You can use regular molassis all you'll need to do is add a bit of sulfur powder to it.
This message was edited Apr 15, 2004 12:07 PM
Home Recipes for Brugs/Dats
I had to learn the krebs cycle in microbiology in school, it is the system by which glucose is converted to energy in the form of ATP (adenosinetriphosphate), by products are oxygen and water, I believe.
yes plus it has cellular exchanges which produces humic and amino acids and many other trace elements or vise versa.
I guess that is the krebs cycle in plants, I was studying the one in humans, I don't believe we produce any humic acids, lol. I may be wrong though, I have been once before.
1 Habanero Pepper with some water in blender.
add 1 gal water and use to control aphids white fly, neighbors anything that moves. Be out of the way of spray or could be could be retired from gardening for a while. I would think a little ivory liquid dish soap to help it stick. Highly recomend rubber gloves as this is the Hottest of hot peppers.
Bump
I have copied Finchlady's miticide/etc advice; Brugie, is this the correct proportion? 1/2 alcohol to 1/2 water seems a bit much!
(I used a spray of rubbing alcohol and water in a 1:1 ratio with a shot of dish soap and sprayed well - top and underside of leaves and down the trunks. I repeated every few days and no more damage. ")
It sure sounds simple!
I'm sure that is the correct mix. If it works and did no damage...I'd sure not hesitate to use it. Just remember that when spraying with any of the recipes, you should do it when the sun is not hot...preferable early morning or late evening so the mix of sun and the recipe used doesn't burn your plants.
Goodness, this is a super thread!!! The only way it could possibly be any better is if everyone would tell us where we can find the ingredients, there are so many I've never heard of and simply have no idea where to start looking. TIA!!! SLike
Jeff, I LOVED your hydrogen peroxide post, so very informative, thanks!!! I've really used hydrogen peroxide over the years, it's my fav 'medication' for people and dogs and, now, plants. I cannot wait to try it!! SherryLike
Hey Jeff!!! Just thought I'd ask - you know anything that will get rid of mosquitoes ??? I REALLY enjoy your posts !!! SLike
Jeff posted: If anyone here has access to a neon sign I could get, please let me know.
I have an 'antique' Miller Beer neon light that blinks, or did blink before the light tube was damaged, I've never found anyone to repair it & don't have a clue how to ship it without breaking it more. Would something like that work?? If so, I'll check and see if I still have a couple of other neons that will work. SLike
Sherrylike...Jefflikes too;) LOL Yes that would be ideal! For my use of the transformer, I would end up removing all the glass tubing left over from the beer sign. I only need the "box" that the old sign/glass is attatched to. You could break off all the glass, just try not to rip out the main wires from the box.
Thank you soo much for looking into that and finding 1 for me. Just let me know how much $ you want for it plus shipping, I'd love to try it. YEAH! I knew somebody had 1 laying around!
Thanks again Sherryl
Are these organic recipes that everyone is posting?
Thanks, Tracey
mosquitoes??? LOL I'm beginning to feel like a exterminator!LOL I don't know how to get rid of the short of keeping all stagnant water cleaned up or add bleach to it. I know what doesn't work for sure and is the biggest rip-off. Those hi$ propane powered "mosquitoe traps" are worthless!!! My dad bought the biggest 1 he could find last year and his area is plagued with them. He might of caught 5 MOSQUITOES all summer! He spent close to 200$ on it, so sad that they can pump up these gizmo's as the solution. The only solution they provide is how to seperate you from your money!
www.planetnatural.com
If there is a bio friendly mosquito killer, the above link will have it for sure. I use these guys exclusively, they go way out of their way to accomodate me and are very helpful. Go to that site and do a search for that particular pest and the remedies will be listed in article form. Check out all the other eco-friendly pest controller's their too. They have it all. I buy their variety pack in spring and summer.
http://www.planetnatural.com/mosquito_control.html
I had to look for myself, here is the mosquito link at planet natural.
