"Safe", Natural Pesticides. Suggestions?

[SayN]

I'm growing some tomatoes at the moment and noticed a few blemishes on them and some attacks by what I presume are caterpillars. So I asked my wife to pick up some "Tomato and Vegetable dust" from Woolies as i've noticed other growers using them.

Yet when I actually read the safety precautions, particularly the "harmful to bees" line i'm like wtf. So its going back to the store for a refund.

I would appreciate any suggestions to safer alternatives for my tomatoes.

[Sallubrious]

I've tried a few organic concoctions both commercial and homemade over the years with limited success.

I ended up using fruit bags that go over the whole truss to keep the grubs out. They are a mesh bag that allows the fruit to breathe and grow normally and keeps all the nasties out. That way you don't need any pesticides.

You put them on after the flowers have been pollinated and the fruit has set but before the fruit gets ripe enough to attract pests.

There's a few different types you can buy or just make your own.

I was getting them from this mob, they were called pest guard bags. They are down near the bottom of the page.

http://www.greenharvest.com.au/PestControlOrganic/ExclusionProducts.html#FruitProtectionBags

Edited February 23, 2016 by Sallubrious

[Visceral420]

I use Dipel occasionly. I generally do it once or twice before flowering and then I don't generally need it after.

[theuserformallyknownasd00d]

+1 dipel for caterpillar related losses

[11010490]

Have you tried diatomaceous earth?

If you're not going systemic, you will need to treat regularly to get on top of the bug life cycle.

Companion planting has also helped for me with the solanaceae family. Namely chrysanthemum and basil.

[SayN]

hmm - i'll research the diatomaceous earth as i've long suspected there is something wrong with mys soil. I put compost down regularly but my compost is generally just decomposed grass (and weed) cuttings.

I have planted a whole heap of marigolds this year as a companion plant. it's interesting to observe the difference in growth of them in the same garden bed. might post a picture.

[Visceral420]

Sounds like you need some manure in your compost ;)

DE is great, but not very practical in big garden beds

I'm also a fan of fighting bugs with bugs

check out bugsforbugs.com.au

I've done two releases of lacewings this season and had far less bug problems than in previous years. Only did one release last season, after a whitefly problem set in

[etherealdrifter]

i plant broad leaf(sweet) basil and narrow leaf (greek basilico - great for the souvlaki man ) around the base of my tomato stems. Bugs don't eat as many and i swear the basil imparts some of its awesome flavour to the fruits.

plus marigolds seem to keep those pesky white moths away, around my neck of the woods their larvae are the green little worms that burrow deep into em....either way, i just cut out the grub and it's poop and eat the fruit anyway - wrapped in the fresh basil leaves.

Warm , fresh picked basil leaves wrapped around the tomatoes is one of my favourite things in summer.

Companion planting is worth the effort as an alternative to using chems, dusts, voodoo dances by the moonlight etc

mmmmmmmmmmm tomacco

edit: also i forgot to mention the good ol hardy Nasturtium. Plant some of them around the garden in clumps - they self seed to decrease the hassle.

Perty too, you can eat them and they act a s a pesticide - that's pretty natural .

Edited February 23, 2016 by etherealdrifter

[-RC-]

Neem oil certainly helps, and has a synergistic effect on ferts too!

[Sallubrious]

I made a concoction from neem oil, garlic and chillies after reading it somewhere and sprayed it all over my tomatoes hoping it would keep the grubs out. All it did was made the garden smell like a wet dog that had rolled on a dead rat and the pests seemed to be attracted to it.

If you can get the brix of the plants high enough the bugs can sense it and they won't eat them. Apparently they can't metabolise the juice of a plant with a high sugar level and it kills them.

An easy way to raise the brix is to spray the plants and the soil with a simple sugar. A can of coke diluted down about ten to one works well, it's got a reasonable amount of sugar and phosphoric acid that helps with fruitset and development too.

[seekingmeaning]

+ 1 for companion planting also.

I know this won't help OP but if you get white fly regularly you should also plant some french marigolds around the garden, they hate the smell.

I'm looking into how to attract fungas gnat and spidermite predators now, if anyone has some pointers, I'm all ears.

[Evil Genius]

Sulfur, Neem and Methanole are some good tools to keep bugs away.

[Etho]

I have also tried the homemade chilli garlic onion concoction, safe to say it was a failure.

Trying out scare tactics with bits of polystyrene dangling on fishing line at the moment, the white cabbage butterfly it notoriously territorial (so I've read) and this is supposed to scare them off.

Also try eggshells, they lay eggs in there, once a week collect eggshells and compost.

[Freewheelin]

I've had good success with boiling up old cigarette butts and pouring the disgusting tea over some seedlings that were getting eaten to death by a wrath-of-god locust swarm. They didn't touch them after that. YMMV tho becuase some bugs seem to loooove tobacco

[brooa]

i dont know if you would call it natural, but concentrated white oil is apparently pretty easy to make. http://www.abc.net.au/gardening/stories/s4420335.htm

RECIPE

• One cup dishwashing detergent
• Two cups sunflower oil

Add to a clearly labelled jar or other container, close the lid tightly and shake until it becomes white - and presto! Concentrated White Oil.
When ready to use, dilute one tablespoon of the concentrate to one litre of water. Add to a clearly-labelled spray bottle, shake and off you go!

Edited March 24, 2016 by brooa