In article ,
Rick wrote:

On Mon, 14 Feb 2005 16:43:49 -0600, Katra
wrote:

In article ,
Steve wrote:

Katra wrote:

In article ,
Steve wrote:
.................................
I have some doubt about what they mean by oil based insecticide. Some
insecticides are wettable powders to be mixed with water. Some in liquid
form are also water based. Some liquid insecticides are in an oil base
(you still usually mix that liquid with water). More often, these are
referred to as petroleum based insecticides. These can be harsh on
delicate plants. I wouldn't think cactus would be delicate but I'm not
sure. If you burn a few leaves on a plant that can grow new leaves,
that's one thing but if you burn your cactus, it's scared for life.
They may have simply been referring to products like the "SunSpray
Ultra-fine" oil that I mentioned in my first post in this thread.

Steve






Hmmmmm... I wonder if I mixed pennyroyal essential oil with some
vegatable based oil to act as a diluent? Scale as adults are sessile, so
those breeders I need to kill. :-P I can put the oil spray into a spray
oil dispenser used for cooking. AKA an "oil pump"

I'm finally getting pennyroyal established in one of my raised beds.
Great ground cover and acts as "green mulch" and is insect repellant.

D'you think this might work?.....................................


It might, but I have no way of knowing for sure. At this point you are
doing an experiment, so you are on your own! ;-)

Steve




lol Ok, I just did not know if anyone had any experience with
pennyroyal. I know it sure works for fleas, and tends to keep slugs and
stuff out of the gardens where it is growing!

I am jumping in rather late, but here is something for you to
consider. Oils like mineral oil are bengn on the stems of leafy
plants, but catus breath through their skin. I do not really know for
sure, but oil on a catus seems like a bad idea to me. You may well
smother tha catus along with the scale.

-Rick

Okay... Just one more consideration. ;-)

Am wondering if sevin will kill the "crawlers" and I can just eliminate
the sessile adults by hand like I've been doing. I think once they get
established like they did, (I don't spend as much time as frequently in
the greenhouses during the winter) they are going to take a lot of work
to get rid of. I just pray they don't spread any further! :-P

--
K.

Sprout the Mung Bean to reply...

As we go through life thinking heavy thoughts, thought particles
tend to get caught between the ears causing truth decay- so be sure
to use mental floss twice a day. -- Swami Beyondanada

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