I really don't have that many pest problems outdoors, I guess that's because I have so many predators in my garden.
I use to use Safers slug bait, but I now have frogs in the shade garden that keep that under control.
For indoor plants, Safer's Insecticidal Soap, or throw the plant away. LOL, I'm slowly getting rid of my indoor plants, I guess I have lost interest in them. I love cati for indoors plants thou, no problems whatsoever.

Cabbage worms are the only real bad one since I grow so many ornamental cabbages and kale. For that I use Rotenone dust when needed, or I'll get out there on my hands and knees and squish them.

Some of my Roses have weevils, for that I am picking and squishing, but next early spring I would like to try a dormant oil spray kit mixed with sulphur to help with the blackspot and rust too. See if that will help.
Never tried Neem oil yet, I just noticed that Early's in Saskatoon now carry the Foliar Leaf Spray too. I'll have to try some next time I visit there. Thanks for that tip Glen!

Sharon

Yup, I've heard Neem oil is good against some pests.

There is also Pyrethrin, a chemical extracted from chrysanthemum flowers, which is a good general insecticide but also toxic to bees so "bee" careful where you spray it (LOL). I have seen it in the garden chemicals section at Walmart and Home Depot. Even though it's natural it's a strong chemical and an eye and respiratory irritant.

Soapy water actually works sometimes against some insects. Borax kills ants. And I always recommend Ferrous Phosphate pellets against slugs. Safers sells it and it only kills slugs and snails. Can't think of any others at the moment.

I've been looking for Neem Oil but I haven't found it yet. It probably is right under my nose but I forget about it and then don't get it. I guess I need to take a special trip for it. Where did you get yours, Glen? Is it available at the bigger garden centres?

My hibiscus is doing a bit of the same thing. Oh, and by the way, do not give it any chelated iron if it starts to look chlorotic. I did that last year to my Hibiscus and my Passion Flower and watched them both die, literally before my eyes in a few hours. And it was only a very, very weak solution. Definitely not the right thing to do to them. Hopefully, this year they will both do better. I had a huge, green caterpillar eating it's way through the leaves of my hibiscus but he's now history and the plant is filling in nicely again.

Shauna

Wondering if anyone has tried garlic essential oil? I have some but don't have insects to try it on. I think the birds here keep most bugs under control. I'm thinking of using the garlic as a deer deterrent actually but it can be used for insect control as well.

About plants succumbing after treatment. I think often by the time we treat the plant the bugs have taken them down to the point where they can't recover. I know I, at least, haven't always noticed infestations on my houseplants til there are a lot of bugs.

Shauna, I got neem oil at Rona. The one I bought is labeled 'bioprotec' neem oil and in a yellow bottle with green leaves on it. It's not a big bottle but apparently it goes quite a long way.

That's the puzzling thing, my large hibiscus has the bugs along with an iresine plant further down. The only thing in common is both are on the deck right against the house. It gets morning sun, so I don't think it's too hot, and I water every day. Another smaller hibiscus had a few bugs but not to the same extent but (touch wood) I think it's under control.

Anyways, I sprayed things again tonight so we'll see. Thanks for the tip on chelated iron. A few years ago my Jens Munk rose was suffering from this. I sprayed with (what I thought was) a diluted strength of this and it completely defoliated the plant. In that situation, luckily, it grew the leaves back. That shows how tough rugosa roses are. It lost it's leaves in late August, grew them back in mid-September, went through winter and still had energy to survive winter.

Glen

I've heard that Neem oil works well, but just haven't tried it yet. What worked last year for me, to get rid of cabbage worms on the ornamental cabbage and kale was diotamaceous earth. We've now been mixing it in with borax and sugar and using it on ant hills too. I'm not sure if it's any more effective than the other ant powders we've used in the past, but it's sure a lot cheaper. I also just read an email saying that cornmeal will also kill ants, as they can't digest it. I've got a bag in the cupboard, so I'll have to give it a try.

I have used soap and water on aphids quite successfully in the past (it works on all soft-bodied pests). However, this year the ants are horrible, and they are 'farming' the aphids on my ornamental dogwood. Sooo, I read that vinegar would get rid of ants, and pepper, too, but they are not too bothered by either. They are into my strawberries, parts of the flower beds, and really bad at the roots of one of our maples. Any suggestions wouldl be most appreciated! I really didn't want to opt for chemical pesticides.

