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Using soap spray to control aphids, fungi, mites
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SunflowerOcity
Posts: 17
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| Posted: Wed May 16, 2007 8:48 pm Post subject: |
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Aphids are tough this time of year, but we gardeners are tougher!
Fortunately aphids are generally only a problem during a few months each year. One of the simplest ways to control them it to use a soap spray. I prefer dove dish washing detergent and I mix ½ tablespoon with each quart of water. If your problem is bad you may need to spray every day for a week and then back down to every other day for a week and then to twice a week. Add 1/2 tablespoons of baking soda to kill fungi. Add a small amount of sulfur to eradicate mites. Put solution in a properly labeled spray bottle. You may also want to include the proper amount of liquid organic fertilizer in the spray for exfoliating and feed the plant leaves at the same time. Try these other Organic do-it-yourself pest control methods:
http://www.realmama.org/archives-spring-2006/kitchentogarden.php
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Frank
 Administrator
Originally Galway, Ireland
Posts: 12349
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| Posted: Fri May 18, 2007 10:01 am Post subject: |
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Thanks for the wonderful tips Chris, these will definitely help those with pesky aphid strife.
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Palustris
Posts: 527
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| Posted: Fri May 18, 2007 12:28 pm Post subject: |
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The use of this kind of soap as an insecticide is actually illegal in Britain.
Moreover some liquid soaps contain chemicals which can harm your plants. It would be better to use a horticultural soft soap, which is legal, harmless to plants and to beneficial insects.
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SunflowerOcity
Posts: 17
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| Posted: Fri May 18, 2007 12:54 pm Post subject: Aphid Eradication! |
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Thanks for the tip!
This is an interesting article from The Royal Hortocotural Socity What generation gap? It lists some drawbacks to even soft soap spray and suggests two interesting solutions to try, one mechanical and one biological, the use of lacewing larvae in the garden and an ingenious idea of vacuuming the aphids up with a battery-powered car vacuum cleaner.
Chris
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