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Organic pest / disease control (1)

Category  |   Discussion (0)Pests (General)

Main > Gardening > Pests
Washing-up liquid can be used as an insecticide when you mix it with water. Take 1 to 3 tablespoons of washing-up liquid, mix into 1 gallon of water, put it in a spray bottle and spray the entire plant.   [guest]

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Main > Gardening > Pests
Stop cats climbing into your garden by spraying your wooden fences with surgical spirit.   [guest]

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Main > Gardening > Pests
Deter dogs with unwanted perfume and aftershave and liberal sprinklings of pepper.   [guest]

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Main > Gardening > Pests
Australian Brush Turkeys: Some places are plagued with these large ground-dwelling native birds, which destroy your garden to make a nest. One way to solve the problem is to buy a rectangular pot for growing small vegetables and place it fairly high up on a very small ledge. Preferably, the ledge should have no additional room on it for the birds to establish a foothold while they investigate (i.e. destroy) your crop. On top of an outdoor electricity box with access to sunlight is perfect. Although the birds can fly, they need a decent ledge to land on - deprive them of that and they are risking their own health to attack a small piece of dirt.

Some people try rubber snakes, stakes, chicken wire under the topsoil, netting, large mirrors (they are frightened by other birds), small greenhouses or planting in what appears to be an already debris-scattered area. Each of these techniques will fail because either the birds can still access the area and will eventually damage it or the costs are prohibitive. The only way is if the birds can't even get to the soil.   myxlfidian (150)

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Main > Gardening > Pests
Half a teaspoon of eucalyptus oil mixed with half a litre of water makes for a good bug repellent for plants. But experiment first: you might repel helpful predators as well, and be worse off.   kellyjones00 (593)

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Main > Gardening > Pests > Organic pest / disease control
A - Z of products:


  • Aeration: prune plants to allow air flow through them to prevent build-up of diseases

  • Baking soda: often used in diluted form to control diseases

  • Beer traps: stale beer attracts slugs and snails

  • Bordeaux: mixture of copper sulphate and lime that mainly controls bacterial diseases

  • Beat-a-Bug: a product combining pyrethrum, garlic and capsicum, useful for controlling most insects

  • Basal watering: water around the base of plants instead of on stem or foliage to prevent fungal and bacterial diseases

  • Copper tape: around plants to stop slug and snail attack

  • Crop rotation: planting different plant family groups in individual garden plots each year for four years in a crop rotation system to avoid build-up of pests and diseases specific to one plant family group

  • Derris dust: dust made from plant material; controls several insects

  • Dipel: biological bacteria that attack larvae of several insect species including cabbage white butterfly and light brown apple moth

  • Enviromat mulch collars: placed around plants for weed control

  • Fruit fly traps: attract and kill fruit fly adults to prevent them breeding

  • Hydronurture igloo: water-filled cellular ribbed igloo used to protect plants and give extra warmth to boost growth, especially during cooler conditions

  • Insect predators (including mites, wasps, and eelworms): can be purchased and released in the garden

  • Jiffy pots: compressed peat moss plugs suitable for seed germination and propagation

  • Liquid seaweed: provides minute quantities of nutrients for plants and seems to help build-up of pest and disease resistance in plants; used as soil drench and foliar spray

  • Lime dust / powder: used for making Bordeaux and mixed with water, used to control apple scab disease; dust puffed on leaves will also control apple and pear slug

  • Lime sulphur: corrosive liquid used as a fungicide; will control some bacterial and fungal diseases

  • Milk: as a spray on leaves, can control powdery mildew infections

  • Mineral oil: controls insects and their eggs

  • Mulch: organic material that attracts worms and suppresses weeds

  • Multiguard Slug and Snail Pellets: contains an iron compound that breaks down into harmless organic products and is non-polluting

  • Neem: plant extract acting on insects by making them starve

  • Netting: prevents bird and animal predation

  • Citrus oil: controls some insects and their eggs

  • Paper bags: placed over fruits before ripe, to prevent birds and insects from eating them

  • Pestoil: a useful oil product that controls many insects like scale, citrus leaf miner and aphids

  • Pheromone traps: attracts male codling moth insects to prevent them breeding

  • Pyrethrum: broad spectrum spray that will kill all insects, so use with care and read the label

  • Quassia chips: steep in boiling water and use on plants to discourage possums

  • Soapy water: smothers insects and scale

  • Sticky traps: glue on the trap's surface traps insects like white fly

  • Tea tree oil: an antiseptic, cleaning agent and disease control

  • Vitec fish food emulsion: fertiliser used as a foliar spray or liquid root drench; seems to build up disease resistance in some plants

    — Tips from Allen Gilbert's "All About Apples"

   kellyjones00 (593)

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