You did just fine, Susan. It's always great to hear from gardeners with generations of experience behind them. I agree that those big garden spiders are amazing. I used to fear them horribly as a child, though. They would string their webs between the corn stalks in our big family garden, and I'd have to run and hide before supper time so that I didn't have to go out there and pick corn! (I've pretty much mastered my fear, though.)

Truly, the only negative comment I would make would be in reference to your use of Sevin. I know that it has been around forever, but it is surely one of the worst chemicals when it comes to harming beneficial insects and other critters. Sevin is absolutely lethal to earthworms. Maybe, if you visit some of the other forums, you'll find an alternative that is worth trying.

I see that you are from Alabama. I hope that you live in an area that wasn't hit by one of the many tornadoes that ripped through our state. Those of us in Northern Alabama were hit harder than the Tuscaloosa area; the damage is beyond description.

susanbf714 - may I ask how often you have to spray with the dish soap? I'm having an awful time with horntail worms and I'd love to try that technique, just want to do it right!

The "dish soap" used today is not soap but detergents, not your grandmothers soap which was probably homemade by rendering animal fats and then mixing that with lye. You can still buy soap, you just need to watch what you do buy. Mix 1 teaspoon of soap in 1 quart of water to make an Insecticidal Soap. Spray as needed because it is a contact poison and spray when the sun will not cause damage to the plants leaves, like early morning or late evening.

I have seen Dawn used in lots of DIY remedies. What about using Dawn as a surfactant when spraying plants?

I like Sevin dust. It does what it claims to do and sometimes you need it.

But I have never used it on my pepper plants. I've never needed it, and you DON'T use a broad spectrum killer as a preventative! It kills everything, including the insects that are keeping your pests under control.

Use of Sevin as a preventative may actually cause the problems you are trying to prevent.

Otherwise I like what you have to say. Thank you very much, susan.

Dennis

Dawn Dishwashing Liquid is not even called a soap by the manufacturer because it is a detergent and not a soap. although the FDA dropped the differentiation some years ago.
Spraying broad spectrum poisons such as Carbaryl (Sevin) in the absence of the target insects is not environmentally responsible. Since things like Carbaryl kill any insect it contacts many beneficial insects are killed if it is sprayed, dusted, or otherwise used unnecessarily.

I use Murphy's Oil Soap to make my insecticidal spray.

I've avoided Sevin for several years and when I dig in the garden I have the big worms they call around here " night crawlers" when I used Sevin the worms were few now they are many . I do use the dish soap treatment for the squash bugs I've also found that companion planting radishes and letting them bloom repels a lot of insects the seed pods are also very edible stir fried or raw , My sweet corn that had some radishes planted next to one end had no corn ear worms in the three rows on that end so my second crop I sowed radishes in every row so will update at harvest time if it helped with that.

Most all "liquid dish soaps" are detergents, not soap. From dictionary. com, "noun
1. any of a group of synthetic, organic, liquid or water-soluble cleaning agents that, unlike soap, are not prepared from fats and oils, are not inactivated by hard water, and have wetting-agent and emulsifying-agent properties.
2. a similar substance that is oil-soluble and capable of holding insoluble foreign matter in suspension, used in lubricating oils, dry-cleaning preparations, etc.
3. any cleansing agent, including soap.
Compare anionic detergent, cationic detergent, synthetic detergent."
Soap is made by reacting a fat, animal or vegetable, with an alkali, usually lye. For organic growers detergents, synthetic products, are not acceptable to use.

so if you do spray the plants with dish soap mixed with water, how often do you need to do that in a week?

