Mr. Solo Dolo 420
Member
Posted this in DIY, but I feel I should re-post it here as well for anyone who does not know of this easy, cheap, organic, and indispensable tool in pest control.
Hello Everyone!
I recently had a problem with Spider Mites, and I found this when trying to find a viable organic (and cheap!) insecticide for my little seedlings. It works great and there are several alternatives and tweaks you can do to customize, and maximize the soap-based insecticides effectiveness for you.
Here is the excerpt from www.care2.com:
"Soap has been used for centuries as an all-purpose pesticide.
It disrupts insects cell membranes, and kills pests by
dehydration. The key is not to use too much soap, or youll
also kill the vegetation near the pests. If you follow the
proportions of soap to water in the Soap Spray recipe, below,
the vegetation should be fine.
Note: Buy a liquid soap and not a detergent. Health food
stores have liquid soaps, such as Dr. Bronners Pure-Castile
Soaps.
Insecticidal Soap Spray
1 to 2 tablespoons liquid soap
1 quart water
Combine ingredients in a bucket, mix, then transfer to a spray
bottle as needed."
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Be sure to use pure soap like Ivory or Castile with no fragrances or chemical additives.
To make this with bar soap do the following:
Shave 1 quarter (or about an inch) off of a standard 10-12oz bar of pure soap into 1 quart of heated (near boiling works well) water. Stir until dissolved. This is your concentrate. (I use Kirk's Original Coco Castile bar soap.)
Add 1 teaspoon of concentrate per quart of water to spray bottle.
For a more potent insecticide (although not organic), you can add 1/4 a cup of rubbing alcohol per quart (to the spray, not the concentrate).
Note: Test on a small area and wait 24 hours to make sure you got the mixture right. Don't spray the plant down until you test it!
Hello Everyone!
I recently had a problem with Spider Mites, and I found this when trying to find a viable organic (and cheap!) insecticide for my little seedlings. It works great and there are several alternatives and tweaks you can do to customize, and maximize the soap-based insecticides effectiveness for you.
Here is the excerpt from www.care2.com:
"Soap has been used for centuries as an all-purpose pesticide.
It disrupts insects cell membranes, and kills pests by
dehydration. The key is not to use too much soap, or youll
also kill the vegetation near the pests. If you follow the
proportions of soap to water in the Soap Spray recipe, below,
the vegetation should be fine.
Note: Buy a liquid soap and not a detergent. Health food
stores have liquid soaps, such as Dr. Bronners Pure-Castile
Soaps.
Insecticidal Soap Spray
1 to 2 tablespoons liquid soap
1 quart water
Combine ingredients in a bucket, mix, then transfer to a spray
bottle as needed."
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Be sure to use pure soap like Ivory or Castile with no fragrances or chemical additives.
To make this with bar soap do the following:
Shave 1 quarter (or about an inch) off of a standard 10-12oz bar of pure soap into 1 quart of heated (near boiling works well) water. Stir until dissolved. This is your concentrate. (I use Kirk's Original Coco Castile bar soap.)
Add 1 teaspoon of concentrate per quart of water to spray bottle.
For a more potent insecticide (although not organic), you can add 1/4 a cup of rubbing alcohol per quart (to the spray, not the concentrate).
Note: Test on a small area and wait 24 hours to make sure you got the mixture right. Don't spray the plant down until you test it!
