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Post by mnjrutherford on May 2, 2009 9:53:47 GMT -5
Not the bees, lady beetles and other good guys of course, just the one I don't like. Such as the 100 (+ or -) Colorado potato beetles I made aquaintance with yesterday. Along with their eggs. They all met a glorious end in a bucket of water with dishsoap. Then they went into... ::da da da DUM:: The Pit!
Anywho, we went to Lowes and bought one of those pump and spray gadgets. It hold a gallon of water. Today I'm gonna put in 1/4 c. dishsoap and 1/2 c. of veggie oil. No particular reason for the amounts, and I'm just throwing in the oil cause it sounds like it's a good idea.
I'm a virgin in this respect to the spraying deal. Just in case that wasn't obvious. So, if anyone has a better recipe, I'm all ears!
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Post by bunkie on May 2, 2009 10:42:07 GMT -5
just a thought mnj. the dish soap and water are ok, but be sure to wash the spray off after 5 plus minutes, or the sun will burn the plants.
not sure about the oil. i would think it would burn the plants also. when we use a natural oil based spray for things like spider mites and such, we keep the plants out of the sun for a day or so. not sure you could do that with your garden plants.
we use a natural solution of BT or M-One from Gardens Alive on the potato beetles, and pick them like crazy! ;D
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Post by mnjrutherford on May 2, 2009 11:50:22 GMT -5
::gazes out the window at the potato plants::  um.. well... to late for the rinse off today I'm afraid. I'll do that in the coming days as it's an almanac bug day everyday for the rest of the week! And about picking them off, I am SO totally with you on that! I take particular pleasure in squashing the ones that are mating...   |
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Post by mnjrutherford on May 2, 2009 11:51:17 GMT -5
Oh yea, I decided against the oil at the last minute for the very reason you stated.
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sphinxeyes
gardener
Suburbia, small garden in side yard, containers on larger back deck. Hot humid summers.
Posts: 154
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Post by sphinxeyes on May 2, 2009 19:53:04 GMT -5
I've used the natural insecticide sprays that the garden center sells and I think they were made with things like garlic and peppermint oil. They also advised against spraying in the heat of the day, so I waited until dusk and sprayed them then. Seemed to work last year. So far there are no bugs here, but as soon as the the humidity hits us hard in June, it will be all out war! >.<
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Post by mnjrutherford on May 3, 2009 13:30:37 GMT -5
I hear you on the war issue! I think I'll be digging my potatoes in 2 or 3 weeks though. So that will end the potato beetles. After that its the Japanese beetles and stink bugs that are the main players. I'm hoping that by doing lots of defensive planting AND keeping on top of things at the start, there won't be quite as many to deal with in future.
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spud
gopher
Posts: 43
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Post by spud on May 9, 2009 23:13:11 GMT -5
Does any body companion plant their spuds with beans?
I'm no expert on spuds but I plant beans with them, usually soup beans and have only minimal damage from potato beetles and I don't fret over. I've never sprayed for em, more work doing that, don't need that.
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Post by mnjrutherford on May 10, 2009 10:03:03 GMT -5
Beans? Really? Now that's interesting! Potatoes are kinda new to us, this is our 3rd and largest crop so far. I have planted cilantro as a repellent and another member has suggested that we have a dedicated potato plot in which case I'll plant horseradish around for the same purpose. I wouldn't be able to try the beans this season at least because they are already planted with the corn.
I have hutterite soup beans planted, I'm not familiar with other varieties. Last year we had all rattlesnakes. They had beetles aplenty!! I sure would like to hear more of what you have to say about it.
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spud
gopher
Posts: 43
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Post by spud on May 10, 2009 22:08:35 GMT -5
Green beans are supposed to be a good repellent for potato beetle. I usually plant one or two bush beans for the potato beetles and have good enough results with it. It hasn't eliminated them 100 percent but damage is so minimal that I don't bother to pick em off. I grow horseradish and it's very difficult to get rid of. Can't imagine using it because of that. Here is a nice little companion list if it will come up. ourgardengang.tripod.com/companions.htm |
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spud
gopher
Posts: 43
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Post by spud on Jul 22, 2009 22:04:36 GMT -5
Well so far, no potato beetles that I can see. Looks like the beans are doing there thing and I'm diggin not having to spray, dust cover and whatever. Diggin the time it's saving me.
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Post by tennessee girl on Jul 29, 2009 15:53:47 GMT -5
Never had the first potato beetle this year but OMG the Japanese beetles are eating us up alive down here.  I have them the past few years a few here and there but about 3 weeks ago they attacked my purple leaf plum tree and overnight they had stripped every leaf off it. Not 10 or 20 or 50 or even 100 but thousands and thousands. This tree is well over 20 ft tall and it was stripped from top to bottom and they were getting on my roses. I called our county extension agent and he told me not much could be done. No natural prediators for them and their population is increasing rapidly in my part of Tennessee. He said probably my best bet was to do the dishsoap and water mixture so I did I made up 2 gallons and made it strong. I think I use about a 1/2 bottle of dishsoap ;D I started spraying the tree and within a couple of minutes it sounded like it was raining. They were dropping to the ground in clumps. I was having fun then, saying die you little idiots die. I used that 2 gallon went back made up 2 more and continued spraying and after about an hour I had killed all of them I came to the front and sprayed my rose bushes good, not that many on them but it did the trick. A couple of days later they were on my Japanese Maple. Did the same thing and it killed them Yesterday there were a few back on my rose bushes so they got another spraying. Some people I talked with in my town said their gardens had been destroyed by them One man I talked with bought these traps you hang and he has emptyied the jar 13 times where it was full of them.  |
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Post by mnjrutherford on Jul 29, 2009 16:39:35 GMT -5
I so hear ya TG! But here is a warning on the soap/water trick, the stronger it is the harder it is on the plants. If they're already stripped of course, no problem. However, you should rinse the plants off a an hour or two after application. The bugs die from direct contact with the wet solution. Once it's dried, it doesn't do any good.
By the by, it's great for hoppers as well! The big ones flop on their backs and kick their legs like a funny man in a vaudeville show.
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um.. well... to late for the rinse off today I'm afraid. I'll do that in the coming days as it's an almanac bug day everyday for the rest of the week! And about picking them off, I am SO totally with you on that! I take particular pleasure in squashing the ones that are mating... 
