Using Dish Soap for Bugs

Hello All,

And Thanks again Terry Love for the great Forums. You are the Best.

I remember when Ivory dish soap was a good safe bug repellent and I used it.

But now I see that they have changed their formulation.

Can the new stuff still be used safely ?

What dish soap is safe for plants ? And what is the water/soap mix amount.


Thanks for any input that you may have.

Have a great day.

DonL

I've used Sunlight dish soap with good results but I would never consider it a repellent. It is a contact killer.

Thank You LLigetfa,

What ratio of water to soap do you mix.

I want the bugs dead but not the plants.

How about the bees, Will it kill them ?

Thank You

Enjoy Your Day, Take time to play...


DonL

I am not kidding, I heard you put a dish of beer in the garden, I can't remember what it is for though,

Dunno the exact ratio... I just squirt some into my sprayer full of soft water. Prolly around a tablespoon to the gallon. It kills all insects on contact including bees. The soap bubbles film over their pores and they suffocate. Since it's not a repellent, you can rinse off the plants afterwards with plain water.

About once a decade, we get overrun by the Eastern Forest Tent Caterpillar. Truly biblical proportions... covering the ground and roads like a moving carpet. They have to bring out the sand trucks cuz the highways get slick as black ice. We were washing them off the side of the house with Sunlight soap in a dispenser on the end of the garden hose. Carted the corpses away by the wheelbarrow loads.

You may not want to kill the bees.

Eh Cookie, what kind of bird is that? We usually get Flycatchers up in the rafters.

The beer in the garden is supposed to be for the slugs. Copper flashing around the perimeter works well. Purportedly the copper reacts with their slime and produces electricity. My mother always used ashes to deter slugs. Supposedly it works as a dessicant like diatomaceous earth does. Diatomaceous earth works on bees too.

Yes, that is what it is for, slugs!

That is a blue jay. She actually used most of those openings to keep making nests, I couldn't understand why she was doing that but it was interesting to watch. Finally, she picked one and had one baby. Now, I got robins scoping it out.

What is a Flycatcher bird?

Cookie said:

What is a Flycatcher bird?

Click to expand...

http://www.pbase.com/silverbowff/flycatchers

I think I got one of those yellow ones, I didn't realize they were called that, they are beautiful! Do you do the Audubon bird count? I hope you can do it in Canada.

http://www.audubon.org/

http://birds.audubon.org/great-backyard-bird-count

I got a bald eagle which is in my vicinity, I see him hovering above, I know where his huge nest is at, but I won't tell anyone so no one bugs him. I found it by accident. He is gorgeous. It is odd to be in my area. I actually, pull my car over and park when I see him, just to watch him.

Hello all,

Talk about a Deer Chilling out. Cookie that is a great picture.

Yes the beer is for slugs. But I don't use beer for cooking or the slugs. I guess I am stingy, I drink it all. lol.

I am using sevin , but I do not like the idea that it kills my bees.

I have a million or so in my bee hives, and they pollinate Miles around me.

Some country's do not have bees and they have to pollinate everything by hand.

I like the bees to do their work, I do not want to kill them.

Have a Great day.

DonL

That is a great picture, isn't it. That is the day I walked out and he was just born over the course of the night. He's really great. He is 5 years old now and he still knows me, I think, by smell. He walks right up to me, and I don't do anything until, he sniffs me. Then, I know he knows it is me, and it is like a reunion every time. He rubs his head on my legs and I rub his head. He lays under the trees while I run the lawn mower. My neighbor, Meatball Mike, was looking over once, and he yelled over, " is that a buck laying there?" I told him it was a statue. He has been talking about getting his cataracks removed, if he does, I am in big trouble.

Our garden is always organic. No sprays, no chemicals, nothing. I did find a big rabbit sitting it in once, but, other than that, we usually had no trouble with bugs. We did have a mole once, which I named Loy. How funny, but he would come out and sit by the walk outfront. Never hid from me. I picked him up and moved him to my neighbor's once. lol. They don't garden or even, run the mower. What a wonderful place for Loy to live.

I like bees. I guess you could had figured that out by now, eh. I made friends once with a bee. It was the kind with the furry heads. I saw him one day, always walking back & forth by the lavender outfront. He never bothered anything or anyone. He just walked. He would walk and I would pet his head. I showed my husband and it became a routine thing to check out the "walking bee." We liked him, and he was a friendly.

Then, my son came home and while we were eating dinner announced that there was a bee outside just walking about. Before we could say anything, he said, " I stepped on him, so he wouldn't sting you mom."

Well, we told our son, with tears in our eyes, and we actually, saw tears in his. He said, " I am so sorry mom, you should had told me." Well, it was a sad day. We lost our Walking Bee.

That is a true story. I have no life, lol.

We need bees to keep things thriving & growing. They are dwindling in numbers.

