On Using Insecticide

Malathione is the usual insecticide that we use in our garden. When we moved here, it seemed that we have all kinds of pests, from bugs to aphids to snails. Whatever we plant was good forage for those pests, not to mention the ticks that inhabit the whole yard (front and back) that infected our dogs.

We resorted to spraying malathione all over. But we leave the house for 4 hours and aerate the interior for 30 minutes before we go back. However, we were warned that malathione had sediments which stays in the soil for a long time. That would be dangerous to our pets who roam around the yard.

Well? Just food for thought.

 

I spray permethrin all around the yard and places we frequent. I also soak clothes in it and let them dry when doing such things as picking blackberries.

 

I have no idea about permethrin but I guess it is not as toxic as malathion. Actually, malathion is used in farms that's why it is strong particularly the odor that is repulsive. Lately, we have not been using that insecticide anymore because the neighbors were complaining about the odor. Much more when they know that it was insecticide that we were spraying around.

Sometimes we use the liquid dishwashing soap that we mix in a gallon of water. We spray it to the plants and trees. However, we have to rinse the plants with water otherwise the young leaves would wither. Dishwashing soap is good for eradicating aphids.

 

When I first moved here, I would mix up the vinegar solution that is supposed to kill weeds, but it didn't work. Nothing works, really. I don't spray the yard with insecticides, but I do spray the perimeter of the house, because I live in Texas, and you have to. Or, at least I have to, because I choose not to live with insects in the house. I have had ants a few times over the years. I used to have an upstairs neighbor who was a slob, when I lived in a particular apartment, and the ants would crawl right up my wall to get to her apartment. I did some research and found out that cinnamon would get rid of them. I also had her evicted, which helped immensely with the ant problem, as well as a few other issues. I've used cinnamon here, the few times I've had ant issues indoors, which is when it gets too dry outside. Apparently they come in seeking water, so I cinnamoned the carpeting throughout the first floor. Thankfully, the carpet is sort of a cinnamon color to start with, so it wasn't really visible, and I went from one end to the other, sprinkling it heavily with cinnamon. I also sprinkled it on the tile floors, and left it for several days, before cleaning it up. I haven't had an issue since.

 

If you don't like pharmaceutical insecticides there is pyrethrin which comes from pyrethrum flowers [painted daisy] and also neem a tree that insect will not attack the oil is used as a insecticide.
I also have used colloidal copper and silver to prevent parasitic worms fungus and bacteria.

 

I don't use insecticide or weed killers because I feed my family and my turtles from what is grown on the property. I am very fortunate that none of my neighbors spray either. I have always believed that if you have an eco balance you will have some pests but they will be managed by the other creatures naturally. So far that works well, but we do have to take steps to make sure there is no standing water since the mosquitoes in this area do have West Nile.

I agree about the farmers and the flowers, when I was young and went to England I noticed the thickets along the farmlands and asked about that, it is a way that the Brits keep the crops balanced because the birds and other creatures will inhabit those areas and they keep the balance. For my part I make sure there is shelter for different bird, flowers and seeds for the birds, bees and butterflies, and the snakes and toads come on their own. My torts keep the weeds in check, in fact it is only July and i will need to look for dandelion leaves outside of the property because they have eaten all the ones here.

This evening I had an event that I found somewhat troubling, my dog managed to find and flush out a large field mouse that ran right under my tortoise to hide, I had no choice but to lift the tort and the dog promptly killed the mouse. I am no fan of mice, but I certainly did not want it to bite the tort, in my head the dog killing it was okay because that is what dogs do.. It is a natural balance just like when the hawk grabs a snake or a rabbit. It still bothered me though, I find it hard to allow any living thing to be hurt much less killed. I catch bees and spiders and take them outside, I put the snails back in the green if they are crawling someplace else. It is weird I know.

 

I don't like using insecticide but the ticks are really bad around here if I don't spray. Mosquitos too. I avoid spraying when anything is blooming because I worry about killing bees. In the garden I hand pick potato bugs and such to keep them under control.

I also use traps ( caught two raccoons this year ) and an electric fence around the garden when needed.

 

It looks like you are our neighbor, hahahaaa. Our most hated enemy is the mosquito and next to that is the tick that is a bane to my beloved dogs. We used to spend a lot for the insecticide spray to fight the mosquitoes. Our house would usually smell of that poison. But when we acquired a dog, we had a paradigm shift because that spray is toxic and it might hurt the dog. Nice h? Didn't think of the humans before that.

With the ticks, we would spray the whole surroundings with that malathion. But we seldom do that now. And the insecticide spray for mosquitoes is also rarely used in deference to our pets. We just clean the surrounding of any stagnant water and wet areas. For the ticks, we use liquid dishwashing soap.