On 12 May 2008 13:18:20 GMT, (Nick Maclaren) wrote:


In article ,
"Cat(h)" writes:
|
| I am just wondering just how non-toxic washing up liquid truly is, and
| would using something like Ecover's stuff be better than, say, Fairy
| Liquid?

Very. It's more toxic than soap, but that's almost edible.

The difference is in the adjuncts, and a less poncy one might well
be better.


Regards,
Nick Maclaren.

Can one still buy Fairy Soap Flakes. My father used to mix these with
water to spray the aphids, before the days of detergents. Could one
grate Fairy Soap and mix that? I remember using a spray of some
supermarket's own brand washing up liquid once and it killed the
aphids and the plants!

Pam in Bristol

Nick Maclaren wrote:
In article ,
"Cat(h)" writes:
|
| I am just wondering just how non-toxic washing up liquid truly is, and
| would using something like Ecover's stuff be better than, say, Fairy
| Liquid?

Very. It's more toxic than soap, but that's almost edible.

One plant I found that really did not like the wetting agent treatment
at all was a bay tree (didn't want to use anything else since it was for
culinary use). Very nearly killed it stone dead the leaves all
dessicated within a week as the wax came off it as well as the pests.

The difference is in the adjuncts, and a less poncy one might well
be better.

Simplest cheap one is probably as good as any. The fat based soft soaps
are supposed to be better at gungin up insect breathing holes.

Regards,
Martin Brown
** Posted from http://www.teranews.com **

"Pam Moore" wrote in message
...
On 12 May 2008 13:18:20 GMT, (Nick Maclaren) wrote:



Can one still buy Fairy Soap Flakes. My father used to mix these with
water to spray the aphids, before the days of detergents. Could one
grate Fairy Soap and mix that? I remember using a spray of some
supermarket's own brand washing up liquid once and it killed the
aphids and the plants!

I buy Soap Flakes from Waitrose but it's not Fairy, it's not Lux either :-(

Mary

"Martin Brown" wrote in message
...

Simplest cheap one is probably as good as any. The fat based soft soaps
are supposed to be better at gungin up insect breathing holes.

You could spray thin cooking oil, that would impede their respiration.

Mary

On Mon, 12 May 2008 16:20:29 +0100, Pam Moore
wrote:

Can one still buy Fairy Soap Flakes.

Correction. It was Lux soap flakes!

Pam in Bristol

Mary Fisher wrote:
"Martin Brown" wrote in message
...
Simplest cheap one is probably as good as any. The fat based soft soaps
are supposed to be better at gungin up insect breathing holes.

You could spray thin cooking oil, that would impede their respiration.

Mary


Still thinking about barbequing them? :-)

Baste with cooking oil and turn until well done.

--
David in Normandy.
To e-mail you must include the password FROG on the
subject line, or it will be automatically deleted
by a filter and not reach my inbox.

"David in Normandy" wrote in message
...
Mary Fisher wrote:
"Martin Brown" wrote in message
...
Simplest cheap one is probably as good as any. The fat based soft soaps
are supposed to be better at gungin up insect breathing holes.

You could spray thin cooking oil, that would impede their respiration.

Mary


Still thinking about barbequing them? :-)

I don't barbeque. I barbecue :-)

Baste with cooking oil and turn until well done.

You forget, I got rid of my lupins :-)

Oil is used as a biotechnical method of controlling mites in beehives by
some beekeepers. I reckon it would work on lupin aphids - AND prepare them
for the barbecue. I prefer even larger lumps of meat :-)

Mary

Chris Hogg wrote:
On Mon, 12 May 2008 17:08:42 +0100, "Mary Fisher"
wrote:

"Martin Brown" wrote in message
...
Simplest cheap one is probably as good as any. The fat based soft soaps
are supposed to be better at gungin up insect breathing holes.
You could spray thin cooking oil, that would impede their respiration.

Mary

Many of the 'green' insecticides available are little more than that,
except that they emulsify the oil to give a thick white gloop that you
dilute. I'm sure if you took a couple of tablespoons of cooking oil of
your choice, added a few drops of soap of your choice and whizzed the
mix well in a pint of water in a liquidiser, you'd get the same thing
for a fraction of the cost. That's assuming it didn't just fill the
kitchen with froth!

Might as well just use a cheap shampoo if that's all they are

David in Normandy wrote:

Yesterday for the first time I tried spraying a big lupin with warm
water and washing up liquid. The plant was absolutely heaving with
thousands of aphids and starting to look quite poorly and wilting.
Today 99% of the aphids are black, shrivelled and dead. I'm really
impressed how quick and effective it has been.

I sprayed the plant in the full heat and blaze of yesterday afternoons
sun which probably helped kill off the little buggers. I'll spray again
this afternoon which also looks like being a scorcher to see if it will
kill off the remainder. I used about twice the amount of washing up
liquid as I'd use in a washing up bowl for washing dishes but this
amount was only in one of those little plant sprayers. The concentration
seems to have been good.

I'm very impressed with this "non-toxic" approach. :-)

The only question really is the "non-toxicity" of this non-toxic approach.
I've heard that the soapy water treatment will kill any predators of the
aphids as well as the aphids. Might be worth checking to make sure there's
no ladybird or their larvae, or lacewing larvae around before spraying.

Duncan