7 dust going the way of stuff that works

[DennisArrow]

Thanks for getting back ON TOPIC, Jim........HOW to use rather than NOT......Dennis

 

[bp fick]

looks like they are taking seven-10 off the market: an the weaker 5 will be next: they already took the water soluable(misspelled) off the market: not sure what i would use now if we had another round of army worms hit?
heehaw

Actually, the OP, (quoted above), concerned:
1. Seven-10 going off the market and
2. What alternatives to use if army worms hit again.

Thus, while perhaps a rather sensitive and touchy subject, most of the posts have indeed been on topic.

 

[clemsonfor]

nice video, lookin good. This is the first year that i have put hay down, i will never stop that stuff stops 99% of grass if you lay it thick enough.
Got the idea from here on TBN. Also i have an almost organic garden i guess, the only thing i use pesticies on is my squash and zucs, and i only put it on the stems as this is what i have found protects them. Oh well i also use chemical fertilizer like 10-10-10 or special vegtable kind. I think in organic you can only use mulches and poops and stuff so i guess that kind of counts me out. Last year i really did not put fertilizer on anything except the tomatoes to give them a better crop, squash (if they live) produce like crazy and so does other stuff.

Anyway if i can figure out the squash bugs/worms i really wont have to use anything as i really dont on all the other things.

I grow currently:

Yellow squash
Zuccinni (sp?)
Tomatoes (big boy and better boy)
Pole beans
Okra (clemson spineless)
Butternut squash
Watermellons
Cantaloupes
Catnip (cats)

I think thats it.

-nate

 

[bp fick]

Make no mistake, I grew up in the 60's dusting with Seven, as it was introduced, we began to move from Lead Arsenic. Dusting was my job and there was 7 or 8 acres to dust, by hand. How much I breathed, absorbed and licked? I'd hate to contemplate. I look back at those days now and shudder a little, 'cause while I was doing that, to an overload, Dad was spraying everything, soaking everything in the yards with DDT.

Anyhow, it is difficult to move off from Sevin because it has been a mainstay for so long. We took it for granted. I know I did. We never bothered seeking alternatives. Now, I must.

The vines; cukes, pumpkins, squash, etc are indeed the most difficult and I'm not naive about that. It's a real challenge. All I can say is I am having positive results combining many methodologies, most of which involve prevention, not cure. Land rotation, soil health, Lime, ph factors, sister planting, seasonal timing, floating screens etc.,

Can we live without Sevin? Of course we can.

(BTW, replacing chemical fertilizers with organic composts is the easiest of all first steps.)

Best regards,

 

[Chuck52]

My zucchini and yellow squash started coming on strong a few days ago, and the plants sure look good. I'd been watching for the squash bugs and hoping for a pass this year, but I found them yesterday. I have about 30 plants and hadn't checked under every leaf for the buggers eggs, but I had been looking. Anyway, there was a bloom of the larval stage under one leaf. I was going to try the dish soap thing on them, but I found a bottle of the insecticidal soap I had forgotten I bought last year, so I mixed up some of that. It was cloudy yesterday afternoon which was good because you aren't supposed to spray the plants with that or many other things under bright sun. I soaked the undersides of the leaves and the stems, and in the process found I also had the striped cucumber beetles. This morning the squash bugs seem to be gone for the moment, but the beetles are still going strong. I know the soap at least slowed them down because one landed on my hand yesterday while I was spraying and was clearly stunned. So, since they fly, it may be that more just came along. Anyway, I'll hit them again this evening and see how that works. There's so much fruit on those plants almost ready to pick I just don't want to use anything else right now.


BP, or anyone, do you know if the soap kills the eggs? I found a couple of patches this morning and scraped them off, but I think I probably sprayed soap on most of them yesterday since I was really trying to get the bottoms of the leaves.

Chuck

 

[bp fick]

At this stage, I would use a lime solution. Totally harmless and organic.
Can you get your hands on water soluble powdered lime? It would be what I would do, I think. Lime is so sickeningly sweet that the bugs gag.

Soaps, fragrances like pure citronella extract (not lamp oil), cayenne pepper suspended in a water based delivery medium are repellents, not killers.
Citronella is very, very effective. It's just about a buck an ounce. One ounce per gallon is plenty and spiders move out!!!

Suspending enough lime powder in a water mix delivery, with your sprayer, is more effect. You have no need to "kill" the bugs. The garlic and cayenne additive would provide extra deterrence.

Again, all vines, squash, cukes, etc are the toughest. Prevention is easier than cures. Hope you succeed in driving them away.

 

[bp fick]

BTW, prevention for the vine family means cleaning up your fields following harvest. All old vines, stems, leaves, husks and shells must be raked off your field. This must then be burned, not tilled in, nor composted. The ash can then be composted or spread on the old patch.

Hope that little tid-bit helps someone down the road for prevention. FWIW

 

[DennisArrow]

Thanks BP for the techniques.......THAT is what is needed.......NOT the NOT TOs........Again....thanks.........Dennis

 

[Chuck52]

Thanks for the suggestions. I can get some of the smelly things, don't know about the citronella extract. I'll look for that and the lime. If I don't keep the cucumbers alive, DW will be composting me.

Chuck

 

[Chuck52]

Just thought of something....there's probably no reason I can't add some of the stuff to the soap spray, right? The soap would help disperse the garlic/pepper oils I would think.

BTW, is mint oil any good as a repellent? I have a heck of a mint patch I could use.

Chuck