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Post by tom on Nov 12, 2006 9:32:14 GMT -5
Hi, since im not a pesticide lover, especially since i grow all my plants indoor and a bit paranoid about the chemicals. The fact that Safer's insecticidal soap were harmful to some CP complicate the fight against some common pests (aphids for example), especially for large collection. Being that said, I was reluctant to use another product of my CP, fearing to burn expensive/precious plants to my eyes, but Safer's End All was promising in some tests I made. 2 weeks ago, I made a spray on all my CP (Drosera, utricularia (terrestrial and epiphytic), Sarracenia, Dionaea, Nepenthes, Dalingtonia, Heliamphora) and saw no ill effect, even at the full dose complemented with rubbing alcohol. The active ingredient is pyrethryn, which isn't much harmful to human although it can cause skin irritation, so some precautions should be taken. It is really harmful to aquatic life though, so watch the place where you do your sprayings. So, if you are having some bugs problems (thrips, mites, aphids, fungus gnats), I would go with this product. In its concentrate form, it is not that expensive and pretty useful, even on our beloved and fragile plants!
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Post by lloyd on Nov 12, 2006 18:30:41 GMT -5
Do you think it's better than Al Bickell's Neem spray recipe?
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Post by tom on Nov 12, 2006 19:00:48 GMT -5
Never tried it, but i've heard a lot of good things about neem oil. Alternating both can be good too, if you dont see any ill effects with neem oil (hmm i need your impression here!). A down side of neem oil I've heard from orchids growers: it leaves the plants sticky!
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Post by lloyd on Nov 12, 2006 19:09:52 GMT -5
Al Bickell's neem recipe, even the higher concentration for scale didn't seem to make the plants sticky. The lower concentration (not for scale) was non-toxic on Mexican pings and killed the aphids. However the lower concentration was quite toxic to sundews. The higher concentration set VFT's back but did control the thrips. The higher concentration worked for scale on Ceph's but also set them back. The higher concentration worked for thrips on Sarr's with no toxicity and also seemed to clean the sticky nectar off a bit. It does smell a bit garlicky but it's non-toxic so you can use it indoors. They even make toothpaste out of it in India.
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