Beginner Gardening: ? What bug is this ?, 0 by Gymgirl

Gymgirl wrote:
Jannz2,
Only because I rushed home yesterday, mixed together a coupla good squeezes of LEMON Ajax detergent and 3 capfuls of LISTERINE MOUTHWASH in half a 5-gallon bucket of warm water, got an old dishrag and HAND WASHED each and every one of my Beatrice EGGPLANT leaves! I held each leaf in one hand and drizzled and gently washed the sudsy concoction over the top AND bottom of each leaf. I also checked the leaf-stem intersections, cause those mealybugs like to burrow down into those tight crevasses outta reach. But, once I drizzled some sudsy Ajax down in there, they came loose easily. I washed a small section of the leaves at a time and used my hose on a strong (but not hard) spray blast to rinse thoroughly between each section. Then I moved on to another section, till the whole plant was washed clean.

Then, I got my handtruck and MOVED my eggplant (it's in a 5-gallon eBucket...) completly across the yard to a DRYER, sunnier location. I have found in these past 2 years of my gardening experience, that mealybugs tend to thrive in damp, moist, humid environments, and tend to shrink back when they're in a drier location with good air circulation and that good old sunshine hits them.

We shall see..... I'll be following this post.

This eggplant is in an entirely different place in the yard, on the fenceline, in full sunshine. No mealybugs of any kind. It is a Black Beauty variety. I put Beatrice nearby (but not too close!!!) so she could see how well her Black Beauty sister is doing and encourage her to shake off the mealybugs!

What's that? Listerine? Oh, it does for the plant just what most mouthwashes do inside your mouth -- fights off bacteria and germs...it's never hurt anything I've used it on.

Mix together in 2 gallons of HOT water, 2 capfuls of LEMON AJAX, 2 large caps of Miouthwash, and 1/2 cup Bleach, to wash off your garden containers at the end of the season (I actually buy the HUGE bottles of mouthwash from the $1 store). The smell is almost intoxicating. I could just stand over the bucket and breathe (make sure you're doing this with adequate AIR circulation)! Makes this chore especially pleasant. Rinse your containers with hot water and sit them out to dry. Nice and clean, and minty fresh! Store your containers away in large trash bags to keep the buggies out, and they're ready when you need to reach for one in a hurry!

Linda

This message was edited Jun 23, 2009 10:47 AM