AmaLee
Newly Registered
Posts: 1
Joined: Sun Mar 05, 2017 2:05 pm

Pesticide Mistake

I am very knew to indoor gardening, and gardening in general. I made the terrible mistake of using Ortho pesticides on my plants when my maple shrub got spider mites. Including my Thyme, and I love to use Thyme in my cooking but now I'm afraid to. Is there anyway to clean up my Thyme or do I need to grow a new one for cooking purposes?

imafan26
Mod
Posts: 13962
Joined: Tue Jan 01, 2013 8:32 am
Location: Hawaii, zone 12a 587 ft elev.

What did you use. Read the label on the bottle and see if it lasts a week or a year and the plants that are listed. You can contact the ortho helpline and ask. But you will probably get the same information that is already on the label since the label is the law. Herbs are usually not listed on most pesticides labels and are not tested because they usually are not recommended to be sprayed.
https://www.ortho.com/smg/gosite/Ortho- ... cale=en_US

If you want it to be organic, you would have to wait 3 years regardless.

You should always read the labels before you use any pesticides. I try to limit what I use but sometimes mistakes happen so I keep my different products separated. Fungicides have their own dedicated sprayer that is labeled for fungicides. Horticultural oil, 3 in 1 spray, alcohol, insecticidal soap, daconil each have their own spray bottle that are clearly labeled. I keep the weed killers separated from insecticides and I use a Round Up pump sprayer for weeds since it is easy to see the printed label. I have some pesticides I have not used in years but I have to wait for the hazardous waste collection to get rid of them. My sister keeps dropping them off at my house and I don't use them. I have malathion, seven, diazinon, and isotox. Malathion and Sevin I have used in the past and if I get desperate I might use them again but I have not needed them in years. Diazinon is good for ant control but it very toxic and was voluntarily removed from the market as well as isotox.



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