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An excellent eco friendly way to keep insects and slugs away from edible plants is to spray them with good'ol soapy water. There are problems with this though. Rain washes away the soap which means you need to re-apply the soap every time it rains. There are also water conservation concerns
and many plants don't like to be watered topically, especially in full sun.
What to do, what to do?
I'm almost certain that it is not the water, so it must be soap that the insects don't like.
Bubble makers use little water yet stand to disperse as much if not more soap than just adding it to the water supply.
So turn your backyard garden or orchard into an iridescent wonderland with solar bubble makers.
This may also have the added benefit of scaring away birds much the way swaying Mylar strips or hanging pie plates do.
http://www.associat...esticide.html?cat=7
[2 fries shy of a happy meal, Mar 23 2009]
http://wiki.answers...se_soap_kills_plant
[2 fries shy of a happy meal, Mar 23 2009]
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yes but you run the risk of attracting children |
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its not the bubbles, it's the detergent action of the insecticidal soap that kills the bugs. Most of the products that i have seen are not bubbly or foamy. |
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WcW, just because they *aren't* bubbly, doesn't mean that they couldn't be *made* bubbly. |
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There's another possible advantage of doing this. It could make rainwater penetrate the soil more easily, so increasing its efficiency. |
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I want my garden filled with bubbles, whether it does anything about the insects or not. |
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You're also going to affect instects which are beneficial. |
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There will be a catch and release program for stray children that acquire a taste for soap. |
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//it's the detergent action of the insecticidal soap that kills the bugs.//
Ordinary soap will not kill the bugs rather they just can't stand the taste and look elsewhere. |
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//what effect does the soap have on the plants?//
As long as the soap is gentle, the plants like it, in moderation. Real soap is just rendered fat and ash which plants don't mind at all but you want to use a brand without a lot of chemicals.
Interestingly wiki needs confirmation of this...and a good spell check [link] |
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//You're also going to affect insects which are beneficial//
Unfortunately that's true but I'm thinking less so than commercial pesticides. |
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/keep insects and slugs away/
It does not keep them away. It kills them. You spray soap to kill scale insects, aphids and other insects that are living on the plant. The sorts of things siap is good for are the small insects that live in a growing colony on the plant. The soap dissolves their cuticular waxes and they die of dessication. As regards slugs I am not sure but I will bet that bubble soap does not much faze a slug. |
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Well to solve several of the problems listed
(granted creating other more serious ones but this
is the bakery after all) I propose making the
bubbles out of the plastic material they
sometimes make bubbles out of. |
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You know the shiny stuff in the tubes? It came
with a little crack pipe looking straw. |
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The bubbles could fool the slugs into thinking they had stumbled across a disco and they'll become so distracted with dancing and getting down with their bad selves, they will forget why they were crawling up the plant in the first place. Mission accomplished! |
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Wait we need those slugs!!! Remember dental
hygiene is a plus. Get a jar with some grass quick
little Johnny... |
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I second this, and add that slugs serve no good purpose that I have seen, birds don't even want to eat them. |
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