Organic Garden Pest Controlš
GM Anon,
Letās talk about pest control in the garden. Iāve talked about this in the past in an article I wrote for my Grow Your Own Food Guide (LINK) Itās was more about creating an environment for creatures that eat the pests that are eating your produce.
Today weāll talk about a more hands on approach to actually controlling the pests that you can literally see munching on your hard work.
What does organic mean?
Organic pesticides are generally considered to be pesticides derived from naturally occurring sources such as minerals, plants, or animals. These chemicals are broken down relatively quickly by weather or soil microbes.
All of these items we cover today are found in nature. They didnāt come from a chemical plant in texas somewhere. No, the manufacturer for most of the products weāll talk about today is Monterey, which is actually located in Fresno California.
Montereyās About Us Page states the following: āWe are based in Fresno, in the heart of Californiaās agricultural region where we first emerged in 1963 as Monterey Ag Resources. Twenty-five years later, we established Monterey Lawn and Garden with the goal of offering home gardeners the same professional grade technology available to the ag industry.ā Isnāt that so sweet? They cared so much about us poor home gardeners that they decided to build a massive company and sell to us.
One thing youāll notice in this list of organic pest solutions is all of the products say āOMRIā on them, except the Neem Oil and Take Down Spray.
What does OMRI mean?
The Organic Materials Review Institute (OMRI) is an international nonprofit organization that determines which input products are allowed for use in organic production and processing. OMRI ListedĀ® products are allowed for use in certified organic operations under the USDA National Organic Program. (important to note, this certification isnāt free! lol)
Basically, OMRI is the certification for raw materials. The snack in the grocery store says certified organic, USDA. The pesticide at Hoss Tools says OMRI.
Now there can be a product that is organic without the label. This just means that the particular company providing the product hasnāt paid their dues to the OMRI god, or OMRI didnāt find them in perfect compliance.
OMRI is just a third party certification company, that gives companies, and consumers peace of mind, if they buy something with OMRI on it, they wonāt get in trouble with the USDA. You can rest assured if youāre using an OMRI product, youāre following the esoteric health twitter userās directions, youāll be spared their wrath.
So for some reason or another, Montereyās Neem Oil and Take Down Spray is not OMRI certified, but Hoss Tools is saying they are both organic. Apparently Monterey just never bothered getting OMRI certification on Neem Oil and Take Down Spray.
Why Use Organic Pest Control
There are a few common pests that always seem to pop up out of nowhere every year, without fail. Itās a part of life. We actually donāt want these pests to go away, because they are providing food for other animals. Alot of the pests that are eating our crops actually serve a purpose believe it or not. Some of the biggest pests I run into are caterpillars, stink bugs, and aphids.
Iām not really a tree hugger, but I canāt condone pouring synthetic chemicals on my tomatoes, and then picking them a day later and feeding it to my baby girl. So yeah, we need to try to use methods that are āorganicā. While many of the organic pesticides arenāt as effective as the synthetic ones, the thought is that the chemical pesticides can cause serious health issues when injested by humans.
Are organic pesticides safe for benificial bugs and pollinators like honeybees?
No! Not all organic pesticides are safe for honeybees. There are several different organic pesticides out there on the market. Some of them are highly toxic to honeybees and other pollinators. For this reason, itās very important to be careful about which ones you are applying. If youāre using one that is harmful to honeybees, apply these pesticides in the evening.
Pollinators, especially honeybees are not active at night. Organic pesticides break down quickly, so itās much safer for them to apply at night.
With that said, itās still important to be careful and only apply pesticides that are toxic to honeybees as a last resort. I note which ones are highly toxic to bees below.
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Hoss Tools Insecticide Product Comparison
Here is the list of all the items in a sweet little infographic from my partners over at Hoss Tools. I absolutely love Hoss Tools, they are a great company and the owner is a certified Chad Farmer, he even wears the overalls. (iām not an overall kind of guy, in case youāre wondering.)
All of these items can be found at Hoss Tools, Iām providing affiliate links below to each one, I get a small commission at no charge to you.
Disclaimer: If you happen to live somewhere close to a honeybee operation, or if you see alot of bees in your garden area, I highly recommend avoiding some of the sprays listed below. The ones that are safe for honeybees are diatomaceous earth, sluggo, and neem oil. Save the bees!
Monterey B.T
(Medium/High bee toxicity)
Diatomaceous Earth
(Medium bee toxicity)
Fruit Tree Spray Plus
(High bee toxicity)
Spinosad Insect Spray
(High Bee Toxicity)
Sluggo Plus
(Granular soil treatment, low toxicity to bees)
Take Down Spray
(Medium/High bee toxicity)
Horticultural Oil
(Medium bee toxicity)
Neem Oil
(Medium bee toxicity)
Bug Buster O
(High bee toxicity)
Hint: Youāll need a garden sprayer to apply all of these products, with exception to the diatomaceous earth and sluggo. You can get a good quality sprayer here at Hoss Tools as well.
Garden Sprayer
Make Your Own Pesticide
Most insects are affected by thick liquids like oil and soap. Adding a few tablespoons of dish soap, castille soap, castor oil, and vegetable oil to a sprayer and filling with water can act as a good pest deterrent. Apply early morning or late evening and only spray on a small part of the plant first to make sure it doesnāt damage your plants. You can try adding extra deterrents to this mix like steeping onions, cayenne peppers, and garlic and adding the juice to your sprayer. Essential oils like peppermint, citronella, and tea tree oil can also be added to this concoction.
TL;DR
Only use organic pesticides in your garden and on fruit trees
The safest ones are diatomaceous earth and neem oil
Only use pymethrin as a last resort when nothing else works because it is harmful to honeybees.
Apply permethrin at night to minimize effects to pollinators
apply to a small amount of plants first to make sure it doesnāt kill your plants
Well thatās about it for pest control. Donāt worry, weāll start talking about more interesting stuff soon.
Until then.
WAGMI
Farmer