Gardening with Gary

Gardening Advice from an Expert

Organic Pesticides and Fungicides

I get a lot of question about organic pest controls. Everything from organic weed killers (there is such a thing), to vicious predatory ladybugs can be used to protect your plants from pests. The key to going organic is preparation and prevention. For example: Weed out all the poorly performing plants in your garden. These are the ones that will provide the foothold for pests. By eliminating the struggling rose under the oak tree, and reseeding your lawn with a tougher lawn mix, you are allowing the plants to do most of the work for you.

In the summer, mulch all flower beds heavily with humus, bark or compost. Putting a two inch layer will knock out 99% of all your weeds and protect the plants form heat stress during the summer.

Set a consistent cleanup schedule. By preventing dead and decaying plant material from collecting on the ground, you eliminate many of the places that disease lay dormant during their "off" season. Give yourself an hour or two at least once a month. It is important to avoid composting any plant material that you suspect of carrying a disease, as otherwise you are risking its spread throughout your garden in the compost.

Fertilize consistently. A vigorously growing plant can fend off many attacks. Either use a slow-release fertilizer that you can apply a few times a year or set a schedule of fertilizing every 4 to 6 weeks.

Dig up sick plants, transfer to large pots, and move to a protected location. Often such plants will benefit from the new location and be re-envigorated from fresh soil, fertilizer, and increased attention.

Evaluate the plants in your garden to see that they are performing well. Go out with a notepad and keep track of how certain plants are performing throughout the year. If a plant does not seem to be suited to your garden, replace it with something better.

Pick native species for your garden. Obviously, this won't work for roses and fruit trees, but by choosing natives and adapted species for your garden, you will have to spend less time keeping your plants healthy and more time enjoying your garden.

Get beneficial "pets". Box turtles will eat slugs and snails for you, allowing you to avoid dangerous snail baits and unappetizing traps. You can encourage owls to move into your yard with special-built houses.

Set a healthy watering system. This can change depending on your rainfall, average temperatures, and soil types. Do not set sprinkler timers to water daily for 5-10 minutes at a time. This drowns the top 2-3" of soil, causing rot to set in, while at the same time leaves everything deeper than 4-8" dry as a bone. It is much better to soak the area for hours at a time, then follow up a week later.

In hot areas, misting plants will help protect them from heat stress. When coupled with a thick mulch and deep watering, any yard should be able to withstand 100F for quite a while.

http://www.forkandspade.com

Suggested products widely available:

Dyna-Gro Pure Neem Oil
7-9-5 [N-P-K]

Neem Oil is pressed from seeds of the Neem tree and has been used for centuries as a safe and effective growth regulator and anti-feedant for more the 200 insect pests. It is nontoxic to humans, birds, mammals and beneficial insects. Good for existing infestations and for prevention, both on contact and as a systemic.

Rotenone, Pyrethrums, and All-purpose Organic Insecticides are easy to use and relatively mild and safe. All ingredients are derived from plants.

Liquid Copper Fungicide is much safer to use than most other available fungicides, and it works on most commonly found harmful fungi. We suggest diluting to one-half the recommended concentration.

http://www.stonelantern.com/bpest.html

Snail & Slug Pit is a trap which you bury in the ground to the rim. Just fill with beer then empty out the dead snails. Within a short period of time you'll have noticeably less snails and slugs.

Ladybug Lures contain kairomone to attract and keep ladybugs in your garden. Great for roses and many ornamental fruits and vegetables.

Fly Scoop is a simple effective indoor fly trap. No chemicals or pesticides. Attach the trap to the inside of any window, then empty out the dead flies. These traps can be used over and over.

Diatomaceous Earth [DE] dries up crawling insects within 48 hours. Safe for use around children and pets. Remains effective as long as powder is present.

Pre-Emergent Weed Control is a natural pre-emergent herbicide made from corn protein. Nontoxic and safe to use around people, pets and wildlife.. Effective against dandelions and crabgrass.

Copyright 1989-2002, The Eclectic Gardener http://shop.store.yahoo.com/eclectic-gardener/insectcontrols.html

Natural Pest Controls Dusts & Powders: Bonide Garden Dust Bonide 1% Rotenone Dust Bonide 5% Rotenone Dust Diatomaceous Earth Tobacco Dust Hudson Adjutant Duster

http://homeharvest.com/naturalpestmain.htm

Everything from organic weed killers (as Safer's Soap), to predatory ladybugs can be used to protect your plants. The key in going organic is preparation and prevention.

Weed out all poorly performing plants in your garden. These are the ones that will provide the foothold insects need to establish themselves. By eliminating the struggling rose under the oak tree, or reseeding your lawn with a tougher lawn mix, you are allowing the plants to do most of the work for you.

In the summer, mulch all flower beds heavily with humus, bark or compost. Putting a 2" layer will knock out 99% of all your weeds and protect plants from heat stress during the summer. Keep a 2" away from the trunks of trees.

Set a consistent cleanup schedule. By preventing dead and decaying plant material from collecting on the ground, you eliminate many of the places that disease lay dormant during the off-season. Give yourself a couple hours once a month. It is important to avoid composting any plant material which you suspect may be carrying a disease. Otherwise, you run the risk of spreading it throughout your garden in the compost.

Fertilize consistently. A vigorously growing plant will be better able to fend off an attack. Use a slow-release fertilizer [as Osmocote] applied a few times a year, or set a schedule of fertilizing every 4 to 6 weeks from early spring to late fall.

Move the sickly plants into large pots and place in a protected location. Often times such plants will benefit from this relocation and be invigorated from fresh soil and fertilizer, plus increased attention.

Evaluate the plants in your garden to see that they are performing well. Go out with a notepad and keep track of how certain plants are performing throughout the year. If a plant doesn't seem to be suited to your garden, replace it with something better.

Pick native species for your garden. Obviously, this won't work for roses and fruit trees, but by choosing natives and adapted species for your garden, you will have to spend less time keeping your plants healthy and more time enjoying your garden.

Get beneficial "pets". Box turtles will eat slugs and snails, allowing you to avoid dangerous snail baits and traps. You can encourage owls to move into your yard with special-built houses.

Set a healthy watering system. This can change depending on your rainfall, average temperatures, and soil types. Many people set their sprinkler timers to water daily for 5-10 minutes at a time. This drowns the top 3" of soil, causing rot to set in, while at the same time leaves everything deeper than 5" dry. It is much better to soak the area for hours at a time, then follow up a week later.

In hot weather areas, mist plants to help protect them from heat stress. When coupled with a thick mulch and deep watering, any yard should be able to withstand 100F for quite a while.

None of these steps actually require any extra work on your part. In fact, by planning your garden with preventative pest control in mind, you can actually lower your work load by avoiding many difficult tasks required to deal with pest problems, and letting the plants pull their own weight.

Assistance from: http://www.forkandspade.com

Q. We live in a home in Portland, OR. It is composed of a concrete pad foundation and is a single story. We have been finding little black ants all over the house since we have moved in. Is there a way to control them without spreading any poisons?

A. This is a major problem of homeowners all over the world. I have collected these websites which furnish both products and good information on what you should know about the use of natural compounds safe for you and your family. It is a great source which has helped many folks. Good luck!

If you have bugs ranging from ants to spiders to flies, and do not wish top use harsh harmful pesticides, use Orange Guard for your pest control! If you have a pesticide service, demand that they use Orange Guard. Why? Because you care about the health of your planet, family, pets, birds and the lizards that you are lucky enough to have as your neighbors. All of Orange Guard's ingredients are on the FDA GRAS list (generally recognized as safe) and are food grade. Orange Guard is EPA registered in all 50 states (and Puerto Rico) with labeling that states that it may be used around food, humans and pets. It not only kills the insects you spray it on, but acts as a residual repellent, keeping bugs away. Finally we have an effective natural alternative to toxic pesticides!

http://www.orangeguard.com

Here are some more sites to go for info on natural control of ants, without pesticides and chemicals:

www.cetsolar.com/solarant.htm

www.pesticide.org/factsheets.html

www.extension.umn.edu/distribution/housingandclothing/components/1066a.html

www.ecopestcontrol.com/baitingweb.htm

www.pestman.freeyellow.com/methods.html

www.pestproducts.com/odor_genie.htm

www.pestproducts.com/pest_control_links.htm

www.school.invisiblegardener.com/school/classes/antsclass_basic.htm

www.antcharmer.com/infopage.html

www.altonweb.com/newsroom/gardenpatch/06302000.html

www.members.aol.com/rccouncil/ourpage/catalog.htm

Tamera writes~ I am having trouble with fungi in my yard, and want to try and take care of it organically. We are doing our best to grow an organic vegetable and flower garden for ourselves and for our beloved desert tortoise Mildred. We want her to be able to munch on anything in the back yard without getting sick. These are our problems:

1. We have toad stools growing in various places (under the orange tree, next to the broccoli, in with the lettuce). The orange tree has been planted for a while, but the lettuce and broccoli are in brand new raised beds that we just put in and just filled with topsoil. We were quite surprised to see the toad stools popping up!

