Use of pesticides
By rebecca1957
@rebecca1957 (265)
United States
April 14, 2008 7:58am CST
Last year for the first time we became organic gardeners. In years past we used pesticides to control the bugs. Things like tomato worms and potato bugs were the biggest enemies in our garden. None of the pesticides really worked on these pests. Last year we tilled up a brand new place and began our solo journey to organic gardening. We had better results with organic gardening than using over the counter pesticides. How about anyone else? Any experiences you would like to share?
4 responses
@sherrylwatts (326)
• United States
14 Apr 08
We use organic gardening to fertilize, treat blackspot and aphids, fungal diseases and most pests - but one thing I haven't be able to find is an organic means of treating fire ants - I live in the south, and these suckers are mean, mean, mean!!! They kill the native ant colonies, are super aggressive and multiply like crazy. Believe me - after being bitten a few times (raises HUGE blisters and can leave scars) or having kiddos bitten (argh!!!), I've had to concede that poison is the only way to go.
1 person likes this
@rebecca1957 (265)
• United States
14 Apr 08
Yikes! Fire ants? We don't have them so much here in the north country. I guess in that case, poison would be preferrable. We have some kind of wire worm that lives in the soil and will eat right through roots and cause the whole plant to die. I'm not sure how to get rid of them. We lost 4 zuchini plants to something that ate the roots.
1 person likes this
@peavey (16936)
• United States
15 Apr 08
I've never been comfortable using pesticides on vegetable gardens, although we lived in a rural area where the farmers sprayed all the time and I'm sure some of it "drifted" onto our crops.
Now I live in town and have had troubles with bugs that I never had out there. I still don't use pesticides, but they say bugs are attracted to plants that are stressed, so I'm thinking that with the chemical fertilizers and weed killers around (not on my lawn) that the ground has residue that I may never get rid of.
@peavey (16936)
• United States
15 Apr 08
I love to raise potatoes. Well, I love to dig potatoes (by hand - don't think I could do that many acres!). The old fashioned way of dealing with potato bugs was to pick them off by hand and drop them into a container of kerosene. I could never bring myself to picking them up. 
@rebecca1957 (265)
• United States
15 Apr 08
That's probably true. There should be a balance. Plants are natural...bugs are natural. We are fortunate enough to be able to plant several acres if we wanted to. Last year we raised over 500 redskin potatoes. Lots of potato bugs to deal with, but we managed!
@Falang (16)
• Canada
25 May 08
You might wanna try spraying your plants with a MILD mixture of organic soap and water. Don't make it strong enough to kill the plants. Many bugs breathe through their bodies, the soap coats the bodies, and soon they give up the ghost...works for me.
@sedel1027 (17846)
• Cupertino, California
14 Apr 08
I don’t have a real garden since we live in an apartment complex, but I do have potted plants. I do not use pesticides on them at all. I only use organic growing methods.
@rebecca1957 (265)
• United States
15 Apr 08
At least you can grow enough for yourself living where you do. It's wise to stay away from pesticides.
@Ldyjarhead (10233)
• United States
14 Apr 08
I only did one good garden in MN a couple of years ago and we were totally organic, I didn't use any pesticides at all.
The only thing I added to the soil already there was horse manure (we had six horses, so there was plenty of that!
We didn't have much of a problem with bugs that I recall. We planted tomatoes, cucumbers, crook neck squash, bell pepper, cantaloupe, green beans, sugar snap peas, beets, and onion sets. They all did just fine without any care except thinning and weeding.
I'm in Ohio now and in a rental home so can't put a 'real' garden in, but will do one small space the width of the house and a few containers. I don't plan on using any pesticides here either, but I will probably have a problem with the cats digging (they already are) and there is at least one rabbit that visits twice a day, and deer are prevalent here too.
I may have to look at something to help alleviate wildlife problems (organic, of course).
@rebecca1957 (265)
• United States
14 Apr 08
I've heard human hair from a salon is useful in deterring animals (especially wild like deer). Horse manure would be great... we have chickens, plus organic compost to help build the soil. Cats are a problem with me as well, since I own two of them. They'll dig where ever they want!
@Ldyjarhead (10233)
• United States
14 Apr 08
Yes, I've heard about deer not liking human hair too and will give that a try. I don't want them to go away, I just don't want them to eat my vegetables!
