Re: Re: CP insecticide and fungacide

dave evans (T442119@RUTADMIN.RUTGERS.EDU)
Thu, 19 Dec 96 16:04 EST

> > one tablespoon Ivory dishwashing and two tablespoons of cooking oil
> > in one gallon of water.It makes your plant healthy and gets rid of
> > black spot or any thing bad above the ground.
> > sfdzeqe0@scfn.thpl.lib.fl.us
>
> Honestly - I would not dare to "treat" my plants with this kind of
> formulation.....;-)
> One effect of the oil could be to clogg breathing tubes in case of
> scale insects - there is a commercial product which does exactly the
> same thing.

Hmm, I agree that home made formulas might prove unhealthy for
some plants. I would not use this on anything besides Nepenthes
with a spray bottle... Perhaps using a cotton swab or Q-tip on
smaller plants (Sarrs, Darlingtonia, Heliamphora) and Nepenthes
cuttings. This would NOT begood to get into the soil of any CP but
it has the adventage of being 100% non-toxic to humans--> Even
those "safe" mixtures come with a healthy dose of warnings on the label.

I would think this would quickly kill Butterworts and Sundews
However, I've used Safer's Soap on these plants to kill very
easy bugs like aphids and then washed the mix off within a minute.
they loose their stickiness but the bugs are dead. With the oil
added, I don't know if it could be washed off...

> However I doubt that it is advisable to clogg the stigmata of your
> plants just to get rid of "anything bad".
> Andreas Wistuba
> E-Mail: andreas.wistuba@rhein-neckar.de

Well, if it can kill scales without harming me and do only only
a little damage (as if the insects aren't doing enough) then I'm
all for it! :) I can't use anything remotely toxic to kill bugs
since I have to grow them in my room. I rather doubt this mix has the
chance to harm Nepenthes (other CP???, Who knows?), anyway.

Dave Evans