2. Little tiny toad stools pop up in the grass that is planted in the tortoise compound (not good if she were to ingest them with the grass!)

3. Fungus is turning the front grass yellow in spots and also seem to be attacking a rose bush and a boxwood bush. We can put anything on the grass and boxwood as none of us eat those, but the roses are eaten by the tortoise, so again, we want to keep it organic if we can.

A. Organic fungicide and pesticide:

5 teaspoons of baking soda to 1 gallon of water is an effective fungicide that works especially well on Black Spot and Powdery Mildew. Kelp and Seaweed sprays work well as pesticides against spider mites, aphids, white flies, and thrips. Also a study was done in the 60's that the above also increases resistance to stress and frost.

Or:

CBF-2606 FUNGUS CONTROL CONTROLS FUNGAL DISEASE ON FRUIT, VEGETABLES, ROOT CROPS, GRAIN, GRASS.

Fungi are different from most plants in that they have a unique reproduction system, they do not utilize sunlight to produce energy and they do not photosynthesize. Fungi obtain their energy from three distinct sources: • Dead animal & plant material, in which case the fungus is known as a saprophyte. • Living things, which they infect, in which case the fungus is known as a parasite. • Living things, with which the fungi form a cooperative arrangement, e.g., the fungi encrust the roots of shrubs and in exchange, the shrubs supply the fungi with energy and protection.

CBF-2606 is a proprietary blend of macro and micro nutrients, amino acids, enzymes, proteins, vitamins and Beneficial Microorganisms (BM) formulated to control a wide range of fungi.

100% Organic • Totally natural - does not contain chemicals. • Broad spectrum. • Safe for all types of plants. • 100 percent water soluble. • Rain fast in one hour. • No withholding period. • Environmentally safe. • Nontoxic to animals, plants and humans.

• Accelerates the natural decomposition of dead plant and animal material thereby providing nutrients to the infected plant. The ingredients in CBF-2606 are materials and extracts derived from natural sedimentary deposits of organic origin. CBF-2606 is environmentally safe and is not harmful to animals, plants and humans.

CBF-2606 fungus control is highly concentrated and is intended to be diluted with water. Apply CBF-2606 when the risk of fungal disease is high. Application interval and application rate may vary depending upon environmental conditions and results required.

Apply as a fine mist until foliage is wet. Do not apply immediately before or after a rainfall. It is preferable to increase the frequency of applications rather than the concentration of solution.

http://ecochem.com/t_cbf.html

Diatom Dust $8

This organic dust will eliminate fleas and other hard-bodied pests from your home when sprinkled into the carpet where they hang out, party, and lay eggs. Those of us who have had an infestation know how miserable it can be, and how difficult it is to eradicate them once they have moved in. This works! Also used by organic gardeners to protect crops from bugs.

www.eco-store.com/petpro.html

They also carry aloe-based and/or 100% herbal organic soaps, powders and shampoos for your pets, which are safely used in the house.

Q. What is Neem oil? I am told it can be used as an organic pest control for fruit trees.

We use Neem oil as an organic pesticide against mealy bug and thrips on African violets. It is relatively safe to use, but follow instructions carefully and wash hands after each use. If you can, spray your plants outdoors if house plants, or spray outdoor plants, shrubs, trees on a calm cool day in the early AM so that the liquid evaporates off before the sunlight hits them.

Here is some reading material:

Plasma Neem Oil is extensively used as a base raw material in the preparation of cosmetics, health care products and medicinal preparations. We provide our customers with a free wall chart on the medicinal applications of Neem and other botanicals.

Plasma Neem Oil is used to protect plants and crops against pests. Add any suitable emulsifier to form a 0.5% emulsion and use as a foliar spray and soil drench spray on plants and crops. It is effective against insecticide-resistant pests, highly environmentally compatible, nontoxic to mammals and birds, and does not affect beneficial insects. There are no entry restrictions for the product, and it is thus ideal for integrated pest management programs.

Plasma Neem Oil has found wide acceptance as a base raw material in the preparation of cosmetics, beauty care and herbal medicinal products. It is effective to keep pets free from ticks and scab mites.

In the case of plant protection against pests, studies have found that pure Plasma Neem oil, diluted in water with an emulsifier is superior to formulations that 'artificially' fortify azadirachtin levels even up to 50,000 PPM.

The study was conducted against the pests:

Sucking pests: Aphid, Aphis gossypii, Jassid, Amrasca biguttula.
Fruit borers: Earias spp, Helicoverpa armigera.

