During the downtime of the winter, you may be making plans for the upcoming growing season. While planning, you could be considering how to do certain things better. For many of you, the thought of doing something better would be to reduce the use of chemicals.
I can tell you from a business point of view that the use of chemicals has been reduced significantly over the last few years. This is indicated by a significant reduction in sales.
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The decrease in chemical usage can be attributed to different factors. Certainly, people are being more conscientious of the importance of sustainability. We all need to be sure that we are not harming a lot of good bugs while trying to kill the few bad ones.
No matter how responsibly we garden, we will never eliminate the need for a way to control bugs and diseases that will cause major damage or death to certain plants – and the loss of a plant is also detrimental to the environment.
Over the last few years, there has been a shift to incorporate insecticides and fungicides that are made from safer products. These products are all very effective while being referred to as "greener." The best thing about these greener alternatives is they do not last long on the plant. The sunlight breaks them down quickly.
The chemical (non-green) alternatives can stay with the plant for a long time. This was once promoted as a benefit. However, this is also why they are harmful to beneficial insects. The greener products need to be used when you see harmful insects working on your plants. With this approach, you will need to monitor your landscape more closely to catch the insects because you cannot proactively spray with greener products.
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Fertilome, the garden product company whose products I frequently recommend, is introducing a new line of environmentally-friendly products called Fertilome Green, identified with a green label. All these products are listed as safe to use for organic gardening.
Included in these products are insecticides containing Bt, which stands for Bacillus Thuringiensis. Bt is a bacteria found in soil and has been used as an insecticide for many years. The bacteria spores are harmful to many types of caterpillars.
Horticultural Oil is another very environmentally-friendly product. It is made from Canola oil and can be used in the upcoming weeks as a dormant spray to control both wintering insects and disease spores from the previous season. A dormant spray will keep these insects and diseases from reoccurring from last year’s problems. It can also be used during the growing season to control many insects, including mites.
Spinosad is also another great, safe insecticide. This product is also made from bacteria that is harmful to insects. This product has the ability to kill the insects by contact from the spray and also when they ingest it from the plant. This is a great product for controlling bagworms and tent caterpillars.
There is also a product called Neem, which is an extract of Neem oil. This is a great product to have, as it will control both insects and diseases. It is listed as a fungicide/miticide/insecticide. It will control mites, aphids, whiteflies, beetles, and other listed insects, as well as control diseases such as powdery mildew, black spot, rust, and others.
All of these products are safe to use on both ornamental plants and edibles. They are all safe for your family and pets. Fertilome products are only sold at independent garden retailers. The employees at these stores are trained to instruct you on how to best use these products.
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