Organic pest repellent question - white flies, aphids...

[mrsgreenthumbs]

So I ran across a Youtube video with a simple kind of pest repellent spray how to kind of thing going on. any whozle I tried making a big batch... let's just say I wound up with 2ed degree burns all over the front of me, I'm a clutz. So I was woundering I have a Hibiscus bush that is FOREVER infested with white flies and apheds and ant's. Id like to use this spray (or what's left -sheesh-) on the bush out front to avoid it from infecting the rest of my garden.

Any tips or hints. And can I use this mix on my veggie garden?

Pest repellent:

1 cup dawn dish soap
2 cups chopped dried peppers
a hand full of chopped garlic
boiling water

allow to set for a week at least then simply spray on plant's

[Toil]

you might consider the integrated pest management approach. Check it out.

You are using soap now. How often? Your application schedule is everything, and people like me have to use an electronic reminder. When you follow the schedule it works.

Try oil next.

Then neem oil.

Last resort pyrethrin.

For the ants, I'm conflicted. If you make it a bad spot for ants and aphids you will send them packing. On the other hand sometimes I just put out a boric acid and honey bait inside a spice jar with holes in the lid.


Most important of all, you have to figure out what is making the plant susceptible. Sadly, I think the answer is often "this plant is out of place".

[soil]

make some liquid stinging nettles, aphids and white flies hate it. once the aphids are gone so will the ants because ants farm aphids. a foliar spray once a week for the first few weeks should be good, then once or twice a month from there on out is best.

[bigdoug]

You know, I really wanted to dislike Neem oil at first. Mainly for the fact that I get very leery when someone raves about a product that promises multiple cure-alls. But I used it last year from the get go and it really was effective at both bug suppression and as a fungicide. I did not have near the infestation of leaf feeders that I've had in previous years. And for all the early blight that was going around in my area, I did not have one bullseye blotch on one single leaf.

So my suggestion would be to use Neem Oil.

[Toil]

i love my neem oil, but i don't believe it's been proven harmless. In particular I have conerns about neem drenched pollen and native bees. It also seems to be pretty broad spectrum as a fungicide, and 90% of fungi are good, especially near the surface. So I am trying to use it only after I have tried vegetable oil and soap, and only if the infestation is harming my food.

[rainbowgardener]

Different variations of this recipe have been posted here a number of times.

A cup of dish soap seems like a whole lot, maybe you were making gallons of liquid?

I don't like to make huge batches, not having acreage to deal with. I just make it up when I need it.

So I would use a teaspoon or less of soap (make sure it is soap not detergent)
hot peppers or just a teaspoon of hot pepper sauce
few cloves of chopped garlic

I also add some onion, some tomato leaves, and any other aromatics around (mint, tansy etc) A little bit of salad oil helps it stick to the leaves.

3-4 cups of water (hot from the tap is fine, doesn't need to be boiling-- save yourself the burns! ). Blend it up in blender and let it sit for a few hours. Then strain it out and spray.

Works well, but especially if adding tomato leaves, nicotiana (tobacco) leaves, or pyrethrins, these are real insecticides and could be harmful to beneficial insects too. Don't spray it over your whole garden, just spot spray where there's a real problem.

It's all edibles so sure, use it on your veggies.

[Toil]

Works well, but especially if adding tomato leaves, nicotiana (tobacco) leaves

tobacco. that's what I use when I am just plain mad.

[mrsgreenthumbs]

Yes Rainbowgardener I was making a bit more than a gallon of the stuff and I planned on using it as preventative measure for my new seedlings (after i give them just a bit more time to develop) and the house I rent currently came with a wonderful old hibiscus bush the only problem is it is planted practically on top of an ant hill that goes UNDER our home. the bush get's LOADED with white flies and aphids and moldy looking stuff every year within a month or two it's chalk full! I have put down orange peels, baby powder, I have sprayed with water with nicotine in it (my husband is a chain smoker so the butt's were there waiting to be used, I won't EVER do that again though) I finally went out and bought ant bait steaks and created a barrier around my new vegetable patch and even around the bush. There seems to be at least 2 colony's one in the front under the house and one in the back. They are a constant battle. In and out of my house. I'm going to try the spray this weekend and put some chilies and maybe try the honey mix too. I just can't see doing all the planning and working and hovering all this time for those darn ant's to come wreck it all with their own farming incentives. MY GARDEN BUSTER BACK OFF!!! Oh and I'm planting garlic every place I can stick the suckers!