Happy hunting, Jeff
Here is the other link I mentioned, "Garden variety pack". I just can't say enough to do these guys justice plus I am helping replenish Ma nature's helper's that we've killed off w/ non selective pesticides. When I was a kid, I could find a Praying mantis any time I wanted. Now they're so rare IMO a long with many other beneficial insects that USED to occur easily in nature. These egg cases that the matis come in are very cool, it's literally the egg case a mother mantis built on a twig they mail to you a long with the other bugs eggs. Plus it's very neat to show them to the kids so they aren't spooked by them when/if they ever do see them in nature. When they hatch, the babies are identicle to adults except in size. They maybe 3/8-1/2 of an inch long when 1st hatched. The other eggs they ship are incredible, you won't see hardly any white flies if applied twice a year.
EVERYONE PLEASE READ THE DESCRIPTION OF THE VARIETY PACK EVEN IF YOU DON'T BUY ANYTHING. I've been using these critter's(some other's that aren't in the variety pack) rather than pesticides for around 7 years. I no longer have a grub worm problem, I don't see spidermites or many other pests I assumed were just part of gardening. I've also noticed that the 1acre we live on has has slowly re-developed the toad and frog populations I used to see as a child, same with snakes and other reptiles. Anything that eats insects has come back in healtheir numbers imo. Remember seeing roads covered in toads many evenings when you were younger? I've also noticed the bird population has grown in numbers. There are downsides to this if you choose to see it that way ie. mice living under my deck around bird feeder's and living in the rock boarder's around the garden's. But on the other hand, I see Red Tail and Kestrel Hawks eating mice and sparrow's not more than 10 feet from my back door. About 3 weeks ago my wife and I heard this horrid sound that reminded me of a animal caught in a trap. We went to the noise and saw the bush's rattle, the next day we heard it again and found a pair of red fox mating! We looked more and found a huge den on the back edge of our property in a small wooded area. They are better mouser's than any cat and are so small they don't pose any threat to people or pets. I can't wait to sneak pictures of the babies.
Well I've rambled way too much, I was trying to make the point that I believe we've cleaned up our lil patch of nature so well that all the native's are moving back in. I just can't get enough of that.
I need to let my java buzz wear off before posting!LOL I'm just high on life, wildlife that is;)
Thanks, Jeff
http://www.planetnatural.com/beneficialinsects2.html
Garden Variety Pack
An excellent way to become familiar with using beneficial insects. The Garden Variety Pack contains a nice mixture of our most popular predators and parasites, specifically:
* 1/2 pint of Ladybugs
* 1,000 Lacewing Eggs
* 1 square of Trichogramma
* 2,000 Fly Parasites
* 3 Praying Mantis Egg Cases
Makes for a great gift, too! Shipped Free (U.S. Mail).
#174 Garden Variety Pack $36.95
PS:if anyone thinks this post has scrolled the page to far, please let me know and I'll edit it down. I hijacked the topic again. Sorry
Hi Jeff, I've read a lot of your posts here and other threads and enjoy reading them. I have one question and one comment: (actually 2 comments :) )
Question: Have you read anywhere that the H2O2/water solutions are not good for regular watering of houseplants, etc.? I was telling my SIL about all these experiments and how well my seeds had germinated. She emailed me back yesterday with some info she found on the web. They were saying how well it worked for tough to germinate seeds but not to use it on growing plants because it retards root growth. Do you have any experience or know anything about this idea?
Comment: If you live north of z5, don't waste your money on praying mantis. You can release them and they will do fine the first summer but not overwinter. Learned this in Master Gardener course, partly because someone in 4b tried it and lost them all. The instructor said they only overwinter in S. Ia.
Comment: Us readers getting into the bifocal age and some younger ones too, have a hard time reading long posts with no interruptions. Could you please break them up so that we can read it easier? That would be much appreciated. Really don't care so much if they're long, just like them easier to read! :) Thank-you, thank-you, thank-you!!
These are some great recipes! Thanks for ALL the info. Im learning SO much!
Wonderful thread. Many ideas for all of to use before going to chemicals.
Kooger.
Thankyou for the comments etc.. I'll gladly take more time in writing my posts following proper paragraphing and grammar. I'm actually an accomplished writer of many stories, technical writing for manuals etc.. For some reason when I first began on the internet, my typing skills were nill and aren't much better today so I sounded like "Tonto" on the Lone ranger using the least amount of words possible and abbreviations. I guess I figured if nobody can see who is typing and I gave enough of the important information, everybody could piece it together themselves. I'm still very bad about that today, I'm trying though.;)
On the Praying mantis not being able to survive...I live in Kansas now and these new zone maps have me very confused as to which zone I'm really in. Then they changed the numbers to colors just when I almost figured out what the "A" and "B" parts covered.
Anyhow, I remember finding huge numbers of Mantis when I lived in Michigan and many huge walking sticks. I always figured that the adults died if every winter but their egg cases insulated the eggs well enough for the young to come out in spring. But how can I explain finding adult praying mantis in early spring that far North? I remember a group of kids that built cages for them out of tooth pics and would fight them like they were cock fighting!LOL Man the females were meanies.
Now that I've bought the egg cases and seen how the cases are constructed, I can see how they could survive through winter. The cases look like the spray foam you buy at the hardware store for sealing up air gaps and the like. They build these foam cases somehow and the cases are only one inch long by maybe 3/4th of an inch in diameter and egg shaped. Then they hatch out up to 250 baby praying mantis in 1 day. I think it's a marvel of nature to get that many babies in one of those small cases. Plus they are carnivorous, why don't they eat each other in the cases?
These guys must find some means of sheltering themselves so some do survive winter IMO. Who knows for sure.
On the hydrogen peroxide being bad for a plant's root's. In higher concentrations, I could see that happening. I only use 3.5% to start with and them water it to a very mild dilution. I've never seen any of my plant's suffer from using it, everyone so far has seemed to thrive. I found 2 more plant's we wintered inside and they looked like death. I removed the saucer from under the pot and smelled that unmistakable stagnant odor. Neither plant had any visible foliage and I cut it back until I found green in the stems. I flushed them hard with water and waited until it quit draining and then mixed up an unmeasured amount of peroxide and my Maxicrop/Superthrive/water solution and poured it through the plant until it quit draining. Then I put the saucer back on the pot and used the same solution to water the plant's 1 more time until I saw it filling the saucer.
1 of the plant's has 1 full but small leaf and both plants show signs of new growth at the nodes. Both of these plant's are annuals too by the way.
I have read that peroxide can and will kill any cell it contacts. With my broken back and several surgeries, my doctor's wouldn't allow me to use it on infected wounds for the same reason. Every experience I've had using it has ended with excellent result's. I believe the diluted amounts still contain enough to kill many bacteria and other pathogen's while not damaging the roots. On the 2 plant's I mentioned above, I already see pure white roots inside the pot by looking through the drain holes. I don't think I'd recommend using it every time you water, there is no need to IMO unless the plant is having a hard time getting oxygen on it's own.
It may very well damage the plant a little. I know many fruit farmer's have a practice called "thwarting" where they use long sticks and actually beat the branches on the tree's before they begin to flower. They say this practice tricks the tree into believing it needs to beef up and strengthen up the branches. The end result being branches sturdy enough to carry more fruit with out drooping or having to support the branches by other means in order to stay up when weighted down with fruit. This is very similar to the reason we use strong fans in greenhouses, plants need to be blown around pretty hard in order to make the plant bulk up enough to stand up to the wind when transplanted outdoors.
I guess my point is some damaging and stressing a plant result's in stronger and healthier plant's in the long run. Now that I think about it more, I'm convinced this is the case. Although I don't know if hydrogen peroxide plays into this at all. Just the other day I found a few plant's where rabbit's have been using them as beds at night. They looked horrible and we just knew they were done for the season. We fenced off the rabbit's and now those plant's are the thickest and strongest one's of them all.
Now I'm going to take this and try it out on some other plants to see if this is whats happening and to what point are you helping or hurting the plant over time. Now I must decide where I can carry out this experiment and on which plants. I can't very well do it in the middle of our flower beds!LOL
Thanks for the questions and forcing me to use this block sitting on top of my shoulders for more than a hat rack. And yet 1 more apology for scrolling the page. PLEASE DON'T BE BASHFUL IF ANYONE FEELS THESE POSTS ARE JUST TAKING UP SPACE AND NEED TO BE EDITED DOWN TO JUST THE POINTS, PLEASE TELL ME! I'LL HAPPILY EDIT THESE DOWN AS MUCH OF THIS IS OFF TOPIC.
THANKS, Jeff
I have a question about Gretchen's home recipe for fertilizer. From where does the plant get nitrogen using that recipe? Does any of those ingredients contain a significant amount of nitrogen?
