| Archive for Downsizer For an ethical approach to consumption |
| hils |
rhubarb leaf insectisideHi does anyone have a recipe for rhubarb leaf insectiside please?Has anyone tried this form of insectiside? |
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| moggins |
I just thought you had to steep the leaves in a bucket of water for a few days? | ||
| ross |
of course, such a home made insecticide would be illegal under EU law....but if you consider it a 'foliar feed' then it's perfectly legal 
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| Bugs |
I've always wondered about that "illegal" pesticides thing.
On Gardeners World last week the RHS woman described garlic as "good for insecticides" or something along those lines, and I was thinking....'ang on a minute.... |
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| judyofthewoods |
And long live the revolution 
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| Hedonists |
Do you have any more information on this, please? I'm presently steeping some onion & garlic, with the intention of using it as, ahem, a foliar feed.
I recently read an article about a guy who is developing a commercial instecticde from garlic, and thought I'd try and do something similar on a much more home-made scale. I'm hoping it will persuade things such as carrot fly, and especially the blasted slugs, to go elsewhere. I'm intending to spray the plants with a fine mist, as I don't want the liquid to soak into the soil and alienate the worm population.
For the life of me, I can't imagine a reason why the EU have outlawed it and a quick Google hasn't turned up anything either. |
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| tahir |
The problem is that ALL pesticides must now be regulated, this means testing which costs a lot of money. Untested pesticides are not allowed under current regulations. | ||
| ross |
see http://www.pesticides.gov.uk/safe_use.asp?id=493#Evaluated
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| moggins |
so lasts years trick of soaking all fag ends in a bucket of water is out of the question too then? | ||
| tahir |
I thought you'd given up? | ||
| moggins |
The other half and eldest daughter haven't though
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| ross |
moggins, I hope you weren't going to use that tobacco mixture on tomatoes. Aside from general concerns over the chemicals in cigarettes, you could transfer Tobacco Mosaic Virus to tomatoes. | ||
| Hedonists |
Ross, thanks very much for the extra info 
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| moggins |
No ross, it was for my rose bush, it gets attacked every bleeding year 
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| ross |
my roses are covered in aphids, the blighters are surviving sprays of dissolved soap and garlic mixture. I'd forgotten about the rhubarb leaves concotion so will have to give it a try. I've also heard that boiled potato foliage makes an excellent "foliar feed" as well
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| ButteryHOLsomeness |
i used to use a mixture of garlic and a small bit of soap shavings (disolve the shavings in warm water first) simply mix them both in a water bottle and spray away! it worked very well for me and didn't harm my tomatoes or peppers.
this was years ago when i still lived in texas so i couldn't tell you the amount of water, sorry! |
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| hils |
Thats great thanks - I like to hear when these things have worked for someone. I may do a bit of your recipe and add a few rhubarb leaves anyway - just because I've got them! | ||
| judith |
The trouble with a rhubarb leaf-based insecticide is that it is going to be non-specific - just like many of the commercial insecticides that you are probably trying to avoid. It is just as likely to kill the ladybird adults and larvae that are tucking into those aphids. That's why the most of the recommended sprays for organic gardeners are soap-based - the soap dissolves the waxy coatings on the aphids, but doesn't harm the ladybirds or other garden goodies.
Also the oxalic acid in rhubarb leaves is pretty toxic to humans too, and you will have no real idea of the concentration in your spray. So I would leave a reasonable gap between spraying and consumption if you are going to use it on edible plants. |