So in my search for bacillus thuringiensis or "BT" for my cabbage looper problem on my brussel sprouts and soon to be on my cabbage very very soon I went to Ace Hardware, you know the one with the commercials where they seem to "know everything". They hadn't ever heard of it or knew it existed. I hope my beatiful cabbage doesn't turn to "lace" soon because I can't find this stuff!
So I figured I'd search tonight while I'm bored at work and check the big 3 Lowes, Menards and Home Depot. Home Depot has it, but its not stocked locally of course and I have to buy $45 of stuff for free shipping. I'd go there this morn but I'm sure it'll take 7 days to get in and by then my plants will have gotten the next batch of hungry cabbage loopers. Seems like Lowes and Menards carry nothing of the sort.
In general it seems to me that most of the stores are pushing chemicals, the few organic alternatives you see or don't see are rare and far and few between. What is it? I mean this is my first year gardening EVER and I'm concluding that people actually like or don't seem to mind spraying chemicals on their food that they intend to eat! To me its crazy.
At the local greenhouse I think the "organic" section consisted of two bottles and when I asked her about if they had a hydroponic section or organic section for fertilizer she glared and said no, as if I'm some of criminal for asking about hydroponics.
I have one last chance and I'm headed to the wine and beer grower's store I'm praying that he'll have what I need on hand in stock.
As long as I'm ranting here I might as well keep going on about the $60 soil test I turned in 11 days ago now and still don't have any results back yet!!
I think I'm going to go weeding my garden in the morn and take out some stress, I bought one of those "garden weasals" from Lewis the other day, I'll see if it works or break it either way the weeds are getting it I don't care what the caterillars, slugs grasshoppers say!!
I think I'll head to the farmers market sometime and inquire on where in the heck they get their supplies at or if their stuff is even organic or not.
Sorry I'm just frustrated this morning, something like BT should be easy to find in a city of 165,000 people in the biggest city in the state of South Dakota!
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rainbowgardener
- Super Green Thumb
- Posts: 25279
- Joined: Sun Feb 15, 2009 6:04 pm
- Location: TN/GA 7b
Yeah, you won't find anything organic in the big box stores - selling you chemicals is WAY more expensive (for you) and keeps you coming back over and over. I'm surprised at the greenhouse. What you want (and I don't know if you have there in your small town*) is a good local plant nursery. Bt is sold under brand names like Dipel , Thuricide, Foray, Bioprotec, and others. I'm sure you could order it on line, which might not help you right now, but then you would have it on hand for next time.
*Sorry, but the Cincinnati metro area is something like 2.5 million and we are only a medium sized city.
*Sorry, but the Cincinnati metro area is something like 2.5 million and we are only a medium sized city.
Even when we lived in Berkeley, the (supposed) center of Everything Organic in the World (just ask 'em; they'll tell you), it was difficult to find organic supplies in the beginning. Stores didn't know what was IN their stock. "Rose spray? Yeah, over on aisle X." But what was IN the rose spray? No idea at all.
Imagine my surprise a couple of years ago when I looked at the rose spray DH had purchased at (maybe) Ace Hardware or OSH. Its active ingredient was azadirachtin, as I posted here in early July:
"Neem hides in many places. The active chemical in neem is azadirachtin. I didn't even know I had neem in my possession until I found out the "azadirachtin" bit; I had a Greenlight brand "Rose Defense" spray whose active ingredient was azadirachtin. Dilute X amount of Rose Defense to Y amount of water, spray, etc."
I know for a fact that, if I had gone into that store asking for "neem," the assistants would have said, "Sorry, no; we don't sell that." So sometimes we have to do their work for them: either by reading the labels and finding "bacillus thuringiensis" or "azadirachtin" on them, or by starting from the active principle and finding out what product names include them.
Berkeley has 100,000 people during the school year; approx. 38,000 during the summer. The Bay Area has several million. And we still have to do their homework for them. I didn't even bother with Home Despot, Lowest, or any of those guys.
Cynthia H.
Sunset Zone 17, USDA Zone 9
Imagine my surprise a couple of years ago when I looked at the rose spray DH had purchased at (maybe) Ace Hardware or OSH. Its active ingredient was azadirachtin, as I posted here in early July:
"Neem hides in many places. The active chemical in neem is azadirachtin. I didn't even know I had neem in my possession until I found out the "azadirachtin" bit; I had a Greenlight brand "Rose Defense" spray whose active ingredient was azadirachtin. Dilute X amount of Rose Defense to Y amount of water, spray, etc."
I know for a fact that, if I had gone into that store asking for "neem," the assistants would have said, "Sorry, no; we don't sell that." So sometimes we have to do their work for them: either by reading the labels and finding "bacillus thuringiensis" or "azadirachtin" on them, or by starting from the active principle and finding out what product names include them.
Berkeley has 100,000 people during the school year; approx. 38,000 during the summer. The Bay Area has several million. And we still have to do their homework for them. I didn't even bother with Home Despot, Lowest, or any of those guys.
Cynthia H.
Sunset Zone 17, USDA Zone 9