Organic Pesticide

[Kodiak]

Anyone have a good organic pesticide recipe for the garden? Our swiss chard is being chewed up by a swarm of brown beetle type bugs. We're trying to keep the garden organic so a store bought bug killer is our last resort. Ive found a few recipes online, the basic pepper, garlic, onion and dish soap mixture but was wondering if anyone has had any luck with something different.

[helomech]

You can try diatomaceous earth. Works good, but washes away with rain. It can be bought at any feed store, and is safe to eat.

http://www.richsoil.com/diatomaceous-earth.jsp

[ladyhk13]

I've been having a problem with ants eating my ghost peppers and I met momabear up at our local store who told me to use a combination water/borax and either sugar or honey (borax tastes bad so the sweetness is needed). Maybe it would work for you as well?

[momabear]

try putting borax 1 part borax 3 parts suger and h2o spray on plants works on ants to .. for ants i take a soda boodle and poke holes in the top and put the same mix in and put it in there line works on fire ants to takes a bit of time and will bring them in from all over the yard hope it helps...

[Evolver]

Bacillus Thuringiensis (Bt) works well for any leaf eater and can be found at any hardware/garden center. Justa and I tried 25 or so different home remedies to no avail, we bit the bullet and stepped out of the home remedy box and life is much easer now. (Bt) is Organic approved and works very well.

Spray just before dark after the bees are gone and say goodbye to dirty rotten leaf eaters. Sap suckers a a different whole story. :mad:

[Evolver]

I've been having a problem with ants eating my ghost peppers and I met momabear up at our local store who told me to use a combination water/borax and either sugar or honey (borax tastes bad so the sweetness is needed). Maybe it would work for you as well?

It might be aphids that are damaging your peppers... ants will carry adult aphids to new growth, protect them so they can grow in numbers and in turn the aphids produces a sugary threat for the ant to feed on... it's a symbiotic relationship for sure.

https://encrypted-tbn3.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcRX9Tht62gZ9c055MXUp6Q0zdzqJaACU 7IZtueQ_jdwYpt3q5Zr

https://encrypted-tbn1.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcQcNE7tith1W4K9sD0IndUAWPtPddsAJ IaGd-RhX0tuWc8DR71CTg

[bacpacker]

Bt is a very effective method. It works much better when used very early on the pest. Not so well once they get established. It also breaks down very quickly is sunlight, measured in a few days. Certainly less than a week. Rain kills it very quickly and will need to be reapplied.

[Evolver]

Bt is a very effective method. It works much better when used very early on the pest. Not so well once they get established. It also breaks down very quickly is sunlight, measured in a few days. Certainly less than a week. Rain kills it very quickly and will need to be reapplied.

Anything that consumes leafs that has active Bt on it will die from the inside out. Like BP said UV will make it non-active in 24 to 48 hr so.. spray just before sundown and not when rain is in the near forecast. IMHO It's the best "Organic" leaf eater control out there hands down.

[Evolver]

Aphids are sap suckers along with others... just two name a few... Stinkbugs, mites and white flies that feed from the inside of the plant (like how the mosquito draws blood) are MUCH harder to repale or kill using a organic on contact killer. Bt has no affect on the dirty rotten sap suckers!

[Evolver]

Neem Oil?.... Been there done that... no thanks! :)

[ak474u]

There is a product that gets a lot of mentions on local garden shows around here called cedarcide. It's a cedar derivative, and supposedly works well.

[Daca102090]

Has anyone tried soaking old tobacco in water to leach out the nicotene and then use the water as a spray?
I seem to remember reading that on farms, cigarett butts were often thrown into a jar of water for that purpose during the depression.

[ak474u]

Has anyone tried soaking old tobacco in water to leach out the nicotene and then use the water as a spray?
I seem to remember reading that on farms, cigarett butts were often thrown into a jar of water for that purpose during the depression.

Lots of pesticides have nicotine derivatives in them nowadays, so I wouldn't be surprised if that works.