Preventative Maintenance

Good Morning,

I've been reading all of your threads on various pests and am wondering if there is such a product that can be used for preventative maintenance before they have a chance to infest? I've had a couple bouts with spider mites and slugs, and have tried neem oil successfully and a slug killer called frontline. The neem oil bottle states that it is good for a whole host of potential pests, so I was thinking of making it a weekly ritual to spray everything in my garden. Is this safe or effective? I have also been hearing a lot about systemic pesticides but have not tried any. Is it safe to combine the neem with the systemic? It would be nice to know that if I've missed spraying a leaf or two with Neem that the systemic would kill the bugs when they took a bite. If systemics are the way to go, what is the best kind to use?

Any and all advise is greatly appreciated by my plants and I. Thanks and have a great day! :))))

Correction, the slug killer was called "Deadline". Highly effective! :)

The neem oil will also take out a lot of your beneficials- why don't you wait and see if you get an infestation first? Plants can tolerate a fair amount of damage and still perform for you. Just keep an eye out as you walk around in the garden, and look for problems. A few aphids are ok. Aphids covering the entire plant are not. Lots of infestations can be handled with a jet spray of water. This isn't good for the lady bug larve, but if you just treat the plants that have problems, the rest of the good bugs will be ok.

Integrated Pest Management- starting with healthy plants and good soil-

1. Careful observation- know the difference between disease and insect problems. Watch for heavy infestations or serious outbreaks of disease. Check problem plants often. Allow time for the good bugs to move in.

2. Start with the least toxic solution- jet of water, hand picking/squishing, insecticidal soaps if needed, removing diseased leaves and keeping the ground cleaned up. Hot Pepper Wax will deter many chewing insects.

3.If all else fails, go chemical.

I believe Deadline can be pretty dangerous around children and pets but there are other products out there that work as well. One is called "Sluggo" and the name of the other escapes me but I found it recently at Lowes. The label says "safe for children and pets" right on the front. I always like to try the least harmful first and see if it works before resorting to the hard stuff.

I don't have a big problem with slugs, but I made beer traps before and those worked really good.

Thank you for the good advise! I'll try the jet of water to dislodge any pests. I'm getting paranoid after the spider mites practically destroyed my morning glories, and then I started seeing them on other things nearby. I still don't think they're gone, but I've been spraying the neem religiously once a week so hopefully soon. Ah, and then there's the aphids and a weird mystery black bug... Water sounds easy, so I'll go rambo on them tomorrow and clean everyone's leaves. :)

Slugs are another story. I have neices that are small and a dog, but where I put the slug killer they're highly unlikely to get at them. My neices are never unsupervised in my yard anyway and my dog is 14 and not as curious as she once was. I see at least three dead slugs a day trying to get at my angel's trumpet (brugmansia?). She's just about to bloom, so I'm on high alert! I will use the poison with great caution. Beer trap sounds intrigueing, what do you do?

I really appreciate the responses. I study this site daily to help educate myself. There's a lot to this new obsession and I don't want to screw up and have everything die.

Thanks again! Christina

Let me see if I can remember...the yeast in the beer seems to be what attracts them. I took small cans, like tuna or cat food, and dug a hole for them and buried them just at soil level, slug level, and then pour in the beer. They fall in and die. Have you asked the Brugs forum about keeping slugs away?

I'll try it! Thanks! I guess at the very worst, I'd just have drunk slugs. hehe. I'll check the brugs forum too.

Here's a little photo of one of the buggers now. He's eying my angel's trumpet looking for lunch!

Blech! I didn't know that slugs ate Brugs, but then I don't know why they wouldn't. I have one that I'm trying to keep alive, but it's in a pot and safe from slugs, but not grasshoppers!

Grasshoppers like brugs? I keep seeing little holes in the leaves. I've seen tiny lime green grasshoppers, but not on this plant (that I know of) could they be the culprit? If so, what do you do for them?

That's what is eating mine. I don't do anything. Well, actually I did and didn't realize it. A while back someone recommended using a Bayer product that contained a systemic pesticide to kill spider mites and a fertilizer. I did use it because my Brugs is in a pot. If it were in the ground, I doubt I would have. But I guess that might be killing the grasshopper that eats my plant, but doesn't stop the next one from coming. They aren't too bad tho. You could try the old method of sprinkling flour on the leaves. It's supposed to gum up in the hoppers mouths.

Ah, the bayer was what I was planning to use as a systemic. Well I'll experiment with the different options and see if I can't come up with a solution. Thanks for the advise! Great name by the way. Wasn't there a band named that a while back?

konkreteblond, dont think your potted plants are safe! they often come up thru the drain hole. i dont know if they actually get up to the plant that way, but ive emptied pots and found them down there! diatomateous earth is still the best for safe slugging in my opinion.

Those things are that smart?! I'll have to look at it tomorrow.

Yes, there used to be a band with this name, but that's not where I got it. I am just not creative and needed a new name. My sister already had the "blond" part in her name so I used that and I'm a very "concrete" personality/learning style. Abstract things just blow on past me. You gotta tell it to me straight. Good luck! I'm going to inspect for critters tomorrow.

Here's my 2 cents for slug control, coffee grinds/grounds. Free and easy to get plenty of, safe on all people and pets too. Some people will say they are too acidic, Starbucks says they're 7.0 which is more base and close to neutral. Haven't had a cat, dog, rabbit and most of all no slugs that will bother a plant with coffee grounds surrounding it.

Hmmm, that could be the best option yet! I'm an avid coffee drinker, and although the slugs are annoying I've got a HUGE rabbit population. They recently ate the stems to 15 of my gazania's and left the poor flower laying on the brick to die. I used to think they were cute, boy was I naive!