Organic Pest/Dieases IPM 101

[ozzieAI]

Great thread Neo...i can definitely see the benefits of IPM...

love using neem oil but will look at expanding the various organic compounds to help maintain a balanced organic growing system...as you know i have RA in my ROLS and will work on your suggestions to develop an environment that keeps the RA at bay...

been looking at sourcing neem and crab meal for my system but can't find any suppliers downunder at all.

 

[MrSterling]

I want to add that if people want to incorporate beneficial bugs like ladybugs or praying mantises into their IPM consider where you're buying before you do. Most mantis and ladybug sales online are taken from the wild. It's unsustainable and chances are they will a) die in the light indoors or b) fly away the minute you open the box outdoors. Better to plant other things outdoors that will attract beneficial bugs than to buy them online.

 

[Neo 420]

been looking at sourcing neem and crab meal for my system but can't find any suppliers downunder at all.

Are you still trying to source? I will look through my notes and provide some info on obtaining those items. Good luck on the RA fight!!

I want to add that if people want to incorporate beneficial bugs like ladybugs or praying mantises into their IPM consider where you're buying before you do. Most mantis and ladybug sales online are taken from the wild. It's unsustainable and chances are they will a) die in the light indoors or b) fly away the minute you open the box outdoors. Better to plant other things outdoors that will attract beneficial bugs than to buy them online.

Absolutely!! I wanted to add a section on beneficial insects (they are also apart of a effective IPM strategy) but I thought that might have been too much info. I may make a separate 101 for that in the future.

 

[Greenheart]

Clove (eugenol) oil "has also been found to possess antibacterial, antifungal, antiviral, antitumor, antioxidant and insecticidal properties"

http://www.marinwater.org/documents/HRA_Chap6_CloveOil_1_1_2010.pdf

Also note that it is an herbicide in high concentration.


Garlic. It is a potent larvacidal as well as good for black spot, powdery mildew, and downey mildew according to research. A couple more pdfs on that subject. I found the "coconut_report" a difficult read but the topsection (included below) is powerful knowledge. Also I liked the azadirachtin comparison in their study. I make the guess that the "GB+" referenced in the studies are for their specific "GarlicBarrier" product. I have never used it and know nothing more than their site will tell you about it.
http://www.garlicbarrier.com/documents/AKC_Garlic_based_biopesticides.pdf
http://www.garlicbarrier.com/documents/Coconut_Report.pdf

"Intact garlic cloves contains about 0.2-0.3% allilin, most of which is converted toallicin when garlic is crushed. When garlic is homogenized in water, the major chemical component is allicin. A methanol or ethanol extract of crushed cloves or powder removes all the allicin. If the solvent is evaporated and solute emulsified in water, the result can be a more potent insecticide, fungicide and bactericide than obtained with water only. The insecticidal and fungicidal properties are partly due to enzyme inhibition. Isolation and characterization of larvicidal principle of garlic, A. sativum have been identified as Diallyl di-sulphide and Diallyl tri-sulphide (Narayanan, 1954). Both natural and synthetic samples of these compounds are fatal at 5 parts per million"

 

[ozzieAI]

Are you still trying to source? I will look through my notes and provide some info on obtaining those items. Good luck on the RA fight!!

thanks Neo...actually i have just found a source that i will follow up this week..

RA have been dealt with with the Neem oil....cheers

 

[Old_Headbanger]

Great thread! I would love to hear about different ways to attract beneficial insects. Valuable resource right here just in these two pages.

 

[RanchoDeluxe]

Having trouble posting up a pic. Google 'insect hotels'. I learned about them in my county extension gardening class. Hopefully I'll get around to building one in the next week or two.

 

[Neo 420]

Hands down the H miles mite is a beast... Been scoping them in my soil.. Caught them eating something. Some worm like insect. And the great thing is I assume they came naturally...

 

[Neo 420]

The neem/si/aloe may also help repel ants. I sprayed some ornamentals that ants have been steadily visiting and within the hour not a single ant. Will update to see if this was a anomaly or a result of the spray.

 

[ziggestardust]

I'd recommend the ginger-garlic extract over at http://gilcarandang.com. I spray soil surface and foliar feed fermented basil which the critters hate.

 

[Neo 420]

The ornamentals I sprayed with the neem concoction seems to have deterred the ant. A few days later, still no ants... Now I am going to spray some of my veggies (specially strawberries - something is eating their leaves)

 

[Durdy]

Bump!

What rates per gallon are people using the Dr.Bronners products?

I took a quick re read through the thread and couldn't find the info although I thought I recalled it being here....

Thanks

 

[Weird]

does neem cake tea effect pistils in flower? the neem oil I have gets very little use because of the residual, I was wondering if the tea eliminates this?

thank you in advance.

 

[Weird]

took a leap of faith

make 1/2 cup need meal 1/4 cup kelp meal and tsp silica

bubbled 16-18 hours ph was approx 7 at application did not test prior

straight watered all plants, saturated pots and then topped off each one with 2 cups of neem meal tea and did a foliar with a 6th strength version of the same

gotta be honest i like the smell of neem oil better, and really normally like to use stuff that I like the smell, taste (if possible) texture, look, etc of.

I like the smell of kelp I like the feel of castings i like the taste of molasses so i tend to gravitate to amendments I find biocompatible or at least attractive to one of my senses

not necessarily for good reason just seems to be the way it has worked for me, well see how it articulates in this experiment

 

[BlueJayWay]

Weird - what neem meal/cake are you using?

 

[Weird]

bought it in a white deli quart container so they must buy bulk and sell it in smaller containers

Smelt like puppy breath

 

[BlueJayWay]

Was it certified organic?

I ask because for a long time I used Down To Earth brand, the color was bland and the smell of the tea was akin to vomit - pretty nasty.

Not organic

I switched to Ahimsa neem, certified organic, darkish red/brown in color with a very rich smell closer to bitter dark chocolate - I use less and its more effective, and the smell I've grown to like.

DTE neem seed meal is the byproduct of Dynagros neem oil

Ahimsa neem seed meal is a byproduct of their own neem oil production - both organic.

 

[ClackamasCootz]

If the smell of the neem meal is not to your liking or even neem oil then karanja oil & meal might be a better choice.

As far as ease of mixing then karanja oil is definitely a good choice - not nearly as thick making it easier to measure and emulsify.

HTH

CC

 

[Weird]

bjw - am not sure great question, it fairly certain all their amendments are certified since they advocate organics and everything with a label I shopped had it but I won't know till I ask. Thanks

cc - thanks for the advice, i was sold on your write up of neem meal so I am not going to abandon it just yet, Ill see how it effects the plants and take it from their.

It didn't smell putrid or foul, I just don't like it. I smelt it a few times to makes sure it was simply an organic smell i didn't like versus the smell of something that didn't smell just right

Who knows if my plants like it enough I might start liking the smell after all

 

[BlueJayWay]

I use Karanja Oil and neem seed meal - best of both worlds lol

CC is right on the smell weird, neem and Karanja are 99.9% identical - easily interchangeable so you're not losing out with an 'either/or' type choice.