Homemade insecticide

[randallinMo]

I was viewing a "gardening forum" the other day and witnessed the production of a homemade insecticide for use in the garden. They mixed ivory soap and Jalapeno pepper juice and sprayed their garden plants (including lettuce) etc. quite liberally actually. Apparantly there were no after effects of the mix on the quality of the vegetables.

I have two questions: Would this work for the control of alfalfa weevil?

Will Apple cider vinegar kill insects?

 

[jackinok]

WHAAAT!!! YOU WANT TO KILL A BUG????you shameless person you !LOL ive heard of vinegar working,i believe jerry baker has it in his books. but most of these things dont actually kill the bugs,they simply repell them. Add in the fact that generally it costs quite a bit more than commercial sprays,and it has to be done about once a week,and its not really a viable option for any real large scale operation in most cases. Heres the deal,and you can take it to the bank,Farmers the world over have two things in common,first they are eternal optimists,second they are how shall we say it nicely,FRUGAL. exactly how many farmers have you seen or heard of spraying vinegar? if it were better or cheaper the insecticide folks would be going out of buisness. put a pencil to it ,and you will find that you would be several times better off selling the vinegar than pouring it on the ground!!Want a use for your apples? forget the alfalfa and sell applejack.

 

[randallinMo]

Jackinok.......first off, I'm NOT a tree hugger. I"ve used more chemicals in my life time than most and have always relied upon them. BUT......the insecticides kill all the beneficial insects both above and below the ground. We should do more to protect those soil microbes and organisms, My "tree hugger" friends aren't all stupid..they do have a point. So, the apple cider vinegar theory is just that, a theory. It's a proven fact that it can be used as a dewormer for livestock and it does NOT translocate through the manure into the soil like the other harsh chemical dewormers. If it kills parasites in animals, why wouldn't it kill alfalfa weevils? A 1% solution does a wonderful deworming in cattle, so it wouldn't be that expensive if it worked for weevil control. I can guarantee you the chemical companys do not want you to know if it does work.

 

[jeremy in NE]

I would think that the weevils would have to ingest the vinegar to work properly. so you would have to reapply after rains or heavy dews. Maybe you could try it on a small area and let us know if it works.

 

[Charlie M]

Can I ask what garden site you saw this in. I've been thinking about trying an organic spray on the handful of fruit trees in my back yard. The stuff I buy at a garden center doesn't work so I've got nothing to loose with trying something else. Around here apple scab is my biggest problem.

 

[Anonymous-0]

can you tell me how to make that dewormer it sounds interesting and I would like to try it. thanks

 

[Anonymous-0]

Fellow has a small orchard here.He uses a clay based spray,no poisions.His apples are clean.

 

[randallinMo]

one gallon Apple cider vinegar per 100 gallon of water. Must not have access to other water source for 24 hours. My experience shows that cattle will drink it but not readily. THey will however drink enough to do a good job of worming. THat is IF you have worms. In my opinion, very few cattle are wormy enough to justify the expense of the commercial wormers. Plus the commercial wormers translocate through the manure and kill every soil organism there is. The commercial insecticide people have sold us a bill of goods for years.

 

[randallinMo]

The Bayou gardener.

 

[BobHnwO]

Put apple cider vinegar on their feed,they'll love it.