bug spray

[Ronnd]

What do you all use in ur garden to control bugs and not hurt the bees. I'm haveing a bad bout with squash bugs and can't seem to get red of them.

[iddee]

White lime......

[luvin honey]

iddee--Tell us more! Don't leave us hanging like that!  :-P Squash bugs are my garden nemesis. My garden is a bit large for handpicking these days but still organic.

Ronnd--I don't use any chemicals. Most bugs get hand picked. Crop rotation helps a lot as well as cleaning up and burning any infected foliage at the end of the season (in case it is harboring eggs or larvae). I've heard of attracting squash bugs with bright yellow bowls with about 1" of food oil in the bottom. They are attracted to this bowl that looks like a squash flower and then drown in the oil. Unfortunately, I have been unable to find yellow plastic bowls to test this theory...

[iddee]

White, powdered lime is alkaline, and is used to sweeten acid soil, so is good for your dirt of you have acid ground.

It also produces heat when mixed with water, so repels insects that walk or crawl in it when it contacts their moist outer shell.

It also has a very bitter taste, so will prevent deer or rabbits from grazing leaves covered in lime.

[Wynoochee_newbee_guy]

Soap solution in a spary bottle works very well and does not hurt any thing but the bugs that get sprayed.

[johnnybigfish]

I guess Im lucky this year as far as bugs go....However,.....The pigweed is growing everywhere!!..I cant even see my garden plants hardly cuzza the pigweed all over it!
your friend,
john

[Rebel Rose Apiary]

I wonder if the lime would work on my pine trees? They are covered with those bag worms this year. I did not know what to use to get rid of the bag worms and not kill my bees.

Is this the same lime that we spread on the farm fields?

Brenda

[iddee]

It is the same lime, but most spreaders use pellitized instead of powdered.


"" Agricultural Lime or Garden Lime

Agricultural Lime or Garden Lime is made from pulverized limestone or chalk. As well as raising the pH it will provide calcium for the crops and trace nutrients. Some recent experiments are indicating our soils may well benefit from the addition of rock dust, adding trace nutrients to the soil. ""

http://www.allotment.org.uk/fertilizer/garden-lime.php

White lime and water makes "whitewash". It is used to paint trees 4 to 6 foot from the ground up. It is said to stop all kinds of bugs. We whitewashed all our fruit trees when I was growing up.

" A couple hundred years ago".......  :roll: