rid of them.

Can you go catch a couple of nine spot ladybugs to put on your plants? Any preying mantises around? If you soil is fertile, the beans should outgrow the whitefly problem. Whiteflies hang about the ground and won't affect bean production, oh, unless they are bush beans that grow close to the ground.

If you must use something to get rid of the bugs, dust the underside of the plants and the ground around them with diatomaceous earth or spray the underside of the plant and soak the gound a ways with cigarette or cigar butt tea. Cigarette butt tea works better than any commercial product on the market, but don't use it on or near tomato plants.

-- Laura (LadybugWrangler@hotmail.com), June 16, 2001.

Be very careful about tobacco tea and preferbally use a different approach. Even smoking or chewing in the garden area can transmit tobacco mosaic blight to any nightshade plant. Its even advised by some master gardeners to wash with anti bacterial soap and don cotton gardening gloves before handling tomatoes if you use tobacco products.

-- Jay Blair in N. AL (jayblair678@yahoo.com), June 16, 2001.

www.gardensalive.com

-- kathy h (ckhart55@earthlink.net), June 17, 2001.

Food/agriculture grade Diatomaceous Earth. Dust around the ground (if the plants are wet from dew or your spraying, you can also dust the plants and the DE will stick). Or spray the plants. Mix 1/4 cup DE to one gallon water. The DE will be effective when it dries.

-- ~Rogo (rogo2020@yahoo.com), June 20, 2001.