bogfrog Posted September 23, 2012 Hi all. I recently watched a doco on alternative farming and the one thing that got me interested was the biodynamics approach to pest control. Basically, from what I could gather, biodynamics calls us to burn the pest and spread the ashes to prevent the pests return. I have no idea how it works as this was my first contact with the principles of biodynamics, and I know many people bluff it off as hocus pocus but since it seems to work for commercial farms and vineyards, I would like to have a go myself. There was a segment on an organic vineyard in wanaka who treated their mealy bug infestation by collecting the mealy bugs, burning them and using the ground up mealy ashes to make a spray which apparently made the environment un-inhabitable for mealys. I would like to make this potion for myself and I was just wondering if anyone has a recipe or knows the method to make this? I have a mealy bug farm for this purpose on a plant who I have chosen as a sacrifical lamb. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Anodyne Posted September 23, 2012 I had a permaculture book that recommended the following recipe for most insects (can't remember if mealy-bugs were included, but slugs, snails, caterpillars, etc were): Gather critters, squish them up in water, strain and spray on plants. I never had the stomach to put it into practice, but it sounds like it could work - the live critters would be put off by the smell of their own kind dead nearby? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
bogfrog Posted September 23, 2012 Sounds like it could be good to try when really pissed off at bugs. i'll keep it in mind for revenge missions next time my plants are getting mauled. its interesting how many different approaches there are to combat pests without using chemicals. Another thing i saw on the same doco was a farmer who caught and burnt male possoms (possoms are a major pest here in NZ) and spread the ashes around his farm and he reckoned it somehow made all the male possoms in the area infertile, then the population died out! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
nothinghead Posted September 23, 2012 I had a permaculture book that recommended the following recipe for most insects (can't remember if mealy-bugs were included, but slugs, snails, caterpillars, etc were): Gather critters, squish them up in water, strain and spray on plants. I never had the stomach to put it into practice, but it sounds like it could work - the live critters would be put off by the smell of their own kind dead nearby? Unless the pest is something like the Spanish slug, which seeks out the scent of its dead compatriots so as to feast on its body. In the past I've used an oil blend called "eco oil" that (as i remember) smothers insects like mealy bugs, aphids etc. Not exactly biodynamic perhaps, but certified Organic ingredients etc. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
bogfrog Posted September 24, 2012 Thanks for the replies, i'll look into this eco oil too. I have lost far too many yummy veges to those little terrors, time to fight back! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Considera Posted October 12, 2012 There was some independent testing on mealy bug sprays in cotton in Pakistan which showed a homeopathic preparation was as good as the neonicotinoid - ie over 90% mortality. There's links to this work at http://www.considera.org/Iftikhar.html and details at http://www.considera.org/materiamedicagricultura.html?remtype=2&rem=270 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
nothinghead Posted October 14, 2012 ^sounds about right, homeopathic doses should be somewhere close to suitable for insects Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
BentoSpawn Posted October 14, 2012 (edited) Homeopathic dose would mean that you could put 1 bug in a third of a drop of water, then proceeded to "dilute" it into all the earths water, then spray the crop with it you would get rid of all the bugs in the crop. This would produce a solution that is 13C which is quite "weak" for some homepathic standards actually. Remember the more the water gets diluted in homeopathy the stronger the solution will work. To back up this claim lets look at a comparison: a popular homepathic solution for the flu which uses duck liver is 200C called Oscillococcinum. A popular homeopathic treatment for the flu is a 200C dilution of duck liver, marketed under the name Oscillococcinum. As there are only about 1080 atoms in the entire observable universe, a dilution of one molecule in the observable universe would be about 40C. Oscillococcinum would thus require 10320 more universes to simply have one molecule in the final substance.[15] If you think i am trying to take this piss here, i assure you i am not - those are the sorts of dilution homeopathy calls for. I definitely would not bother personally. Edited October 14, 2012 by BentoSpawn Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Considera Posted October 14, 2012 You could look at this another way though. If you wanted to test this heresy against materialistic understandings, what better way than to test it on plants to avoid the placebo effect and to have it tested on two plant varieties over two seasons against water controls and against the industry standard chemical and then compare results as measured and collected by the industry bodies who test preparations of whatever provenance. And should this come up with the uncomfortable result that it does seem to be effective what would you think of a scientist whose reaction was - no I won't bother with this? I would think it would be due diligence to bother quite a lot with this because if everyone has done the job they are trained to do, it is important. Bentospawn/Psychonaut, if you would like to really explore this there is a paper called "Homeopathy for Plants - Yeah Right" to which google will no doubt direct you in which the reasoning you have brought here is explored in great detail in relation to the research I mentioned. It covers the ground so perhaps we don't have to do the cartography in full again here. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites