"David Hare-Scott" wrote:
DavidofWales wrote:
Hi I'm wondering if I could boil some tobaco in water and use the
resulting solution to spray on vedge as an insecticde?

Nicotine is very poisonous, the only reason that smokers survive as long
as they do is because most of the nicotine in each smoke is destroyed by
heat. Such a solution will be quite toxic, do not ingest it or allow
children pets etc to get to it.

If so, what are
the ratios and will my vedge be ok to eat or will they become toxic?

These are two important issues. You won't know exactly how strong your
solution is because different tobaccos contain various amounts of
nicotine and the amount extracted into solution will depend on the
conditions of the extraction. Thus you won't know how much you can
(should) dilute while it remains effective nor will you know the
withholding period. There may be information to help with these
available on the web but there is a risk that it is not reliable.

Consider this recipe (the first one that I found).

http://www.ehow.com/how_5459005_make...ine-spray.html

It says a cup of chewing tobacco for a gallon of water and that the spray
is only effective for a few hours. I have no idea if either of these
things is correct. A cup of tobacco doesn't seem very cheap to me but I
don't buy tobacco. I suppose you could collect butts at places where
smokers congregate, you would have to dress the part, maybe carry a
bottle in a brown paper bag and rub dirt into your face and hands.

I would not touch anything some else was sucking on!

It also says soap will dissolve the bodies of soft bodied insects which
is not true. You takes your chances with what you find on the web. The
soap will act as a wetting agent allowing the liquid to wet both leaves
and insects which will improve the amount the insects ingest, so it is useful.


Will they (the veges) even be damaged by the spray?


I doubt it.

David

I can not believe that eHow actually had a formula for it.
Take note of those HEAVY duty gloves....

Nicotine can be absorbed through the skin. I had a school teacher speak of
taking one rabbit and rubbing one sig on the neck of the rabbit and it died
a few minutes later. The good old days of school, not the bland days of
today!

Perhaps I am overly cautious, but I would not even think of trying it.

--
Enjoy Life... Nad R (Garden in zone 5a Michigan)