GardenBanter.co.uk - View Single Post - Tomato pesticides, anything better than Malathion?

Terry Coombs · 23-07-2018, 04:35 PM posted to rec.gardens.edible

On 7/23/2018 10:19 AM, wrote:
On Sunday, July 22, 2018 at 12:57:27 PM UTC-4, Terry Coombs wrote:
On 7/22/2018 9:44 AM, frugalmoving wrote:
replying to Omelet, frugalmoving wrote:
I would try using diatomaceous earth (food grade) powder for the
bugs.Â* I use
it on my tomato plants and it works wonders.Â* It is completely
harmless to the
plant, but bugs hate it.Â* It is like razor blades to them.Â* They get
cut up
and dry out.Â* Its also harmless and it can be ingested for cleaning
your colon
or used externally for skin exfoliation .Â* I use it to keep ants out of
certain areas as well.
For the other problem with your water, I have a solution: colloidal
silver.Â* I use it personally for a million things.Â* The latest one is
when I had a
really bad strawberry plant that litterally had mold growing all over the
plant and was inches from death.Â* As a last resort to save it and to
test out
the silver, I put some in a spray bottle and sprayed the entire outer
leaves
and stems of the plant. I also applied some to the water and roots.
What happened next was better than I expected.Â* The plant madeÂ* a full
and
speedy recovery, all mold was gone, and since silver really doesn't go
away,
the plant will most likely be free from bacteria and disease for a
long time
to come.Â*Â* Try it out!
Oh yeah another benefit: colloidal silver kills bug eggs and makes
some bugs
sterile.Â* Check it out!

Good luck.

Â* I've never used silver . DE works well for some bugs , esp. those
with hard outer shells like beetlesÂ* but for hornworms the solution is
Dipel , also known as Bacillus Thurigensis Kurstaki . I find it easier
to get a uniform application using dust and a small hand pump duster . I
use the same unit to apply DE - the thing is that if DE gets wet it
loses effectiveness and must be re-applied . We get heavy dew here
almost daily this time of year ...

--
Snag
Yes , I'm old
and crochety .
Get off my lawn !
You guys do realize that the OP is more than 10 years old?

Â*I figured it wasn't exactly current since it came from Homemoanershub
.... but the info is still relevant and someone reading it now may benefit .

--
Snag
Yes , I'm old
and crochety .
Get off my lawn !