Fighting Bugs Organically

Over the years, several tried-and-true, do-it-yourself organic remedies to bug infestations have won praise and a certain amount of fame. You won't find these bug sprays on the pesticide shelf at your local garden center, but you will find them to be effective in most cases.

Remember that, while organic sprays are often less invasive than commercially available chemical concoctions, all contain ingredients that could be harmful in strong enough concentrations or if misapplied. Always treat organic sprays with caution.

Alcohol Sprays
The idea of using rubbing alcohol as a spray for plants pests has been around for years. Can cause leaf damage on African Violets and Apple trees.

Protection offered: Alcohol sprays work on aphids, mealy bugs, scale insects, thrips and whiteflies.

How to Make: Use only 70% isopropyl alcohol (rubbing alcohol): mix 1 to 2 cups alcohol per quart of water. Do not use undiluted. You can also mix an insecticidal soap spray according to the dilution on the label but substitute alcohol for half of the water required.

Tomato Leaf
Nightshade family plants, such as tomatoes, potatoes and tobacco, have toxic compounds called alkaloids in their leaves. These toxins are water soluble and can be soaked from chopped leaves and made into home-made sprays. These sprays also work by attracting natural pest enemies. The good bugs follow the smell of the spray in looking for prey.

Protection Offered: Tomato leaf sprays protect against aphids. A scientific study has shown that corn plants sprayed with tomato leaf spray attracted significantly more trichogramma wasps to parasitize corn earworm eggs than the unsprayed did.

How to Make: Soak 1 to 2 cups of chopped or mashed tomato leaves in 2 cups of water overnight. Strain through cheesecloth or fine mesh, add about 2 more cups of water to the strained liquid, and spray. For aphid control, be sure to thoroughly cover the leaf undersides, especially of lower leaves and growing tips of plants where aphids congregate.

Garlic Oil Sprays
Organic gardeners have long been familiar with the repellent or toxic affect of garlic oil on pests. When combined with mineral oil and pure soap, it becomes an effective insecticide. Some studies also suggest that a garlic oil spray has fungicidal properties.

Protection Offered: Good results, with quick kill, have been noted against aphids, cabbage loopers, earwigs, June bugs, leafhoppers, squash bugs, and whiteflies. The spray does not appear to harm adult lady beetles.

Soak 3 ounces of finely minced garlic cloves in 2 teaspoons of mineral oil for at least 24 hours. Slowly add 1 pint of water that has 1/4 ounce liquid soap or commercial insecticide soap mixed into it. Stir thoroughly and strain into a glass jar for storage. Use at a rate of 1 to 2 Tablespoons of mixture to a pint of water.

To check for possible leaf damage to sensitive ornamentals, do a test spray on a few leaves first. If no leaf damage occurs in 2 - 3 days, spray more.

Herbal Sprays
Many organic farmers are familiar with using sprays made from aromatic herbs to repel pests from the garden plants. Several recent studies confirm the repellent effect of essential oils of sage and thyme and the alcohol extracts such as Hyssop, Rosemary, Sage, Thyme, and White Clover can be used in this manner. They reduce the number of eggs laid and the amount of feeding damage to cabbage by caterpillars of Diamond back moths and large white butterflies. Sprays made from Tansy have a repellent effect on imported cabbageworm on cabbage, reducing the number of eggs laid on the plants. Teas made from wormwood or nasturtium are reputed to repel aphids from fruit trees, and sprays made from ground or blended catnip, chives, feverfew, marigolds, or rue have also been used by gardeners against pests that feed on leaves.

Protection Offered: Try herbal sprays against any leaf-eating pests and make note of what works for future reference.

Herbal sprays are made by mashing or blending 1 to 2 cups of fresh leaves with 2 to 4 cups of water and soaking overnight, or you can make a tea by pouring the same amount of boiling water over 2 to 4 cups fresh or 1 to 2 cups dry leaves and leaving them to steep until cool. Strain before spraying and dilute further with 2 - 4 cups water. Add a very small amount of non-detergent liquid soap (1/4 teaspoon in 1 to 2 quarts of water) to help spray stick to leaves. You can also buy commercial essential herbal oils and dilute with water to make a spray.

