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Effective and safe/natural/organic pesticides?

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Hi everyone,

It's that time of year again when I roll the dice and test my luck with herb seedlings.

I've been mostly successful with oregano, mint, thyme and parsley in the past, until they get caterpillars. And it's always the same type, and they eat all the god-damn leaves. Bright green squishy caterpillars.

The thing is, while I'd love to go into Rambo mode and spray pyretherin everywhere, I'm unsure I'd like to be eating this stuff myself, much less other non-organic pesticides.

Can anyone recommend an effective/safe alternative?

I've already tried a mixture of soap, water and finely chopped birds-eye chilies which I let infuse for a while before spraying. Using this did seem to work for a while (and I can personally vouch for it's strength -- don't spray this downwind -- r27u5l.jpg), until the plants were invaded by more sneaky hellbugs (although it seemed to keep aphids away, at least!). It probably just made the plants tastier and/or the caterpillars very angry...

os92d3.jpg

Edited by antonsyd

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Pyrethrum is good. You just have to wait a week or two before eating anything you have sprayed

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nicotine i hear is one of the most potent natural toxins there is

edit: or neem

Edited by bot6

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nicotine i hear is one of the most potent natural toxins there is

edit: or neem

Haha...

25j8enm.gif

But, is it safe for me to be eating? I've already quit smoking! :innocent_n:

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Pyrethrum is good. You just have to wait a week or two before eating anything you have sprayed

Is this because the pyrethrin is broken down enough by then so I can eat the herbs safely? At that point, shouldn't I need to re-apply it?

Can do for cuttings which I can dry out in a container, but for fresh herbs, hmmm... :scratchhead:

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Just food for thought, I have not found a registered product containing the two main active constituents of neem for vegetables in Australia.

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Just food for thought, I have not found a registered product containing the two main active constituents of neem for vegetables in Australia.

Hmm, I'll look into whether or not it's safe to eat, or if it just isn't in common usage here -- by the look of it, it's been used in Asia for some time but little elsewhere.

ps. I just found this thread with links to lots of info and even e-books...!

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it's been used in india for yonks!! I still use it on my plants, I just thought it was something worth mentioning as generally there is a reason why a chemical would not be registered here in Aus, obv it might be cost related.

I also have not had a problem using Natrasoap, I really like the coverage you get from soapy insecticides.

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Is this because the pyrethrin is broken down enough by then so I can eat the herbs safely? At that point, shouldn't I need to re-apply it?

Can do for cuttings which I can dry out in a container, but for fresh herbs, hmmm... :scratchhead:

Yes it breaks down eventually and you need to reapply it unless you are going to eat/smoke whatever you have grown

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We are having trouble with tiny little green bugs eating our chlli plants, so i made a disgusting concontion by boiling up a handful of old cigarette butts and straining it. I diluted the mixture to about 50/50 and added a little detergent. This spray is disgusting but it is working. Also I believe that planting tobacco plants around other plants helps to keep insects away, as do neem trees, citronella, pyrethrum etc...

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I thought insects can break pyrethtum down as well why alot of mixtures have other chemicals so it does more than literally just knock down pests

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found a book lying on the floor, this is what is says about nicotine:

nicotine is a highly poisonous alkaloid, extracted from special tobacco selected for its high nicotine content. when used as an insecticide nicotine products are poisonous to most plant pests, including aphids, mealy bugs,scales, and spider mites. however, nicotine is also highly toxic to mammals when taken internally or absorbed through the skin - more toxic, in fact, than many synthetic pesticides. it remains toxic on leaf surfaces for several weeks after an application. also, nicotine products may contain the pathogen which causes tobacco mosaic virus in related plants, including eggplant, peppers, tomatoes, and potatoes. for these reasons, commercially and homemade nicotine sprays and dusts are no longer recommended for use in organic gradens, choose safer control measures such as insecticidal soap or neem sprays to control pests."

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you can get neem seed oil from ebay

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the active in Neem or at least one of them is known as Azadirachtin, a product I am quite happy with that has multiple uses

im surprised it even worked a bit with flea beetles on gojis and I thought nothing worked for flea beetles lol i've also used it

for root drenching cacti to rid of root mealies and it worked good at a medium dose... in fact i've never done the full dose

the product I got is called azamax but there are other brands.. unfortunately its a bit expensive for few rows of plants

but if its not that many plants could be worth it.. says its safe to eat same day as spraying but me personally i'd wait a few daze

or wash it off good lol

usually have to treat a couple times with it for any major infestation, maybe every week or two but it repels, kills eggs and stops

eaters from maturing..

for aphids insecticidal soap works fine ... i have a bit of an aphid issue on mints n the spring but they go away

not sure about caterpillars I have a love hate relationship w/those buggers.. just in a quick search about azamax

and see someone said it does the trick

Edited by Spine Collector

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Neonicotinoids are a class of neuro-active insecticides chemically similar to nicotine.

from wiki

the active constituent in confidor falls in this class of chemicals

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