Quote:
Originally Posted by cocksy_boy
Hi beccabunga, thanks for the quick reply!
Will spraying with soapy water not cause the plant to die - I'm thinking back a few years to some early biology lesson where you put soapy or salty water in with a plant to kill it - please excuse my ignorance!!!
Secondly, why do i need to remove the flowers to keep the plant going? do i need to do this for all my herbs? Many thanks!
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No - soapy water will not harm the plant. It is one of the recommended organic methods of dealing with insect pests. You can use ordinary hand soap, leaving the soap in the water for about 10 minutes to make sure the solution has enough fat to smother the pests. You then spray the leaves. What I then do is spray again after an hour or two with plain water.
The reason for taking off the flowers is that the plant will put all its strength into the flower in order to produce seed. By removing the flowers, the plant is forced to continue to grow. It is best with most herbs to remove the flowers, but you can always grow a separate plant just for the flowers if you want them. With the shrubby herbs [rosemary/sage/bay/thyme] you don't need to be as rigorous. You can wait till the flowers are dropping and then prune the shrub.