"And the Lord God took the man, and put him into the garden of Eden to dress and keep it". Genesis 2:15

Tuesday, June 9, 2009

Controlling Cabbage Loppers with Organic Bacillus thuringiensis Spray

My lackadaisical attitude toward the cabbage loppers on my broccoli plants came to a halt on Saturday when seemingly over night they multiplied and just about devoured my broccoli. I have an old bottle (probably 10 years old!) of Safer's Caterpillar Killer, which is an organic spray that is basically a suspension of a particular bacteria that only kill caterpillars. It is totally safe for people, their pets, and beneficial insects, because the bacterial spores are only activated in the gut of the target host. The caterpillars eat the spores on the sprayed leaves, immediately stop eating, and die.

I wasn't sure this bottle was still any good, but I mixed up a batch of spray and gave it a try. After two days I had dead caterpillars (I didnt check after only one day) and my plants are already looking better!

Well that's my plug for Safer products. Their stuff is organic and usually works great.

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