I, too, am using the Neem oil with a bit of Dr. Bronner's Peppermint soap. It's working very well on powderly mildew and also for killing exfoliating bugs. I think I bought mine on ebay. I've heard you can mix it with water and use as a bug repellent but haven't tried that yet. The smell does take a bit of getting used to!

I managed to find the ready to use 1L Safer's Neem Oil in Lloydminster today, they didnÂt have the concentrated kind, so I'm wondering if it could be diluted even more? My first experiment will be on the cabbage worms and rose weevils, hope this stuff works ;)

Sharon

I checked at a Home Depot yesterday but couldn't find Neem Oil in either the indoor plant or the garden sections. I'll definitely be looking at Rona.

rose3, you brought to mind an experiment that I had last year in the greenhouse - using peppermint tea to control the fungus gnats. It was a bit of an accident, having mistakenly bought peppermint tea rather than chamomile tea, which I wanted to use to control damping off. I decided to try the peppermint tea to see if it controlled damping off. Not sure about the damping off but it killed the fungus gnats. Gee, I think I might try a bit outside in a foliar spray and see what happens. I'll let you know. That might be a really good, and economical, insecticide. Let's see, I must have some aphids around here somewhere . . .

Shauna

Murillogirl,

To get rid of ants.....

Many years ago I got this tip from an elderly fellow that was a neighbour. Watch them for a few minutes and figure out where the hill is, often it is in the lawn close to the bed but not inside the flower bed. Boil the kettle and pour it on the hill. Has worked every time. Although not the most gentle way to go i am sure, at least it is less harmful to the environment than using chemicals. Depending on the size of the hill you may need to use more than 1 kettle full of water. The worst hill I ever dealt with was huge and took 3 kettle fulls the first day and then followed up the second day with one more.

Cathy

As far as ants go...I was able to purchase the last bag of diazanon granuals at a local nursery the year that it was put on the banned list. I sprinkle a little on the ant hill as if I was salt and peppering it and the next day when I come back to see, there is no sign of any ants. All dead.

With our acreage being on the top of the valley I find that there are a lot of ants that think that living in the valley just isn't good enough anymore and need to find a new home on my acreage somewhere. Each year in the middle of July I will find a migration of ants happening. Two nights ago I saw one batch of red ants going east to west across the yard and the night before that one group of 1/2 red, 1/2 black ants going from the northwest to the southeast. The ants will carry eggs with them and seem to know exactly where they are going. If I step in their way they go around me and keep on going, even if I step in the way of the leaders. There are thousands and thousands of them, making a foot wide path and they seem to be on a mission because they are going as fast as their little legs can carry them. It is very interesting to watch. The other night I followed the last ant across the yard and into the bush on the other side. Boy, do they go a long ways...and who knows where they started from.

Here I have all sizes of ants from the iddy biddy to the large carpenter (I think) ants, and colors from red to black. The large ones have put occasional holes into the wooden tree stepping stones that my DH cut for me to use as a pathway. Diazanon works for them too.

Brenda

Geez...ants really are quite amazing, so organized a society. I have heard the boiling water idea before, but I didn't believe it would be that effective. I just don't think I have the stomach for it....
Oh well, I guess I'll keep trying the pepper.
Thanks!

Murillogirl, I put cinnamon on the ant hill that was by the pond. They picked up an d moved somewhere else. I had tried a number of other things such as corn meal and vinegar but the cinnamon did the trick.

Danni

We have used a mix of borax and sugar (maybe icing sugar) in the past and it worked well. Poured along the basement wall for instance. Check the link for another way of doing this. Need to be careful of pets with the mix. See cautions on the link.

Clayton

Here is a link that might be useful: Ant Radication

Yeah the smell of Neem isn't the greatest, someone wrote on one website it sort of reminded them of rotten garlic bulbs, but compared to other insecticides it's not really bad.

I've been spraying my hibiscus with neem twice a week, just trying to get a handle on the bugs. Mostly just the top growth and flower buds as that's where the bugs were.

One thing I like about using neem is as long as it's low wind outside, I don't even bother moving the hibiscus off the deck. Just carefully spray it. I would never think of doing that with malathion or cygon. Though on the other side of the coin I think the neem oil might need more repeated applications before the bugs are totally gone but it's easy to use so I don't mind.

Glen