New Years Resolution, More Natural Pest Control

[kevinkimers]

The use of chemical pest control is not just bad for the pest, it is bad for us and our environment. So as gardeners it is imperative for us to do the responsible thing and attempt to keep our pest control as natural and safe as possible. I read this article that talks about this and also talks about different methods that you can try. Do you have any other ideas of natural pest control methods that work?

 

[Gina145]

I'm still trying to learn about natural replacement for chemicals both in the garden and in my house. I don't often use insecticides and I only use organic fertilizers. But I've still got a lot to learn, so that's a good resolution for 2015.

 

[R.R.]

I've only been gardening for a year, but I've never used anything that wasn't organic. The reason I started gardening is to avoid GMOs and insecticides at the store, so I knew I didn't want to poison the plants that I wanted to eat later.

 

[kevinkimers]

What are some natural means of pesticide do you use? I know there are some types of plants you can plant with your gardens that cats and dogs will not go near and I can't recall what they are called. I also know there are types of plants you can plant that certain bugs will avoid also.

 

[roadrunner]

I don't use pest control chemicals, natural or otherwise. However, I've been keeping an eye on what's going on with the neonicotinoids ban in Europe, since 2014. I'm on the fence with this issue, only because (as I indicated before) I have no experience in this issue.

Any thoughts?

With the 'bee crisis' fading and European farmers fearing an insect invasion, EU's neonicotinoid ban fiasco stumbles into the New Year

The future of a controversial agricultural pesticide remains in limbo, thanks to scientific uncertainty and political malfeasance.

geneticliteracyproject.org

Excerpt:

...the European Union issued a moratorium in 2014 on their use. Since then, farmers in England have turned to other pesticides, which has turned out to be problematic ecologically for bees.

One possible alternative to neonicotinoids is the organophosphate category of insecticides, including chlorpyrifos. These insecticides are are far more toxic to humans than neonicotinoids according to the Environmental Protection Agency. The EPA writes that while thirty-six such pesticides are presently registered for use in the US, “All can potentially cause acute and subacute toxicity.”

The other major alternative adopted by desperate farmers, and blessed by anti-neonic activists are pyrethroid pesticides, which are derived from two species of asters and currently permitted in organic agriculture. Pyrethroid insecticides are supposedly low in toxicity to mammals and birds, but as the Washington Post has reported, it turns out they are highly toxic to most insects, including beneficial insects like honeybees; in fact they are considered farm more harmful to bees than any neonic. An oft quoted study published in 2015 in Chemosphere found that sublethal doses of pyrethroids reduced the movement and social interaction of honey bees...

 

[treeguy]

Proving once again, there are no easy answers, only easy questions.

 

[DirtMechanic]

I think there are some areas that are understudied when it comes to bugs. It is not always necessary to kill everything when you could just lie to them and accomplish the same goal. Bugs have senses, such as smell, and are famous for compound eyes, which cue color frequencies. I speculate that scented coatings on plants and light frequency manipulation by coatings on plants or nearby light frequency emitters would have a strong dissuasion effect on bugs.

 

[treeguy]

I speculate that they still make white lightening in your parts....

 

[DirtMechanic]

Not wrong. And some of the fellows here in the land of Southern BBQ even smoke whisky.

Last year I was using some stinky thyme oil product that in some ways blew away the neem oil I had used prior. I was not after bugs at the time, mainly fungi, but I definitely noticed the bug difference, and in reading, came across ideas about masking olfactory trails some bugs use to find their favorite plants in my garden. Like ants following a scent trail I guess.

 

[treeguy]

Dirt- You got it! I see the method in your madness. Critters find stuff with their nose: squirrels find buried acorns when they crack open and begin to grow, not because they "remember" where they buried them, which is a foolish concept. Pigs and truffles; aphids pass up lots of plants that other insects find tasty to get to your roses; most insects fly upwind following the scent of their target like bloodhounds.

I have a problem with white fly on my tomatoes every year. I think I'm going to put a few mothballs in a container protected from rain and hang in in the plant's interior. I may be that an ordinary air freshener might work!

We need to brainstorm with you to think up scents that are cheap, non-hazardous, strong smelling and long lasting. Gentlemen, start your engines...

(How do you smoke whiskey?)

 

[DirtMechanic]

I smelled some stuff in New Orleans once that would work.

How to smoke moonshine? They cheat mostly and use a smoking gismo that reminds me of a nepi pot with a flexible oil can spout.