"Hot" Dusts
Black pepper, chili pepper, dill, ginger, paprika, and red pepper all contain capsaicin, a compound shown to repel insects. Synthetic capsaicin is also available for use. Researchers have found that as little as 1/25 ounce of capsaicin sprinkled around an onion plant reduced the number of onion maggot eggs laid around the plant by 75%, compared to a control plant.

Protection Offered: Capsaicin-containing dusts repel onion maggots from seedlings, as well as other root maggot flies from cabbage family plants and carrots. Pepper dusts around the base of the plants help repel ants, which is desirable in a garden where ants often protect and maintain aphid colonies on plants.

Sprinkle along seeded rows of onions, cabbage, or carrots, in a band at least 6 inches wider than the row or planting bed. A fine sprinkling will suffice, but the more dust you use, the better the effect. Renew after a heavy rain or irrigation. To protect plants from ants, sprinkle around the base of plants in an area as wide as the widest leaves.

Pyrethrin
The dried, powdered flowers of the pyrethrum daisy, Tanacetum cinerarifolium, were used as early as 1880 to control mosquitoes. The popularity of pyrethrum insecticides waned when synthetic insecticides were introduced, but they are now enjoying a commercial comeback. Many new products formulated with natural pyrethrums are available. Pyrethrums, which are mainly concentrated in the seeds of the flower head, are a contact insecticide, meaning the insect only has to touch the substance to be affected. Pyrethrins have a quick knockdown effect on insects: Flying insects are paralyzed. Pyrethrins can be applied up to one day before harvest because they are quickly destroyed by light and heat and are not persistent in the environment. Pyrethrins will kill lady beetles but do not appear to be harmful to bees. They are toxic to fish and to the aquatic insects and other small animals that fish eat. Pyrethrins do not seem to be toxic to birds or mammals.

Pyrethrins are registered for flowers, fruits, and vegetables, including greenhouse crops. They are effective on many chewing and sucking insects, including most aphids, cabbage loopers, celery bugs, codling moth, Colorado potato beetles, leafhoppers, Mexican bean beetles, spider mites, stink bugs, several species of thrips, tomato pinworms, and whiteflies. They are especially good against flies, gnats, mosquitoes, and stored products pests.

If you grow your own pyrethrum daisies, you'll have the main ingredient for a make-it-yourself spray. The concentration of pyrethrums is at its peak when the flowers are in full bloom, from the time the first row of florets open on the central disk opens too the time all the florets are open. Hang flowers in a dark spot to dry. Once the flowers have dried thoroughly, grind them to a fine powder, using a mortar and pestle, old blender, or small hammer mill. Mix with water and add a few drops of liquid soap. Store in a glass jar and keep the lid tightly closed, because the mixture looses activity if left open. You'll have to experiment with the amount of water to add, because the concentration of pyrethrins in the flowers is an unknown variable. If the spray you make does not seem to kill insects, use less water the next time you make the concentrated spray. Also keep in mind whole flower heads stay potent longer so do not grind until ready to use.

Pyrethrins are more effective at lower temperatures, so for best results, apply in early evening when temperatures are lower. Spray both the upper and lower surfaces of the leaves, because spray must directly contact the insects such as thrips that hide in leaf sheaths and crevices. The first spray will excite them and bring them out of hiding, the second will kill them. Never use pyrethrin products around waterways and ponds.

Nicotine
One of the top three insecticides in the 1880s, nicotine in several forms is still widely used. Nicotine comes from the tobacco plant and is extremely toxic to insects. The great advantage of home-made nicotine tea is that it is very short lived, retaining its toxicity for only a few hours after spraying. It is relatively non-hazardous to bees and lady beetles because of its short persistence.

Protection Offered: Nicotine is effective against ground and soil pests, especially root aphids and fungus gnats, and on many leaf-chewing insects, such as aphids, immature scales, leafhoppers, thrips, leaf miners, pear psylla, and asparagus beetle larvae.

