Soap as an insecticide?

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I recently bought a plum tree, and it was getting eaten up by bugs last season. I can't afford $20 a bottle insecticide, so I started looking into home remedies (natural.) One thing I saw was to simply use regular dish soap and water to put on the leaves of the plant in order to stop the insects from staying there. Does this work? Is it healthy for a fruit tree?
 
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I recently bought a plum tree, and it was getting eaten up by bugs last season. I can't afford $20 a bottle insecticide, so I started looking into home remedies (natural.) One thing I saw was to simply use regular dish soap and water to put on the leaves of the plant in order to stop the insects from staying there. Does this work? Is it healthy for a fruit tree?
Yes it works and quite well. It kills by suffocation and therefore has no residual effect but coat a bug with it and he is history. It may have a small repellent factor as well
 
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It's a great method! I used dish soap to kill bugs that had wanted to eat my miniature roses.
Don't worry, soap won't harm your plants.
 
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I used to have a recipe for a home-made insecticide using dish soap, oil and rubbing alcohol. For some reason I got lazy and stopped using it, so now I'll have to search to see if I can find the recipe again. I hate using chemicals and have rarely sprayed them with anything for some time now. The result is that my bonsai trees currently have far more bugs that are good for them.
 
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Insecticidal soap is a great way to take care of soft-bodied bugs. I put 1 tsp. of soap (note, soap not detergent, I use Ivory or Dreft) in 1 pint of tepid water, add a tsp. of vegetable oil (this helps it stick), shake well and spray both the upper and lower sides of leaves, and the stems. Sometimes I even drench the soil a bit in case something is lurking there. I've never used alcohol, but it can't hurt!
 
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I used to have a recipe for a home-made insecticide using dish soap, oil and rubbing alcohol. For some reason I got lazy and stopped using it, so now I'll have to search to see if I can find the recipe again. I hate using chemicals and have rarely sprayed them with anything for some time now. The result is that my bonsai trees currently have far more bugs that are good for them.
This is the recipe as I was taught but I thought it a waste of good vodka so I just used rubbing alcohol instead and it still works.

2 TBS dishwashing soap
4 Oz 80 proof vodka
16 Oz water
 
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Ah, Chuck, the vodka was to make the aphids die happy . . . .
Every time I use this I wonder if the old man who told me just liked to carry a pint in his back pocket as an excuse for killing bugs instead of being smashed most of the time. The guy taught me a lot about gardening and about sitting under a tree imbibing adult beverages.
 
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I put dish soap in my hose end sprayer just to clean my plants leaves, I do it a few times a year.

How much soap do you use? I have one of those bottles which I bought for liquid plant foods but I never use it because it was working out too expensive. At the time I was told the soap mixture might clog up the connection, but it's a chance I'm prepared to take if I don't need to spend a fortune on soap to fill it.
 
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I will be sure to try the soap recipe. Anyone know if this works for white flies? They are attacking my collard and mustard greens.
 
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Insecticidal soap will take out white flies, but it may take several applications. If possible, give the plants a blast of water to knock off some of the eggs and larvae, then spray with the soap mixture.
White flies secrete a sticky nectar so you may have a black, sooty looking substance on your greens. It washes off.
 
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I used regular Dawn Dish Soap and water to spray down my orange tree when it was infested with aphids. Worked like a charm. Just be sure not to spray down your plants on a hot sunny day! Always do it either in the early morning or the late evening when the sun isn't shining so brightly. I've killed a couple plants that way...
 

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