OT...killing garden bugs--Slim

March 16, 2008

What do you use to spray the plants with, Slim? I use what my granddaddy

used for most of his life...and he always had a huge, beautiful garden. He

would take

some of his Prince Albert tobacco.....put it in a jar and add water....then

let

it sit for about a week. Then he would strain it and spray the resulting

water

on any thing that had a tendency to get bugs. We all know that nicotine is a

killer....it worked. You just have to make sure that you thoroughly wash

all of your produce before you eat it. He would also foil the tomato cut

worms by taking a match, or later a split popsicle stick, and tying it with

string at the base of each new tomato plant...that would keep the cut worm

from curling around the stem of the plant and cutting it.

Nancy C.

Has anyone else tried lacinato kale (aka dino, black, or Tuscan kale)?

I like kale for its wonderful nutrition and vigorous growth but am

just not wild about eating the tightly, tightly curled (scratchy

looking) kale leaves. This is a flat-leaf type with a great " pebble-y "

texture that holds together in steaming or the rice pot. It has a good

taste, not too strong, and grows like most brassicas with three leaves

spiraling out around a central stem -- so as you take one or two

leaves from each plant each time, the plant climbs higher in the sun,

the leaves get farther from the dirt and insects and it starts to

resemble a little palm tree. People call it ornamental. It seems to be

perennial in my mild climate, likes cold and heat. The only way I know

to get it is to grow it(!). I do have to spray my little plants or

they get chomped by caterpillars.

http://www.seedsavers.org/prodinfo.asp?number=623

March 17, 2008

Hi Nancy,

I went to Home Depot and bought something called " Gardensafe Fruit and

Vegetable Spray. " It worked but I don't know how safe it is. I tried

to get Bacillus thuringensis, non poisonous, natural bacteria that is

supposed to do well with caterpillars, but it is illegal in my state.

I had the idea too of putting a cardboard collar around the long

brassica stems -- to keep the crawling bugs from reaching the leaves

and I won't have sprayed any of the leaves I eat. But I've got to

spray the small plants to give them a chance. I'll try the tobacco.

That's pipe tobacco? I've never bought any of that stuff in my life.

" Do you have Prince Albert in a can? ... Well you better let him out. "

Slim

, " nancihank " <nancihank

wrote:

>

> What do you use to spray the plants with, Slim? I use what my

granddaddy

> used for most of his life...and he always had a huge, beautiful

garden. He would take

> some of his Prince Albert tobacco.....put it in a jar and add

water....then let

> it sit for about a week. Then he would strain it and spray the

resulting water

> on any thing that had a tendency to get bugs. We all know that

nicotine is a

> killer....it worked. You just have to make sure that you

thoroughly wash

> all of your produce before you eat it. He would also foil the

tomato cut

> worms by taking a match, or later a split popsicle stick, and

tying it with

> string at the base of each new tomato plant...that would keep the

cut worm

> from curling around the stem of the plant and cutting it.

> Nancy C.

>

March 17, 2008

Slim,

I applaud your efforts to find " eco-safe " (as much as is possible) ways to

deal with your " garden pests " . I am really surprised to hear " B-T " (Bacillus

thuringensis) is illegal in some states. After all, the BIG COMPANIES that

manage all kinds of the " Agri-monopoly " --er,

" industry " ...produce the genetically modified stuff that supposedly

" incorporates " the B-T into the plant. For them, it's big profits.

The use of B-T by your average gardener would probably not be an

environmental threat, as gardeners have been using this (and other " organic pest

control

methods) for a long time!

Enough of my personal soapbox--sorry, I guess I got carried away!

I had a comment about your trying the " tobacco juice " for your pest

control. I had read

something several years ago that this (tobacco) might be good for pest control

on some plants, but if the garden plants are from the same family as tobacco

is--that is most of the

" nightshade " plants, especially: tomatoes, potatoes, eggplants, peppers, and

also flowers such as petunia and (I forget the name--it's a smaller, trailing

petunia type) and nicotiana (the " flowering tobacco " annual flower)--these

plants CAN " catch " viruses that are common among the members of this plant

family.

The article I remember also warned gardeners to wash their hands if they

were going to handle plants from this family after smoking cigarettes,

etc....one of the " diseases " I recall is the " tobacco mosaic virus " ...there

might be others, but I am not able to remember the names. (I know there are

plant diseases that attack these kinds of plants. The next time you are looking

at seed packets or bedding plants for tomatoes, for example, notice that some of

them say things like " VFFNT " --the letters are initials of different diseases,

many of them specific to plants in the tobacco family, of which tomatoes,

eggplants, potatoes and peppers are all members.

Of course, experimenting doesn't hurt, either. Give a try to whatever you

have a mind to and let us know how it worked out! I hope you enjoy a wonderful

and productive garden!

--Laura B., who loves gardening, but right now doesn't live where she can have

one! :-(

Be a better friend, newshound, and know-it-all with Mobile. Try it now.

March 17, 2008

I will let Prince Albert out but then I have to catch my refrigerator

before it runs away!!

You can also try a solution of soapy water...and spray that on. I read that

somewhere. Have you googled it? Surely there is something.

Do you use beneficial nematodes on your yard? Maybe they would work

in your garden. They sure get rid of fleas, ticks, grubs and about 247 other

" bad " bugs in the soil. I love those little microscopic critters.

Nancy