garden safe

[mainey34]

Got some questions for the experts.....
I've planted some things in my garden for my sulcata. Some romain, turnip greens, cucumbers, melons, greens mixture, broccoli, and some collard greens, to name a few. Anyways. They are planted in organic soil. And we all know that with gardening outside comes pests. I have Neem Oil Extract, which is organic. But here are some questions I have... after I spray the plants. How long should I wait before feeding?
Do you think this will be the safest thing? Or is there something else you think I should try?

 

[Levi the Leopard]

may i ask why you want to spray the garden for pests/bugs at all?

 

[mainey34]

Because the bugs are eating the leaves of my plants...

 

[wellington]

Maybe you can spray the leaves with a dish soap mixture. Soap and water. Then before you let them at it your can wash them with water. Most likely, dawn dish washing soap would be the safest. See what others say about your stuff and the dish soap.

 

[mainey34]

I was thinking about that also, I might give that a try first, but I had this neem oil here and it specifically says organic on it. That's why I question it.

 

[wellington]

Does it list ingredients? If so, give us a run down.

---

This is one of the company replies back to someone that used it.

We're happy to hear that you used Garden Safe Brand Neem Oil Extract Concentrate effectively against insects on your cilantro plants. This product is a great choice for organic gardening. The warnings are due to the level of active ingredient in the concentrate (it's 70 percent because it must be diluted before use). Most other neem-based products are “ready to use." The “Hazards to Humans and Domestic Animals” statement on the package is standard required language on all pesticide products. While we can't disclose our formula for this product, we can send you in the direction of the MSDS, which lists any potentially hazardous ingredients: http://www.gardensafe.com/~/media/G...

This statement
(The “Hazards to Humans and Domestic Animals” statement on the package is standard required language on all pesticide products) and the fact they won't list all the ingredients is why I wouldn't use it. I have seen too many animals badly affected by animal safe products.

 

[CDNPyxis]

Organic does not mean that it is necessarily good for you, just that it does not contain manufactured chemicals, having said that it does not seem to be dangerous, apparently has no know danger to animals. Since it is an oil it should degrade fairly quickly and it would probably be safe to feed out plants that have not been sprayed in the past couple of days. But, all reccomendations that I have seen are to not take it internally, that is probably just be an FDA thing. I have not seen any warnings about not eating vegetables sprayed with Neem oil as a pesticide.

What insects are you getting? I agree with the dish soap idea, if you are getting bigger bugs and things like scale, adding vegetable oil to the dish soap really helps, but you have to hit the insects directly to cover them with oil.

 

[mainey34]

Thank you for the info, now you are going to make me do my homework.. I have to look up the bugs. One I'm not sure of but, they are munching on my turnip greens. The other is like worms in the leaves of my cukes.

 

[mainey34]

OK, so I've looked it up and I have leaf miners in the garden. Which is going to pretty much wipe out all the stuff I planted for my sully if I don't do something fast. Guess I'll have to do some of my own researching.wished someone here could of helped. Thx for trying

 

[Cowboy_Ken]

Another fun thing to do with insect pests is to squish the pest and sort of smear it on the leaf. This is really effective. I believe the mangled bodies act as a warning to the pests of the same. If you can collect, say 1/4 cup of said pests and mix with 1cup water in a blender you can use it as a spray. This works great! I'm not funnin'.

 

[mainey34]

OK Cowboy, this is great.. but I really don't want to sit and pick bugs. If you want..come on over and get them..lol..

 

[sibi]

I would go with the Dawn soapy water solution.

 

[mainey34]

I'm going to try it but upon reading , leafminers are very hard to kill or get rid of so hopefully I don't have to start over. Cause that would just suk........

 

[CDNPyxis]

Unfortunately the soap is not going to do anything for the larvae currently in the leaes, they are protected there, even your Neem probably would not help. It will however help prevent new eggs from being laid.

You may want to take off all the affected leaves now and feed them out and let the plants come back while spraying them with soap and oil and water. That will prevent the larvae that you have from hatching out into flies and perpetuating this.

Craig

 

[mainey34]

I have been pulling the affected leaves. But wasn't sure exactly how they got there. So there are eggs that are on the leaves? OK. I will start the process. Thank you very much. Now, how often do you think I should spray? And is it OK to feed after spraying? Of course I will rinse...

 

[CDNPyxis]

So long as you use vegetable oil and a good mild biodegradable soap with no additives like anti-bacterial agents etc. (Dawn, Sunlight) then they are absolutely safe.

There are many different types of leaf miners, they could be moths or flies so you are still not really sure what you have. What oil does is suffocates the adults and some eggs, larvae and pupae. Insects breathe through the spaces in their protective skeleton, so if you fill those spaces with oil they cant breathe. The soap helps to break the oil up into tiny little drops. The soap will also strip away protective oils on some eggs and insects and cause then to dehydrate.

So when you are spraying, it is important that you spray underneath the leaves, as whatever you are spraying has to cover the insect.

I would spray at least once a week, and after any rain, but you can do it as often as you like.

Craig

 

[mainey34]

Well, thank you to all who have given their input. I have sprayed the plants and am crossing my fingers it works.