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Post by richardw on Feb 7, 2013 13:03:04 GMT -5
Ive got a influx of aphids on my peppers in my tunnelhouse but was shocked to see the price of a 1 liter bottle of pyrethrin spray,so the Scotsman in me made me think "hey ,ive got the plant growing at home ,why cant i make my own" Anyone know the tricks of the trade when brewing up a batch of the stuff.
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Post by robertb on Feb 8, 2013 14:17:39 GMT -5
Boil up some rhubarb leaves if you have any. Or you can get oxalic acid on eBay, which is the same stuff.
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Post by richardw on Feb 8, 2013 15:23:01 GMT -5
yes i do have a patch of rhubarb,i'll try some. its the first time ive had a problem with aphids in my tunnelhouse as normally i have a healthy population of a native jumping spiders en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trite_planiceps that control the aphids but now ive got a Australian tree frog in there and its eating the spiders,ive been trying to catch the little bugger to biff him outside.
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Post by keen101 (Biolumo / Andrew B.) on Feb 8, 2013 17:40:24 GMT -5
hmm... using rhubarb as an insect repellent is quite ingenious. Most pests dont bother rhubarb. the only pest i have seen eat rhubarb are box elder bugs, and perhaps the occasional grasshopper. But i think both cases are rare.
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Post by oxbowfarm on Feb 8, 2013 21:15:11 GMT -5
Ever seen a Rhubarb Curculio? They kind of remind me of Panzer Tanks. Even they aren't really a big deal, the damage they do is cosmetic and mainly occurs at the end of rhubarb season anyway.
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Post by steev on Feb 8, 2013 23:02:54 GMT -5
I think gophers are the worst predators of my rhubarb.
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Post by caledonian on Feb 9, 2013 15:41:23 GMT -5
ehow.com has a guide which suggests it's trivially simple. www.ehow.com/way_5665049_homemade-pyrethrin-spray.htmlYou just mix powdered flowers, water, and a little dishsoap to make the mixture stick; the biggest issue seems to be figuring out how much water is appropriate. Spray directly onto the pests.
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Post by Deleted on Feb 16, 2013 17:41:07 GMT -5
Boil up some rhubarb leaves if you have any. Or you can get oxalic acid on eBay, which is the same stuff. This makes me think to try Oxalis (Yellow Wood Sorrel), which grows in bunches, here.
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Post by blueadzuki on Feb 16, 2013 21:18:22 GMT -5
On a side thought. Assuming I can get a pot of goat's rue (Tephrosia sp.) to actually grow this time around, and feel doing so is worth my while, how hard is it to extract rotenone from the roots?
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Post by Deleted on Feb 17, 2013 11:50:07 GMT -5
On a side thought. Assuming I can get a pot of goat's rue ( Tephrosia sp.) to actually grow this time around, and feel doing so is worth my while, how hard is it to extract rotenone from the roots? That was new to me. Though I'm personally fearful of chemicals, which I wouldn't normally eat, I take this to mean that it might be handled and applied, using crude means. I read, regarding the animal and fish poisons of local tribes, that they considered it a form of magic. They believed that the magician would not be harmed. FWIW, it was not recorded that they had poisoned themselves.
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