Brew your own batch of nicotine tea by soaking pipe tobacco leaves in water to make a spray. Soak 1 cup of dried, crushed leaves in one gallon of warm water with 1/4 teaspoon pure soap added. Strain and spray after 1/2 hour. The solution will keep for several weeks if stored in a tightly closed container.

For soil pests, pour the spray mixture onto the soil in the area of the stem base and root zone. Nicotine can be absorbed by plant leaves and remain there for several weeks; so, use nicotine only on young plants and only up to one month before harvest. Do not use on eggplant, peppers, or tomatoes. While most tobacco cultivars now grown are resistant to tobacco mosaic virus, nicotine sprays could contain the pathogen, which will infect nightshade family crops.

Tobacco teas are sometimes prepared by home gardeners to control garden pests, and while not as toxic as nicotine sulfate sprays, any nicotine solution toxic enough to kill insects can also be harmful to humans.

Growing Tomatoes in Pots

RECIPE FOR SUCCESS

Tomatoes (Solanum lycopersicum)

Habit: Trellis, Cherry, and Plum.

Cultivars: The following tomato cultivars are recommended for container gardening.  Most are indeterminate (trellis or vining) except for Celebrity and Small Fry.

Improved: Better Boy, Better Bush Improved, Big Beef, Celebrity, Early Girl, Park's Whopper, Terrific

Cherry Type: Juliet, Small Fry, Super Sweet 100, Sweet Million

Plum Type: Viva Italia

Trellis Type: Tropic

Always choose varieties with disease resistance.  Fusarium wilt is a common disease that can destroy an entire tomato crop.  Many varieties are resistant to this disease.  This is indicated by the letters VF after the cultivar name.  VFN means the plants are resistant to Verticillium, Fusarium and nematodes; VFNT adds tobacco mosaic virus to the list.

Seed or Transplants: Both

Pot Size: Medium-to-Large

Water: Water regularly, allowing soil to dry out between waterings.

Comments: Tomatoes come in a wide range of sizes, tastes, colors, harvest times, growing habits, and purposes.  They are also available in your choice of a wide range of heirloom (mostly true from seed) and varietal hybrid types in trellis (i.e., spreading or indeterminate), bush (upright or determinate), or patio (compact ultra-determinate).  Add to all of that a multiple of colors and sizes, and it’s no wonder that tomatoes are among the world’s most suited vegetables for container growing.  They are also among the easiest to grow and are valuable garden plants in that they require relatively little space for large production.  Each plant, properly cared for, yields 10 to 15 pounds or more of fruit.

The varieties of tomato plants available may seem overwhelming, but they can be summed up by several major types:

1. Midget, Patio, or Dwarf tomato varieties have very compact vines and grow well in hanging baskets or other containers.  The tomatoes produced may be, but are not always, the cherry-type (1-inch diameter or less).
2. Cherry tomatoes have small fruits often used for snacking or in salads.  Plants of cherry tomatoes range from dwarf (Tiny Tim) to 7-footers (Sweet 100).
3. Compact or Determinate tomato plants grow to a certain size, set fruit, and then gradually die.  Most of the early-ripening tomato varieties are determinate and will not produce tomatoes throughout the entire summer.  Because of their compact habit, they make excellent container candidates.
4. Beefsteak types are large-fruited.  These are usually late to ripen.
5. Paste tomatoes have small pear-shaped fruits with very meaty interiors and few seeds.  They are a favorite for canning.
6. Orange or Yellow tomatoes may only be available to you by growing your own
7. Winter Storage tomatoes are set out later in the season than most tomatoes and the fruits are harvested partially ripe.  If properly stored, they will stay fresh for 12 weeks or longer.  While the flavor does not equal that of summer vine-ripened tomatoes, many people prefer them to grocery store tomatoes in winter.

