I for one, am a intermediate gardener. However I get useful hints from people all the time. My co-worker told me to kill pest and other things by using watered down dish soap. [Dawn, Etc.] DON'T DO THIS. Its like saying use windex to cure the mumps... It just does not work and well the leafs on all my beefsteaks [Indetermanites] are all dead except the tip tops of them.... However the plants looks like a 7 foot tall vine. The plant is still fairly healthy. All of the lower and mid sections are dead and are now, after watering consistantly. Growing back. What ever your friends tell you or your mom says. NEVER USE SOAPY WATER to kill anything.. except a hard worked, growing tomato plant. Just a warning no matter how stupid it sounds.
Kris
Edit: It was actually Detergent I used.
*I left the top saying/questions untouched but added this statment*
Well, sorry, but Dawn is NOT A SOAP. It is a DETERGENT. And yes, it will harm your plants.
Use a SOAP--Ivory Liquid? Safer Insecticidal Soap (properly diluted)?
Heck, just keep those slivers of bath soap and soak 'em in water for use on insects when the time arises.
I use SOAP in water and spray it on aphids and, while they don't 100% die immediately, it definitely knocks them back.
Sorry your plants did so poorly. Please use SOAP and not DETERGENT next time; they have completely different molecular interactions.
Cynthia H.
USDA Zone 9, Sunset Zone 17
Use a SOAP--Ivory Liquid? Safer Insecticidal Soap (properly diluted)?
Heck, just keep those slivers of bath soap and soak 'em in water for use on insects when the time arises.
I use SOAP in water and spray it on aphids and, while they don't 100% die immediately, it definitely knocks them back.
Sorry your plants did so poorly. Please use SOAP and not DETERGENT next time; they have completely different molecular interactions.
Cynthia H.
USDA Zone 9, Sunset Zone 17
Well the plants did get shocked. But I never had so many tomatoes in my cupboard. Resilliant little guys. The main reason I sprayed them in the first place was to kill the fungus on the leaves that had accumulated. I'm putting more manure in next year. they sure love that sandy mix on the sloping hill at my house.
Oh BTW El Cerito? Hated it up there, lived in San Rafael and worked in Inverness (Marin County) hated every week of it. (:
Oh BTW El Cerito? Hated it up there, lived in San Rafael and worked in Inverness (Marin County) hated every week of it. (:
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Reptilicus
- Cool Member
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- Joined: Mon Mar 31, 2008 12:23 pm
- Location: So. Georgia, USA
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smokensqueal
- Green Thumb
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- Joined: Thu Jun 26, 2008 1:36 pm
- Location: St. Louis, MO Metro area
humm chemicals not fun. When I found out that we had worms in my tomato plants I went a hunting. In about a total of 15 minutes I found 4 worms. Well the kids found one. And there's nothing more fun then grabing that worm and smashing them. The kids even did it and thought it was funny.
Can't do that with chemicals. Haven't had any worms on them since.
Can't do that with chemicals. Haven't had any worms on them since.
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american_gardener
- Full Member
- Posts: 22
- Joined: Sun Sep 14, 2008 10:03 pm
- Location: New Baltimore, Mich. Zone 5b
Kristofer...
I for one appreciate you trying to warn people about using the dish soap/detergent.
I see that I'm not the only one who couldn't tell that there was a differnce between dish soap and detergent. And I don't think the average person would even give it a second thought either. I used the detergent years ago cause I read bout it in a book by Jerry Baker. Nowhere in that book did it say anything bout there being a difference in what ya use. Short story.. it ended up killing most all of my cucumber plants.
And for what? The soap dosen't do anything to keep insects from feeding on your plants. The worst it would do is give em a case of diahrea like it does humans. The only reason to use soap in a homemade spray for feeding insects is to act as a spreading and sticking agent. And there's plenty of other safer things ya could use for that.
Now dish "soap" is used to make a spray to use directly on insects. Course again the books don't tell ya you have to spray each and every insect in order for it to do anything. Insects breathe thru their skins.. and the soap suffocates em when you spray it on em... it don't do a bit of good to spray on the plants other than as stated above for a spreading agent. It does work well for suffocating em.. and for certain insects such as aphids it does work well. But, now here's something they don't tell ya in books either... you're supposed to rinse it off with clean water after the bugs are dead. Spray it on.. Rinse it off..
