Organic pest control advice needed.

I have been growing veggies for a few weeks. Tomatoes are hard to deal with as they seem more prone to disease. Once in a blue moon do I ever get a healthy tomato. This year I'm fighting back. I want to combat pests and diseases. This winter has been warm. No real freezes. I'd imagine that will make the pest and disease risk this year sky rocket. I want to go organic because I don't want my family or I to be expoased to the chemicals found in the pesticides. So what do you all use?

Thanks.

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Bt, as in Dipel as a dust, and Thuricide as a liquid. Milky Spore, and beneficial nematodes. You could buy beneficial insects, but I find that they appear to combat your infestation. Albeit, a bit late.

 

Liquid copper, sparingly. It is a great anti fungal spray. I read that and anti-transpirant is great at warding off powdery mildew on zinnias and that it is supposed to work on tomatoes. The spores land on the anti-transpirant and this has created a barrier that the fungus can't penetrate. I just read this this winter in a trade magazine... well worth a try.

 

I use BT for leaf-eating caterpillars and neem oil for some others. Neem is also a fungicide so it's handy to have around. Don't apply it when bees or other pollinators are about.

 

For speed and simplicity I would go to the store and find a dog or cat shampoo that has pyrethrin in it. Add about a tablespoon to a quart of water in a spray bottle then add about a teaspoon of betadine which is a surgical scrub, disinfectant and fungicide. Can get both at feed store, Wal-Mart ect. Should take care of anything you might have and will likely last all season. Pyrethrin is approved for organic gardening. Betadine is like iodine. I wash my hands with it to keep from spreading a disease if I have one from one plant to the others, wash tools with it or just dunk in a bucket of dilute solution, use it on cuts, scrapes which you will get if you garden.

 

This is a great idea! Wish I had thought of it! Kind of embarrassed that I didn't.

 

FBG, don't be embarrassed. Mart is our resident gardening genius. She also came up with the "upside down soda bottle manure tea infuser".
Some folks are born geniuses, and the rest of us just ride on their coattails! Race you to the feed store to get shampoo and betadine.

 

I must be a Luddite, I still use sulfer to control fleas and ticks on the dog (soon to be plural). And I know what merthiolates does to a cut!

 

LOL ! No I am just a lazy, cheap, use what I have, type gardener that got really tired of paying all those high prices for stuff I have in my house.
Just make sure that you get shampoo with pyrethrin, rather than permethrin if you are organic. I use permethrin the same way but pyrethrin is made from plant compounds and permethrin is not. Permethrin is safe and I use it the same way but it is not on the organic list.

 

I think the one thing I have learned going organic for tomatoes is buying healthy plants to begin with. Don't use seeds from a plant you had problems with. I make sure I water evenly and that has helped the bottom end rot. If you get those worms, put a collar or ring around the plant. I find that if I don't use anything nature helps me out...because when you kill bad bugs, you are still getting some of the good guys too that you need in your garden.

I tried worm castings this spring in my gardens and when I plant my pots I will add some to those. Good Luck.

 

Organic flea control

My uncle who lives in Bakersfield had a horrible flea infestation and during a composting seminar, I learned about a flea powder made of diatomaceous earth which can be safely used directly on pets and sprinkled around the home. It is called Flea Away flea powder.
He sprinkled it around the house and brushed it through the dog's coat twice a week. It took about a month but he safely eliminated the problem. :-D

 

DE is good stuff...but make SURE you don't breath in any of it. It will cause silicosis in the lungs and builds up over time.

 

Thanx guys. If these are save to eat do they leave a funny taste or will I bearly notice anything?

 

The spray I suggested is in a soap base and washes away. Only thing that may leave a taste would be the betadine ( slight iodine taste if any). Neither I nor anyone who has eaten my vegetables have ever said they could taste anything except the veggie !

 

The copper is mostly being sprayed on the foliage. If there is any overspray on the fruit, it washes off very easily. I have even eaten them out in the garden, not thinking about any spray...I guess it hasn't hurt me...much . Really, just kidding. I haven't gotten sick out there at all.

I also use DE, mine is organic and it is safe to eat anyway. So if you use organic, you won't notice any taste to it just maybe a chalky texture. That said, I don't generally use it on the tomatoes, either. More of a soil or soft bodied pest dust.