That depends on the insect problem. However, spraying any insecticide, even insecticidal soap, once a week may mean there is a larger problem that needs to be addressed.

kimmq is kimmsr

kimm ... i am surprised ... we gotta get you up to speed ... its been a long cold hard MI winter.. eh????

no matter what you use.. chem or organic.. you spray ONLY when you have a problem to attack ...

first you fully ID the problem ... including its life cycle [its of no use to kill all the adults.. if they laid eggs.. or your problem will not go away .. and this is usually where you need to follow up on the solution] ...

then you ID the plant .. and its tolerances ...

then you spray accordingly ...

and observe from there ...

soaps.. are instant kill products... they are not preventative ... so there is no use.. to spray your whole garden for the heck of it .. besides killing to many GOOD THINGS ... you might then destroy natures balance .. do not think car wash here ... and think its somehow to your advantage ... to be sparying once a week for no reason ...

finally .. reread all the answers above ..... DISH soap is a detergent.. NOT A SOAP .... though some may have success with such .... i am sure many a plant has died for such ....

ken

ps: regardless of the impact on green leaves ... spraying most flowers themselves.. with soap/detergents ... will probably.. destroy the flower itself ...

Ken, if you look hard enough you can find dish soaps that are soaps, although most are detergents. You do need to read the label, carefully.

kimmq is kimmsr

i figure its easy to tell them to go buy a real hort soap.. rather than rely on them to carefully read a detergent label .. lol ...

but i was suggesting a true IPM regimen .. rather than just washing down her plants.. willy nilly ...

they arnt children.. they dont usually need to fed.. and they surely dont need to be washed.. for the sake of it ... eh???

ken

I agree with Ken on the amount of spraying mine was against squash bugs it took a daily egg search masking tape works great on getting the eggs off of the leaves without hurting them I would have a squirt bottle with a soap mix and hit the adults and nymphs but at one point to get the hatched and adults I used a hose end sprayer and I called it nuking the squash and pumpkins but it has only once but did it very late to avoid any bees I'm sure I killed some good bugs but it was needed to gain control

My grandparents and parents thought that spraying was necessary because they did not understand about healthy soils, and back then everyone was spraying some poison of some kind hence Rachel Carson's "Silent Spring".

Plants that are being attacked by insect pests may be growing in a soil that is not supplying the nutrients the plant needs for a good healthy growth. If a plant is under siege by insect pests, or plant disease, the gardener needs to look at the soil that plant is growing in to determine why the plant might be under siege. With few exceptions the poisons applied to plants are broad spectrum and kill off beneficial insects as well as the pests.

kimmq is kimmsr

spraying with a good insect soap from a squirt can just be aimed at the pest , I have been pretty Organic for 35 yrs when I dig into my soil nothing but red worms and the big night crawlers have 3 compost bins and a giant leave bin for the fall collect leaves from the hole block mow them into my bagging old snapper commet66 then I run them through my chipper then into the open bin for the winter by spring they are ready for the garden mostly mulch but also till the left overs right in mixed with my first bags of fresh grass clipping plants and worms love it . also if your pest problem happens every year could be they are over wintering in in mulch or garden debris but my squash bugs are winged and fly in no matter what I do, Sometimes you do a companion planting radishes work for me I harvest a few for salads and munching but I let the rest flower also the seed pods are good to eat I put them in stir fry they have a little peppery taste . I have to go weed my spinach should enough for a salad in two weeks I plant in the fall apply a light mulch after its first set of true leaves appear and they are off and running come the early warm spring days 65-70 all week here they say happy gardening and good luck with the bugs

Castile liquid soap is available in most large grocers and can also be found in health food stores. Hope this helps regarding soaps

REALLY - "it's a southern thing"? Spoken like a very unsophisticated, les traveled "southerner". Seriously you actually believe that no one who lives in the North, East, or West grows tomatoes - you need to check yourself and perhaps get in your car and travel this great nation.

May dad, his granddad all grew tomatoes - EVERYONE did back in the day - how do you think the fed themselves before grocery stores, before markets, before electricity was widely used?

Growing tomatoes or any garden isn't just a "southern thing" - but the "southern ego" that got this whole country into war back in the day was as "southern thing".

Boo to you, let's keep the gardening talk about the plants.