I guess I'm just not a big fan of using something that is so dangerous to the plants.. and yeah.. even "dish soap" can kill the plants in anything over a few drops per mix. And it makes no sense to me to be using it for no reason...
Thanks for trying to warn people Kris.. and I'm glad your tomatoes came back.. that's at least good you used it on tomatoes instead of cucumbers. Tomato plants only need three leaves on top to produce fruit, cucumbers don't do well without leaves.
Dave
I for one appreciate you trying to warn people about using the dish soap/detergent.
I see that I'm not the only one who couldn't tell that there was a differnce between dish soap and detergent. And I don't think the average person would even give it a second thought either. I used the detergent years ago cause I read bout it in a book by Jerry Baker. Nowhere in that book did it say anything bout there being a difference in what ya use. Short story.. it ended up killing most all of my cucumber plants.
And for what? The soap dosen't do anything to keep insects from feeding on your plants. The worst it would do is give em a case of diahrea like it does humans. The only reason to use soap in a homemade spray for feeding insects is to act as a spreading and sticking agent. And there's plenty of other safer things ya could use for that.
Now dish "soap" is used to make a spray to use directly on insects. Course again the books don't tell ya you have to spray each and every insect in order for it to do anything. Insects breathe thru their skins.. and the soap suffocates em when you spray it on em... it don't do a bit of good to spray on the plants other than as stated above for a spreading agent. It does work well for suffocating em.. and for certain insects such as aphids it does work well. But, now here's something they don't tell ya in books either... you're supposed to rinse it off with clean water after the bugs are dead. Spray it on.. Rinse it off..
I guess I'm just not a big fan of using something that is so dangerous to the plants.. and yeah.. even "dish soap" can kill the plants in anything over a few drops per mix. And it makes no sense to me to be using it for no reason...
Thanks for trying to warn people Kris.. and I'm glad your tomatoes came back.. that's at least good you used it on tomatoes instead of cucumbers. Tomato plants only need three leaves on top to produce fruit, cucumbers don't do well without leaves.
Dave
Yea, I wont make that mistake this next year. Has been along time since I posted here, just remembered my account info hehe.
My next year; I'm going to grow 10 times as many tomatoes. Mostly beefsteaks. But Romas sound delish for the ketchup or sauce mix. I made ketchup this year with the remainder of my Beefs and Cherry tomatoes. Man those guys were resiliant and #$%^#. lol. I hope this next year they will be too.
I got a idea going. My entire hill is great soil. So why not put some manure on it all after it till it up and then till it again. Make some boards to retain the water and let seed turn into tomato.
Now I also love... Let me refrase this... LOVE spicy peppers. The site I'm thinking of getting them from this year is https://www.thehippyseedcompany.com I like there honesty and raw info which is to me very honest in the best possible way. Anyways. My habinerio's last year produced a truck load of fruit. I made my neighbors sick of capcasin. (However you spell it) I made 6 jars of hot sauce, of course with my tomatoes. 5 of which were medium to hot. and one pure habinero, mixed with onion, tomatoes, no spices pure raw. My brother wont forgive me for taste testing to this day lol
I'm off to Lowes on payday to get me what I need for next years crop. Maybe I should sell this stuff? heh maybe not.... -_-
Kristofer
My next year; I'm going to grow 10 times as many tomatoes. Mostly beefsteaks. But Romas sound delish for the ketchup or sauce mix. I made ketchup this year with the remainder of my Beefs and Cherry tomatoes. Man those guys were resiliant and #$%^#. lol. I hope this next year they will be too.
I got a idea going. My entire hill is great soil. So why not put some manure on it all after it till it up and then till it again. Make some boards to retain the water and let seed turn into tomato.
Now I also love... Let me refrase this... LOVE spicy peppers. The site I'm thinking of getting them from this year is https://www.thehippyseedcompany.com I like there honesty and raw info which is to me very honest in the best possible way. Anyways. My habinerio's last year produced a truck load of fruit. I made my neighbors sick of capcasin. (However you spell it) I made 6 jars of hot sauce, of course with my tomatoes. 5 of which were medium to hot. and one pure habinero, mixed with onion, tomatoes, no spices pure raw. My brother wont forgive me for taste testing to this day lol
I'm off to Lowes on payday to get me what I need for next years crop. Maybe I should sell this stuff? heh maybe not.... -_-
Kristofer