Seeds: Plant seeds to a depth approximately twice the thickness of the seed, water, and tamp soil firmly.  Cover pot with a clear plastic container or wrap, and wait for germination.  Keep soil moist but not saturated, and keep pot out of direct sunlight to avoid overheating.  Uncover at the first sign of sprouts.  Thin to approximately one plant per six square inches when second set of leaflets form on plants.

Transplants: Remove all lower leaf stems except top two levels.  Place plantlet diagonally in a trough three inches deep in the soil, leaving only the upper two levels of leaves exposed, and tamp firmly.  Roots will grow from the covered plant stem, as well as from the plant’s root ball, creating a stronger, healthier, more drought-resistant plant.

Soil: The desired soil pH for tomatoes is between 5.8 and 6.5.  Tomatoes are heavy feeders.  Use a starter solution for transplants and feed throughout the season with a low-nitrogen fertilizer to encourage greater fruit production and less foliar growth.

Insects: Watch for spider mites and aphids in particular, as well as green horn worm, if plant is kept outdoors. Solutions: Spray plant with biologically friendly non-detergent soap mixed with water (1T per gallon water).  Worms may be picked off and disposed of by hand.  Wear gloves if you’re squeamish.

Diseases:  Fusarium wilt, which attacks and can kill young plants, is a notorious fungal problem, although in recent years, the susceptibility to the wilt has been greatly reduced in modern varieties.  The disease is first marked by the yellowing of older leaves, then bright yellowing from top to bottom of the plant, often affecting only one branch.  Sometimes the leaves droop and curve downward.  Infected plants most often wilt and die.  Solutions: Use Trichoderma harzianum, a harmless additive, as a soil drench to suppress root pathogens on newly sown seeds, transplants, and established plants.  Also, use only sterilized garden or potting soil of medium alkalinity (pH 6.5 to 7.0).  It’s a good idea to keep your plants well ventilated, either naturally or through use of a small electric fan to keep the air around the plants circulating.

Health Benefits: In the arena of food and phytonutrient studies, the star of the show over the last decade or more has been the lycopene in tomatoes.  This carotenoid has been the subject of numerous studies for its antioxidant and cancer-preventing properties for years.  The antioxidant function of lycopene helps protect human cells and other physiological structures in the body from oxygen damage and has been linked in human research to the protection of DNA (our basic genetic material) found inside white blood cells.

Another antioxidant role played by lycopene is in the prevention of heart disease.  In contrast to many other food phytonutrients, whose effects have been studied only in animals, lycopene from tomatoes has been studied in humans for years.  The results show that it is a powerful combatant to a wide range of cancers, including colorectal, prostate, breast, endometrial, lung, and pancreatic.

While lycopene may play an important role in the growth of healthy tomato plants, it isn’t the only shining star that gives this food a growing reputation for being on the front line of defense against disease.  Recent research suggests that scientists are finding a wide range of nutrients in tomatoes—and not merely lycopene—are responsible for promoting human health, with additional studies being launched daily. 

Ready for the Kitchen: When fruit is fully formed and deep in color.  May also be harvested green before the first killing frost and allowed to ripen at room temperature (not refrigerated) for up to eight weeks, although I have in the past ripened some in this manner for up to four months.  It takes 55 to 105 days to maturity depending on the tomato variety, so know what you’re planting in advance.  Pick fruit when it is fully vine-ripened but still firm.  Picked tomatoes should be kept away from direct sun. 

Annual Savings: Approximately $130 per year per person on average.

Check out From Container to Kitchen: Growing Fruits and Vegetables in Pots by D. J. Herda. Or get the Kindle Edition Here.

Why Container Gardening?

The first book I ever published on the subject of growing plants in containers was one of the first books I ever published period. It was called Growing Trees Indoors, and it was a runaway hit, coming within a few hundred thousand copies of making the New York Times Bestseller List.

The book earned me, back in 1979, nearly universal praise (someone from Wisconsin’s Mt. Horeb Mail said it was a damned fine book, with pictures and everything) and garnered me a fortune in royalties, totaling nearly $800, if memory serves me correct. It also taught me a valuable lesson about the concept of growing plants in containers: People weren’t ready for it.