Hi Mary:
The key to using my formula is having good, amended soil to start with. The seaweed has 1% nitrogen by volume. I will tell you that all my brug cuttings are loaded with buds. I even have buds on a pink beauty that has not yet y'd. Unfortunately though, I'm having a tough time with spider mites and pillbugs, ugh! But so far, they are loving the growing conditions here...
Everyone just has to do what works for them, and this works great for me. Hope that offers a little insight.
Well, my Brug friends -- you were right! Not a peep out of my two overwintering Brugs; the roots are strongly entrenched, but don't you think they would be sending up a shoot by now?
I kept remulching them all winter, and fretted over them constantly, but that was not enough it seems. We are starting on a Greenhouse this coming week, so I will be able to reduce stress levels next winter.
A question for JLD_11 : I still have a question about Finchlady's bug tonic -- my alcohol is Isopropyl 91% -- is that rubbing alcohol? If not, what amount of water would be right to match the rubbing alcohol's 1 to 1 ratio?
Polly, I'm sorry about your brugs, major bummer. I just put a few in the ground last week and have several more waiting on the deck w/ many cannas and elephant ear bulbs...Is it too early to plant brugs here? The next 2 nights are going to be around 40F. I don't want to cover anyone up. I'm begging to feel like I live in a nursery! Clones on 1 side of my bed, bulbs to the right...I'm stuck in the middle again;)
I thinkl your alchohol is considered rubbing alchohol. The bottle I have is 70%. I don't know how big of a difference that makes. I just read her post again as I'm not familiar with it. The way I read it is to mix you alchohol with water in a 50/50 mix with a few drops of dish soap. The dish soap serves as a wetting agent and thins out the solution so it makes better leaf contact. I don't think you can go wrong doing it this way;)
Goodluck, Jeff
I think the hardest part of gardening is to wait long enough in the Spring to be safe! The date for here in 7b is about April 20 -- we did have a 38 the other night, but it was 44 by 8:30 am and that was okay.
I haven't dug up my overwintered Brug stalks yet, but I don't have much hope. I'm disappointed in Plants Delights in selling them to me as perennials.
Jeff, before I forget it and, before the Derby, I want to tell you that my neons will not work. Our law office burned to the ground Valentine's Day, 2002, when a back draft caused an explosion and fire. The neons where there and I thought with just soot on them, with the slightly broken tube, but my son says they were water damaged and no one knew and they sat in it too long. I had my electrician take a look, and Mike says they are done. What a shame, I just hate that, but I'll continue to check around. I am very sorry it took me to long to respond, but I had to wait on Mike to check them out and he didn't call back until today. SherryLikeTheWine
thanks, Jeff. The editing looks great! I think that's a good idea - only watering with the H2O2/water sol. occasionally. Think I'll discus it w/SIL. thanks for the input.
Will praying mantis kill boxelder bugs? They are about to run me out of here.
Shirley...what is that??? (boxelder bugs) I've never heard of them!
You don't want to even get them started. We got rid of the boxelder tree 15 years ago and have had the bugs anyway. I'll see if I can find something on them and post.
Brinda, here is a site with a picture and short write up. I know now why we still have them. We have a yard full of silver maples. http://www.ivyhall.district96.k12.il.us/4th/kkhp/1insects/boxelder.html
This message was edited May 8, 2004 4:59 PM
Oh no Shirley...I have a huge Silver Maple in my front yard, but I've never seen a BUG like that! Ugh....I don't even like what it looks like! LOL Thanks for the education on them, I'll keep an eye out for them!
I didnt find ANYTHING that would eat a box elder bug when I did the search. Heres a link I found. http://www.rnews.com/print.cfm?id=9964 Ive seen Malathion at HD.
"Box Elder Bug
INJURY: The BOX ELDER bug may be a pest both of outdoor trees, as well as a household nuisance. It is the latter that is of most concern to homeowners. The bugs overwinter as adults in protected dry places, often in wall voids or attics of houses and buildings. During warm days in the fall and spring, the bugs become active and invade homes, becoming an extreme nuisance.
