On 14/5/08 12:52, in article
, "Cat(h)"
wrote:
On May 14, 10:20*am, Sacha wrote:
On 14/5/08 03:04, in article , "Frank Booth
Snr" wrote:
Adam wrote:
Hi Everyone
I have some broad beans in my garden at the moment that seem to be
growing healthily enough, but they are covered in black aphids and ants.
*Should I be worried about this? If it's a problem, what can I do about
it, given that I am doing my very best to garden organically?
Collect some fag ends, remove the paper and boil tobacco in water. Then
spray the nicotine solution on the aphids. Remember to wash off the
solution before eating.
And don't go near tomatoes. *;-)
Nor should you if you're a smoker, I was told some time back...
Is there really a chance that you would potentially contaminate the
tomatoes with tobacco viruses, or is it balderdash?
Cat(h)
No, it's perfectly true. And nicotine is in itself one of the deadliest
poisons. I know it's an old 'remedy' but I'd never risk it on foodstuffs
myself. I was talking to Ray about this at luncthime - he used to grow
tomatoes commercially - and he says that when the organic movement was
really getting going, the HDRA encouraged people to go round the pubs,
collecting up old ciggie ends and diluting them in water for just this
purpose. I don't think they do that now. ;-))
http://www.extension.umn.edu/distrib...re/DG1168.html
"The most common sources of virus inoculum for tobacco mosaic virus are the
debris of infected plants that remains in the soil and certain infected
tobacco products that contaminate workers hands. Cigars, cigarettes, and
pipe tobaccos can be infected with tobacco mosaic virus. Handling these
smoking materials contaminates the hands, and subsequent handling of plants
results in a transmission of the virus. Therefore, do not smoke while
handling or transplanting plants."
In addition, I found some information on pesticides and bees, including the
newer nicotine based pesticides and GM crops:
"Nicotine-Based Pesticides Interfere
with Honey Bee Memories
In the past six years, a new group of nicotine-based pesticides have emerged
called neonicotinoids. The most common is imidachloprid. Ironically, these
were originally manufactured to be less lethal. But about four years ago,
French and Italian beekeepers complained that imidachloprid crop spraying
was killing their honey bees. So the French and Italian governments banned
the nicotine-based pesticides.
American scientists now studying the Colony Collapse Disorder wrote in their
first preliminary December 15, 2006, report that even though* the*
neonicotinoids will not kill adult bees directly on flowers and plants:
"Recent research tested crops where seed was treated with imidacloprid. The
chemical was present, by systemic uptake, in corn, sunflowers and rape
pollen in levels high enough to pose a threat to honey bees. Additional
research has found that imidacloprid impairs the memory and brain metabolism
of bees, particularly the area of the brain that is used for making new
memories.
"Implication: If bees are eating fresh or stored pollen contaminated with
these chemicals at low levels, the pesticides might not cause mortality, but
might impact the bees' ability to learn or make memories. If this is the
case, young bees leaving the hives to make orientation flights might not be
able to learn the location of the hive and might not be returning, causing
the colonies to dwindle and eventually die. It is also possible that this is
not the sole cause of the dwindling, but one of several contributing
factors."
http://www.organicconsumers.org/arti...ticle_4557.cfm
--
Sacha
http://www.hillhousenursery.co.uk
South Devon
'We do not inherit the earth from our ancestors, we borrow it from our
children.'