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Organic bug spray

BrexiteerBrexiteer Posts: 955
in Problem solving
What is the difference between organic bug spray and normal bug spray please ? I was bought some organic bug spray which cost  £9 (mom's fault) and I sprayed some aphids on a lavatera shrub. 2 weeks later they are still their live and well. Looks to be a waste of money

Posts

  • TheveggardenerTheveggardener Posts: 1,057
    Can't help you there Old Arthritic marc, I just use water with a bit of washing up liquid in a spray bottle.
  • nutcutletnutcutlet Posts: 27,445
    Sprays are a waste of money. Do as Dee does or let the birds and insects sort them. Organic means made from living things as opposed to chemicals I think. Some people think Organic means harmless but it doesn't. Anything that kills an insect you don't want will kill an insect of any sort, Bees, Butterflies, anything


    In the sticks near Peterborough
  • Hampshire_HogHampshire_Hog Posts: 1,089
    I spray them off with water and any stubborn ones get squished with my fingers.

    "You don't stop gardening because you get old, you get old because you stop gardening." - The Hampshire Hog
  • LynLyn Posts: 23,190
    I use washing up liquid diluted, you need to do it regularly, but once the insects get going they should clear most of them. 
    Gardening on the wild, windy west side of Dartmoor. 

  • ObelixxObelixx Posts: 30,090
    No sprays here either except for an occasional blast or plain water from the hosepipe jet nozzle.   Birds and predator insects and their larvae will come along and devour the pests and restore balance if you let them. 

    It helps to provide food all year round for garden birds so they adopt your garden and then feed any juicy pests to their nestlings and providing shelter for beneficial insects to hibernate is good too.
    Vendée - 20kms from Atlantic coast.
    "The price good men (and women) pay for indifference to public affairs is to be ruled by evil men (and women)."
    Plato
  • DovefromaboveDovefromabove Posts: 88,147
    Obelixx said:
    No sprays here either except for an occasional blast or plain water from the hosepipe jet nozzle.   Birds and predator insects and their larvae will come along and devour the pests and restore balance if you let them. 

    It helps to provide food all year round for garden birds so they adopt your garden and then feed any juicy pests to their nestlings and providing shelter for beneficial insects to hibernate is good too.
    I do exactly the same ... at the moment I’m sitting indoors watching a family of bluetits feasting on aphids on the rosebush by the window ... better than the tv 😊 

    Gardening in Central Norfolk on improved gritty moraine over chalk ... free-draining.





  • wild edgeswild edges Posts: 10,497

    nutcutlet said:
    Sprays are a waste of money. Do as Dee does or let the birds and insects sort them. Organic means made from living things as opposed to chemicals I think. Some people think Organic means harmless but it doesn't. Anything that kills an insect you don't want will kill an insect of any sort, Bees, Butterflies, anything
    Not entirely true. The organic sprays use a type of fatty acid to clog the pores in the insect's skin on contact and stops them breathing. It works on soft bodied insects but not so much on bees and beetles etc which have an exoskeleton. I use soap sprays in the greenhouse in the winter but I've found it much eaiser at this time of year to just put the plant next to the bird feeder. You have to be careful it doesn't damage the plant though.

    If you can keep your head, while those around you are losing theirs, you may not have grasped the seriousness of the situation.
  • B3B3 Posts: 27,505
    I find fingers work so long as  you check very regularly.
    In London. Keen but lazy.
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