uhhh...I always thought the purpose of the bit of soap (liquid kitchen
detergent in my case) is to emulsify the oil so it can be sprayed on more
evenly/easily. The old adage of oil and water not mixing and stuff like
that. And a little of the soap/oil mix goes a long way...I use something
like a teaspoon to one cup of water, or around 3 fl oz to one gallon of
water - a 1:43 ratio or thereabouts. For me, works great on aphids, scale,
spittlebugs, and other pests without harming the plants.


"Tom Jaszewski" wrote in message
...
On Sun, 10 Aug 2003 19:00:35 -0600, John DeBoo
wrote:

I'm assuming that the purpose of the oil is to make the other
product stick to the plant - correct?
Oil smothers the insects it covers. Mixing soap and oil can be
somewhat counter productive since the soap is formulated to break down
cooking oils. Try using them separately for better results.

Great wife!