DESCRIPTION: The adult BOX ELDER bug is about 1/2 inch in length and brownish black in color with red stripes on the thorax and wing margins. The body is also bright red. Eggs are a rusty red color and are not often seen as they are deposited on BOX ELDER trees. The nymphs, also found on the trees, are bright red in color with the head end darker. Nymphs resemble adults, but do not have fully developed wings and are not able to reproduce. The change from nymph to adult is a gradual one.
LIFE HISTORY: The BOX ELDER bugs pass the winter in the adult stage in dry, sheltered places where they have accumulated in gregarious masses. They often choose buildings or houses as a protected place to overwinter. When weather warms up in the spring, the bugs leave their places of hibernation to fly to BOX ELDER trees where they deposit their eggs. Eggs are usually deposited in bark crevices and hatch in 11 to 14 days. The nymphs feed by inserting their beaks into leaves, fruits or soft seeds and sucking the plant juices. Feeding continues throughout the summer, and the nymphs gradually mature, becoming adults as cold weather approaches in the fall. In some areas, there may be two broods of this insect, one reaching maturity in mid summer, and the second one in early fall.
MANAGEMENT: Since the presence of these bugs is associated with BOX ELDER trees, replacement with other tree species is one method of eliminating the nuisance pest. If BOX ELDER is grown, it may be best to keep only the male or staminate trees which would help to reduce its numbers.
Out of doors insecticides have been used effectively on the trees to control the nymphs while they are actively feeding. Either the insecticide malathion or carbaryl (Sevin) may be recommended. BE SURE TO FOLLOW THE MANUFACTURERS' DIRECTIONS ACCURATELY WHEN USING ANY PESTICIDE. A small number of trees may be sprayed by the homeowner, but large trees and large groups of trees should be done by a certified pesticide applicator.
Indoors, vacuuming up the bugs and discarding the contents of the vacuum bag when finished is a good effective housekeeping method. (If bugs are left inside the vacuum, they may crawl out in the storage place.) Tightening up the routes of entry the bugs use by caulking or screening is a more permanent solution."
Already I don't even like this ugly bug! Yuck! And I've never even seen one!
I rarely get them in the house, but sometimes the south wall of the garage is covered with them. Nice a warm there. I bought some stuff at the nursery that is supposed to work. Now, if the wind would just die down so I could spray, I'd test it.
B.E. bugz seem to be a normal part of warm weather in these parts. Most folks look upon them as pesky critters just like the ladybugs. If too many get in the garage I just spray bomb them. They don't eat my flowers ,veggies or critters (or me) so ..no problemo !
;-D
I've been bitten by the rotters! Some years they are so bad you can hardly walk outside. What always surprises me is that I never saw them before I moved to IA. We have lots of box elder trees in S. Ontario (called Manitoba Maples there) but no bugs! ...it's a good thing to have no B.E.bugs!! :)
I have wanted to use Finchlady's alcohol/water formula for my Brugs, but I was concerned about "rubbing" alcohol, versus the usual 90 % formulation. Soooo - I did some discovery at CVS, and rubbing alcohol is 70% alcohol. Therefore, by permutations & combinations you should add water to about 60% to the regular alcohol. Since they cost the same, that will save you a few pennies!
Sounds like JLD_11 !
well.... I don't want anyone to take this advice from a newbie at Brugs. But this is what I ended up doing. Since I didn't have the Super Thrive, but was able to get everything else, I did the recipe, but used one Tablespoon of the Miracle granules instead of the Super Trive - to one gallon of water. I really need to get an eye dropper for the tea tree oil, because not only does it get on my skin and make my mouth taste terrible, it is hard to measure a drop or two without it. But I did my best. Here is the pic I took today, after one week of the treatment, just altered by the miracle grow and lack of real measurement. If you don't think Miracle Grow should be used on these, please let me know. I do know I have never seen greener plants in my life, and I delight everytime I go past them! :)
We all use what is best for us.
Re; MG tho ...... these recipes are going BACK to healthier alternatives -and- away from salt based chemical ferts such as MG, etc.
...............Salt ferts destroy the good & essential things in a healthy organic soil.So you end up in a vicious circle of "What's wrong now?" to "Maybe I need to add this?"....and on and on =(
re: SuperThrive ...... Until you can find it put a B-complex vitamin tab in the mix.
.....It's better to keep everything healthy naturally , as it should be.
JMHO
Good Luck
>^,,^< Shirley
will do! thanks!