I wish there were more people like you, AnniD, josusa, Lyn and Mark about.
Many people I speak to are of the "if it flies, it dies" philosophy, either by traps, sprays or being battered -which is such a shame, because much of the time, people don't even know what it is that they are killing.
As you say, we do not live in a perfect world - us humans have a knack of upsetting natural balances to suit our own needs and even the most valiant of ecologists amongst us are guilty of it. Many is the time that I have swatted a fly as it peruses the kitchen worktop. However, in swatting the fly I am being specific. The murder that I commit is targeted for that individual pest alone
Likewise, when I find aphids colonising new shoots and flower buds, I will squash them.
Gardening techincally always upsets the natural balances, because you create an environment that wasn't there naturally. However, some practices used by gardeners upset the natural balances more than others and indiscriminate killing of creatures is such a practice.
If a bee or a wasp comes buzzing into the kitchen instead of the errant fly, will I kill it? No. Because they are not pest species and I can be selective in not swatting them, but instead I can catch them and return them to outdoors.
Sticky traps cannot be selective in what they catch however and will kill anything that flies into them.
Neither are insecticides selective, not truly, - so I never use them, not even the ones approved for organic use.
Both control methods are methods of mass murder of creatures that people don't even realise are there.
I had a bad case of mealybug on my cacti in the greenhouse last year - I painted the mealybugs with olive oil on an artist's brush. They suffocated and died. My cacti are happy. I didn't kill anything else but the target pests.
Your very words are exactly my point:
"What's the difference between hanging up a sticky card to spraying your GH plants with Bug destroy etc."
There is no difference. Yet some misguided individuals that I have spoken to have chosen to use sticky traps in the belief that they are more environmentally-friendly than spraying chemicals about.
No, not many gardeners use their greenhouses as avairies - but which of us has not had a wild bird flutter in at some stage? The house sparrows fly in and out of my greenhouse frequently when I have the door open.
If I had fine screening across the door and window, they wouldn't be able to get in. Neither would the pollinators. And so it would be more acceptable to use sticky traps I suppose - not that I would. However, how many gardeners are going to fit screens?
I wish that I had had my camera handy when I visited that little nursery. The sight of trap after trap hung in rows, each covered with struggling and dead bumblebees was a terrible sight and I think would make even the most hardened sticky trap advocate think twice about using one.
Just because a chemical is in common household use and not labelled with warnings, doesn't mean to say that when applied to the environment it won't cause harm.
Posts
Good for you, Busy-Lizzie!
I wish there were more people like you, AnniD, josusa, Lyn and Mark about.
Many people I speak to are of the "if it flies, it dies" philosophy, either by traps, sprays or being battered -which is such a shame, because much of the time, people don't even know what it is that they are killing.
Last edited: 07 July 2017 09:08:51
Swat the blue bottle, but don't hang up a sticky tape that may kill a bee or a butterfly.
Good points Mike.
As you say, we do not live in a perfect world - us humans have a knack of upsetting natural balances to suit our own needs and even the most valiant of ecologists amongst us are guilty of it. Many is the time that I have swatted a fly as it peruses the kitchen worktop. However, in swatting the fly I am being specific. The murder that I commit is targeted for that individual pest alone
Likewise, when I find aphids colonising new shoots and flower buds, I will squash them.
Gardening techincally always upsets the natural balances, because you create an environment that wasn't there naturally. However, some practices used by gardeners upset the natural balances more than others and indiscriminate killing of creatures is such a practice.
If a bee or a wasp comes buzzing into the kitchen instead of the errant fly, will I kill it? No. Because they are not pest species and I can be selective in not swatting them, but instead I can catch them and return them to outdoors.
Sticky traps cannot be selective in what they catch however and will kill anything that flies into them.
Neither are insecticides selective, not truly, - so I never use them, not even the ones approved for organic use.
Both control methods are methods of mass murder of creatures that people don't even realise are there.
I had a bad case of mealybug on my cacti in the greenhouse last year - I painted the mealybugs with olive oil on an artist's brush. They suffocated and died. My cacti are happy. I didn't kill anything else but the target pests.
Your very words are exactly my point:
"What's the difference between hanging up a sticky card to spraying your GH plants with Bug destroy etc."
There is no difference. Yet some misguided individuals that I have spoken to have chosen to use sticky traps in the belief that they are more environmentally-friendly than spraying chemicals about.
No, not many gardeners use their greenhouses as avairies - but which of us has not had a wild bird flutter in at some stage? The house sparrows fly in and out of my greenhouse frequently when I have the door open.
If I had fine screening across the door and window, they wouldn't be able to get in. Neither would the pollinators. And so it would be more acceptable to use sticky traps I suppose - not that I would. However, how many gardeners are going to fit screens?
I wish that I had had my camera handy when I visited that little nursery. The sight of trap after trap hung in rows, each covered with struggling and dead bumblebees was a terrible sight and I think would make even the most hardened sticky trap advocate think twice about using one.
I hate the use of chemicals, including those considered 'not really' chemicals, like salt and vinegar.
Using them displays a self-centred, short-sighted attitude to other living creatures, ecosystems and our future
In the sticks near Peterborough
I agree, nut.
Just because a chemical is in common household use and not labelled with warnings, doesn't mean to say that when applied to the environment it won't cause harm.