Today, more than 30 years later, all that has changed. For one thing, I’m just about exactly 30 years older. For another, I’m a whole lot smarter. And, finally, people are ready for it.

Why the change in attitude? Why is the time right today for a book on growing plants in containers—and not only plants, but edible plants, fruits of the womb, sustainable-growth harvestable manna—as opposed to a book on container gardening more than three decades ago?

Well, for starters, more people than ever before are living in urban environments. Apartments, condominiums, spider holes stacked nearly one on top of another—just about any habitable space is being inhabited. That means that more people than ever before are no longer able to enjoy the benefits of traditional gardening. But that doesn't mean they can't enjoy container gardening!

A Healthier Alternative
People feel a need to garden because they’re more health-conscious than their ancestors were. They’re better informed about the world around us. With all of the periodic stories about tainted produce, who wouldn’t worry? With all the tales about produce laced with toxins and heavy metals, about irradiated and otherwise diminished foodstuffs of questionable nutritional value and similar concerns, it’s suddenly not only socially expedient but also physiologically critical to find a source of clean, fresh, vitamin-rich produce.

Yet, today, when you visit the produce section of your local supermarket, you find apples that were picked in Madagascar three weeks ago; tomatoes that were plucked green, gassed, and trucked up from Mexico four weeks ago; bananas that were picked unripened from a plantation in Costa Rico five weeks ago; and bell peppers whose origins and date of harvest are still a mystery.

Stand back and watch as little kids fondle the produce—right after holding their pet frogs and iguanas. See adults coughing and sneezing into their hands before hefting a dozen tomatoes and returning them to the stand as not quite ripe. Observe employees hoisting cardboard boxes from stacks of other cardboard boxes sitting on the floor and emptying their contents into bins marked “Special - $2.79 a Pound.” Fresh, healthful fruit and produce? You tell me.

Cutting Costs
People, too, are turning increasingly to gardening because they worry about the high cost of shopping. I remember a time not long ago when meat was the most expensive thing you could buy at your local supermarket and vegetarians were considered frugal, if not outright weird. Today, fresh fruits and vegetables rival and in many cases surpass the cost of meat—thanks in great part to spiraling harvest and delivery costs—and vegetarians present a glowing portrait of people who know something the rest of us don’t. Of course, they’re still considered weird, but that’s another story.

With the rising cost of produce such as we are experiencing, how can we cope? Who wants to take out a second mortgage on the condo merely to buy fresh fruits and vegetables? Who wants to give up financial liquidity for a few more years of physical and emotional well being? Or could there be another way?

I hate paying through the nose for those things that I could be supplying for myself and my family for next to no cost; and I wanted to put all of the knowledge I have gained about container gardening to good use. What choice did I have but to tackle the ultimate book on fruit and vegetable gardening?

There are other reasons for the timeliness of my book, of course. Improved technology makes no-yard gardening easier than ever. Modern inventions (mere pipedreams back during the early days of garden writing) and new discoveries about effective horticultural techniques make growing fruit and vegetables in pots more practical than ever. New varieties of plants—both fruits and vegetables—called cultivars (short for “cultivated varieties”) make container gardening much easier and more successful than in the good old days B.C. (Before Containers). Thus was born the concept for this book.

But those are not the only reasons for growing fruit and vegetables in pots—not by a long shot. There are others, and I’ll be talking about them soon. I'm guessing you'll be amazed at the things you can do and grow with a minimum of knowledge, a minimum of space, and a maximum of enjoyment. I'm also going to tell you how container gardening can not only change your life, but also very possibly save it.

You'll learn which fruit and vegetables grow best in pots, which varieties outperform their less robust cousins, how to plant and nurture your crops from planting to harvest, how to build your own best recipe for gardening success, and how get the message out to others: the time is right for container gardening. And you’re going to learn about it right here. Guaranteed.

Check out From Container to Kitchen: Growing Fruits and Vegetables in Pots by gardening author D. J. Herda, available from Amazon.com and booksellers everywhere. Or get the Kindle Edition Here.