Jerry Baker is a nationally known gardener. He used to do those specials for PBS pledge drives years ago. He has written a number of gardening books, and one of his favorite hints is to put the cheapest dish soap you can find into a hose-end sprayer, then every other week or so go through your yard and spray everything that's green. Lawn, trees, flowers, tomato plants, whatever. Soap is a natural insecticide, and he also says it helps clay soils drain better.

Hello all,

So Steve i guess it would be OK to use the blue Dawn dish washing Liquid ?

Sorry Cookie about your "walking bee." getting the boot. That must have been nice, when it was alive.

Sometime I wonder if some of the creatures that visit, are someone we knew in a previous life.
Do you believe in reincarnation ?

Thanks for the input, I guess dawn and the soft water may do the trick for me.
I know it is said that the water softener adds salt to the water, But if it backwashes
correctly, I would think the sodium content would be very low. I never taste any salt in my water.

Have a Great Day, And take time to Play.

DonL

The salt content might be low enough in your water, which is fine for gardening BUT, anyone who has high blood pressure should reconsider, okay, just not drink it. Even a small amount, a negotiable amount can and could be harmful. I know you didn't say if you did or not, so, this is just an unasked for, maybe, unwanted, piece of advice.

My bee. Yes, he was great. Was he a rellie from somewhere? Nope. I know this because if he was he would had stung me over and over, I got and had mean relatives. A good friend, knows them, and always wants to know how I got born into this family. Mistake. It was a mistake from the higher up. I am the outcast because I am nice. I am the whitesheep. I am a total disgrace to them all. I sicken them with my smile. Since, I am like my dad, alot, I smile at them, send them a get well card, a Xmas card, have a happy day card, just to make them "healthier." Do I believe in reincarnation? Does this mean "they" will come back like some horror movie?

*do you got stink bugs? If you look at them closely, under a magnifying glass, their backs plus, stomachs are like a beautiful Asian rug. If I had one stronger, it would probably have some color. Really nice markings.

I was told, if you want to get rid of them to put out a dish of water& dishsoap. When they first appeared I was trying to get rid of them by any means, now, I kind of gotten to like them. I still put them outside, but, I try not to kill them. They are pretty unique looking, alittle bit prehistoric like a dino. Check one out. I have a picture, not a good one, I will post. You can vaguely see his markings. Not anything like if you look directly at him by the aid of a scope.

This was taken with a cell phone. my brother & I was playing with them.

Now check out his shape, rather unique don't you think? He was VERY cooperative.

Yes Cookie we have stink bugs.

They are not phased by Sevin, Dish soap Malathion or even dursban.

There is a product that will kill them, but you have to spray it directly on them.
And it cast about 10 dollars for a 6 ounce bottle, that you mix with water.

They breath from under there wings, and the poison has to go into there respiratory system.

Wasp spray works but it kills plants, or wilts them badly.

As for the Reincarnation, No it is not like in the movies, or Ghost.

"The common definition of reincarnation has been altered from its original meaning. The word has come to mean 'to be born again in different life forms' whereas its actual definition is 'to be born again into the flesh of another body.'

The way I understand it is that a human being makes mistakes in first life and is Reincarnated in a different form until reaching perfection.

Like the birds that come to visit, could be a person that is trying to reach perfection, and they come to visit you again.

Everyone has different beliefs and that is what make us who we are.

Who is to say what is right and what is wrong. No one.

I do believe that You should treat others the way that you would like to be treated. That is my rule.

Anyway, I hope Your Day is going well.

I got my garden in , so now I get to water and watch it grow.

I hope soon too enjoy the fruits of my labor.

Have a Good Afternoon and a Great evening.

DonL

The Golden Rule works for me. I wish it worked for everyone, like John the Beatle, imagine ...

You believe what I would see as the Indian way.

Well, I lost so many people so early in life. I became a widow too soon. I remember after my husband's death I sat on the deck one night looking at the stars by myself, and I said, " if you are still here, if the breeze is you in this night air, give me a sign." Then, a shooting star streaked the sky, and stayed alit so long that I stood up and then, could feel the warm air wrap about my shoulders.

One of my outside hose bibs is plumbed to softened water (just no easy way to get hard water to that part of the house) and plants seem to do OK. There is about the same amt of sodium in a quart of softened water as in a couple slices of bread.

Yes, Dawn is OK to use. I have done this off and on over the years and it certainly doesn't seem to do any harm. It may make soil less appealing to grubs, among other things.

Thanks Steve,

I use dawn for the dishes so I will use that.

And we do have many grubs, but the fire ants get them.
I wonder if the soap work on ants, they are a big problem here. They get my Quail and other Ground nesting birds.

I have hard and soft water available for use, and I did not know their was that much salt in the soft water.

I have no problem drinking it, no blood pressure problems.

I am still unsure if the salt is more problems than the minerals and iron in the well water, for the plants.

Thank You for Your Input.

And Cookie sound like You had a special visit, Good for You.

Have a great evening.

DonL