Going "non-organic"

because this has been a terrible year here, for insects and diseases!

I have bought the "Ortho Garden Disease Control" (stops and prevents over 130 diseases) which is supposed to be safe on vegetables, fruits, roses, flowers, shrubs & trees, and also "Ortho Malathion Plus" which will take care of those spider mites, as well as many other pests. It is supposed to be safe for what I listed above as well.

According to the directions, these two can be mixed into one spray, so that I only have to make one walk through. I'm planning on spraying everything I have.

This saddens me, because I really wanted to go organic, but fear losing everything if I do.

Has anyone had any adverse affects by using either of these on their Brugs? Just wanted to check it out first, before I go ahead and do this. I'm still waiting on a question in the Tomato forum before making my solution.

Thanks if you can help!

Karrie

I've never used either of those. Regardless of what the label says, I would think twice about spraying anything that you or your kids are going to eat. Things get labeled "safe for human consumption" then years later someone discovers that the product is actually quite dangerous.

I think I'm going to wrap my garden in bridal netting next year! LOL only kidding... Good luck Karrie.

I've used Malathion,no problems...
infact when I wash my chickens I put some in the bath water to kill the mites on them.......

I don't know about mixing it with another chemical though

What a picture just popped into my head. I can see you scrubbing under their little 'arms'. Do they wear shower caps?

Nope, they need their hair washed too...LOL

Karrie, I know you are in a totally different part of the country and such a different zone, but several master gardners in my area tell me that with the size of brugs, they should eventually' be okay. At first I was skeptical, but I didn't spray and, because of an injury, and, I didn't take really good care, and the brugs that were left to their on defenses are doing great. They aren't blooming their fan tannies off, but they were not fed, and they do not have bugs, an occasional eaten leaf, but they would not be considered bug infested. So, I'm not going to do something drastic, at least this year. Could be, if you give it a little more time, you won't have to either. I will tell you, if the bugs get outta hand, I will do something about it. Good luck!!!!

Oh Sherry, if you only saw it around here. My Nasturstiam garden, in the back looks like it's speckled with coarse black pepper - step close enough and you see there are little black bugs EVERYWHERE, eating them alive. The leaves look horrible!

And I've been told by other people I have spider mites on my brugs.

And my tomatoes either have been munched on or have powdery mildew or late blight (there's a post about it on the tomato forum).

My back is not doing well, and I just don't have the time and energy to go out and cut off all the bad leaves.

According to the bottles, you CAN use the two of these things together, but no more than 3 times. Since fall is approaching, I figure one shot might not be a bad idea. And doing a 2 in one solution, so I only have to spray once sounds like a saver for me and my back.

I just wanted to know if anyone knew any downfalls to them and Brugs. Crested Chicken (the mama of four of these) said she's used the malathion. THAT one was my main worry.

I have had maters (years ago) sprayed with that, and as long as you clean the fruit, it is safe.

Unless I hear a bad story about this soon, the solution is going to be made - tomorrow - I've been canning salsa today and I'm beat!

Karrie

Bless your heart, Karrie!!! Take a deep breath and consider the options. One might be to call your county co-op or go in to a county co-op in your area and see what they recommend, or you could call them. Malathion is good or has been when I used it, early on in the season for mildew, I think. . Since I live so far from your area, and since I'm a newbie, it might be better for one more experienced to advise you; however, in my area, even master gardners are having problems this year, which has been most unusual, cool temps and an abundance of rain...all is not lost, at least you got the salsa canned today!!!!!

I think you should get your back fixed and not even worry about the flowers this year. You could be doing too much and make your situation much worse. You can always get flower seeds and starts....I know you have done a lot of hard work, but your back is most important. Without it, you won't be doing flowers for future years. Please be very careful. I'm talking from experience. I had back surgery in 1985 and I've never regretted it one little bit. What they did for me back then was a five day hospital stay and now you go in one morning, have the surgery and go home the next day before noon.

Thanks Brugie - I do try to take it easy - not overdue. When I canned today, I didn't fill the canner full of water and drag it to the stove. I put the empty canner on the stove, and filled pitchers full of hot water and filled it that way, and brought it to a boil. After I was finished, and it cooled, Russ emptied it for me, and even cleaned it for me (he was excited about the salsa - he gotta taste).

As far as gardening, my gardens don't look that well, although I can tell someone has been weeding for me, either Russ or Dee from across the street. I went and gathered seed yesterday, brought out my knee pad thing and "sat" on it, lol! (I'm on a slight hill, so that was easy).

I'm not doing any lifting.

I just want to take care of these problems. I don't want those black bugs in the back to spread to my neighbors, nor start laying eggs and creating problems for next year.

I think I'm going to mix up a gallon or two of that mix tomorrow and go for it. Trust me, that's much easier than pruning off bad leaf after bad leaf off the tomato plants. I'll have it done in 15 minutes or less, after mixing.

Still haven't got an answer on the tomato forum question, so am just going to have to guess on the formula I make (they are all fairly close, so I should be ok).

Thanks for all your help sweethearts! And thanks for thinking about me and reminding me what I need to be concentrating on - recovery!