"Jeff Layman" wrote ...
Bob Hobden wrote:
"Baz" wrote
To get rid of black/green/whitefly for example it is common to use liquid
soap which is rife with chemicals, good or bad I dont know, but if that
does not work what are we to do? Abandon the infected plants, or use
something which works but makes you feel uneasy about its use?

I suppose it is down to what a person sees fit and is prepared to do to
make a successful "natural" or as "organic as possible" veg plot.?

Next growing season(spring 2011) I for one will use some chemicals if it
means that we can eat veg. without pests and diseases in our plants.

We had a discussion/argument many year ago here with a knowledgeable and
committed organic gardener, who no longer frequents this Ng, and he said
if crops get ruined by pests, tough, throw them away and hope it's
better next season.

So did he starve to death, or buy stuff which had been chemically
treated from his local supermarket to feed himself?

No idea, probably went without.

I, however will use chemicals if it means the
difference between crops and no crops. That said, very little of our
produce is sprayed, nothing this season except Bordeaux Mixture on the
toms.

Makes sense to me. Although I advocate use of chemicals, I don't drown
everything in sight with them. I just wish there were more choices
available for amateur use.

Now that is another problem, so many pests/diseases are now untreatable for
the amateur grower it is becoming a serious problem in itself. Yet the
Government say they are encouraging allotments and the growing of food by
citizens, the two things simply do not compute.
I have a book on pests and disease written in 1997 and most of the remedies
in it are now banned for our use despite not being considered dangerous,
just a case of too costly to test for amateur use, so no DEFRA number, so
can't be sold to the public.
If professionals can still use a chemical why not an amateur?

--
Regards
Bob Hobden
W.of London. UK