It's WAR now!

[applestar]

Ouch and ouch. If you're spraying seedlings, make sure to dilute it. Tender young indoor seedling leaves will not be able to handle the same strength solution as shrubbery leaves and vegetables that have been growing outside for a while.

Is Dawn REALLY soap? I'm suspicious. Detergent will burn foliage.

[mrsgreenthumbs]

It's the liquid dawn dish soap but I'll double check now before I start spraying.

[Toil]

what are you hoping to prevent with the soap?

Ants:

As I see it there are three types of ants:

1)sugar eaters
2)protein eaters
3)mystery crazy ants.

Your aphid ants are after sugar. get them to eat honey and boric acid (organic, and you get it at the hardware store), and the nest is gone.

protein ants can be had the same way, but with peanut butter instead of honey.

mystery crazy ants I just can't figure out. They chop down my seedlings outside. Looks like they are clearing the area, not eating.



Those ants are on your turf by coming in the home. They would show you no mercy, show them none. Boric acid.

By mixing it up yourself, you can keep trying new foods until you get them. Plus you can make a gazillion traps for the price of a pack on ant stakes.

[Tigerlilylynn]

So they are felling the forest but leaving it behind?

[Toil]

oh it's creepy.

they take some, leave others. Like they are just clearing, but still taking what's useful.

and they just ignore sugar. As if they are leafcutter ants.

[applestar]

Are you sure it's ants chopping down seedlings? Mention felled uneaten seedlings and I think cutworms, though it's a bit early for them to be out and about. Another culprit in *my* garden are rabbits who sample and spit out what they don't like.

[Tigerlilylynn]

0_o I know there are ants that herd aphids, I wonder if any of them harvest food and take it to them? But then they'd go for the sugar. I can't think of any reason they'd be building with them.

edit: I hope applestar is right, much less creepy.

[Toil]

Are you sure it's ants chopping down seedlings? Mention felled uneaten seedlings and I think cutworms, though it's a bit early for them to be out and about. Another culprit in *my* garden are rabbits who sample and spit out what they don't like.

they were creepy and fascinating and I watched them do it.



they also steal seeds, and do all manner of mischievous things. If you watch a random patch of earth for a while, you will see ants up to all kinds of work.

The poster spoke of them fighting each other, I've watched that. Little red ones vs. big black ones on a log. The size difference was vast, but the reds were doing some serious damage. Big black ones would grab a little red, chomp it, and let it tumble away. But the reds were in vast numbers, like a tidal wave. Like the Romans moving in to Gaul.

they are like creepy little insect fascists.

[The Helpful Gardener]

Toil I hate to say it, but maybe carpenters?


MGT, first of all, hibiscus is whitefly bait. ESPECIALLY when it's all juiced up on liquid nitrogen. Are you feeding chemical fertilizers? And I suspect the ants showed up BECAUSE of the aphids; ready food source from all that honey dew (which is also causing that sooty mold). So first we get rid of the aphids and whiteflies. I think the mix you are trying is fine for a start but always be ready with the next level of control. Your signature line is sweet, but bugs have developed since the good old days and are getting tougher all the time, which is why we don't want them to get accustomed to anything we are using...

toils borax weapons are a great follow up as they do take the poison right into the nest. You can also start messing with the ants by using cinnamon around their entry holes; this breaks the chemical communications they use to tell each other about food sources and such. Think of it as cutting their phonelines. I used this with great success last year both here when the little sugar ants started to find their way indoors, and at Mom's outside around the pool. Stick with it and you can really confuse them enough to where they leave. Those little marching lines disinegrate into chaos...


Keep us informed...

HG