Plasma Neem Oil is imported and used as a "liquid plant feed" or liquid fertilizer
Total Nitrogen 1.20% by mass
Phosphorus as p 0.07% by mass
Potassium as K 0.01% by mass
Magnesium as Mg 0.03% by mass
Copper as Cu 10 ppm
Magnesium, as Mn 0.40 ppm
Zinc as Zn 20.00 ppm
Iron content 14.00 ppm

Plasma Neem Oil is extremely simple to use as a foliar spray to control pests - just follow the instructions here. Four sets of instructions are provided here. Please click on the type of sprayer you are likely to use for the detailed step-by-step information.

http://www.plasmaneem.com/neem1.htm

Q. Maybe you can help me with a search. I heard about using red peppers to make a safe organic spray for bugs in my garden. Is this true?

A. You can make your own pepper insecticide spray, which is a good general insecticide and is especially effective against caterpillars. You will have to use this homemade spray more often than a chemical spray, since it is less effective, but also less toxic and much gentler on the environment. For your own
safety, wear gloves when handling peppers and pepper spray due to the natural chemical inside the peppers, usually the strongest in the seeds and the white fiber. Avoid squirting into your eyes, too.

Hot Pepper Spray Concentrate from Gardening Guide:

1 unpeeled onion
1 unpeeled head of garlic
1 tablespoon cayenne pepper
3 pints water

Chop onion and garlic and combine all ingredients in a saucepan. Simmer 20 minutes uncovered to allow hot vapors to absorb into the air. Cool and store in jars in the refrigerator for up to 6 weeks. Strain and store in jars. To use, dilute 1 Tablespoon of concentrate with 1 pint water. Add a squirt of dish soap [as Ivory or Joy].

I do not like using chemicals on my vegetables so what can you recommend?

A. There are a number of non-chemical sprays to try on insects. Some work better than others, so try a few and see what works for you. Safer's also makes a good Insecticidal Soap available at most garden centers. This is also a good spray to use:

3 unpeeled garlic heads
3 ounces liquid paraffin
1 tablespoon grated oil based soap (or Ivory Snow)
2 cups hot water

Crush garlic heads and add to paraffin in a small bowl. Let stand for 24 hours. Melt soap in hot water. Allow to cool. Add soap mixture to garlic mixture. Strain into a glass jar and store in refrigerator. To use insect spray, dilute 4 tablespoons of concentrate in 4 pints of water. Spray at least every two weeks until the problem has been eradicated.

Joan writes~ Great website! I live in Fairbanks, Alaska, where green things, (weeds included!), grow in abundance with our midnight sun. I have a large landscaped front yard with flower beds, stepping stones and pea gravel. In the middle of that is a 1,700 gal. fish pond filled with koi and goldfish. I have lots of pesky weeds (esp. chickweed and dandelions) growing between the stepping stones and gravel, and need a weed killer safe for the fish and our three dogs. The remainder of our yard is in a natural state, full of birch, aspen and white spruce. I want to use something natural, non-chemical and effective because I am tired of spending my summer manually weeding.

A. Sadly, the safest method for weed killing is hand-picking and keeping the area well-mulches, as with broken peanut shells. Cut down on water and fertilizer in the weed areas. Cover them with organic aged compost. It is best to check with a tropical fish store, as any advice here is not based on the study of fish.

Check out: BurnOut Weed & Grass Killer 24 oz Concentrate

BioScape Bio-Weed - 1 Ton 25 lb Bags http://store.arbico-organics.com/organic-gardening-farming-weed-disease-control-weed.html

Three parts vinegar with one part dishwashing soap kills many types of weeds. Read: http://www.landsteward.com/page.cfm/3469

HGTV has some articles which may be of value: http://www.hgtv.com/hgtv/gl_plants_weeds/0,1784,HGTV_3617,00.html

SirNoble writes~
Where do you fine or purchase the 10% to 20% acid vinegar? The regular store only carry 5%.

A. Check Lowe's. It is usually available at organic nurseries, too. The 10% strength can be found at places that sell canning and pickling supplies [jars, pectin, etc]. Or, buy 5% grocery store food grade apple cider vinegar. Use more in your tea or spray recipe, to mimic the 20% grade [quadruple the amount used]. All vinegars can be used as herbicides at full strength. All natural vinegars are acidic fertilizers if used diluted (1-2T/gallon water or compost tea). Some Asian markets carry 25% vinegar. Please be sure to wear goggles, plastic gloves, long sleeved shirt and pants when applying this mixture as it is acid and can irritate your skin or burn your eyes.