[muntjac]

ok folks get a couple packs of french marigolds ( tagetes) ordered , stick em in when it says so on the packet ,best in the greenhouse in trays in my book ,, plants in pots etc etc ya ya yah . ok plant em out all round plot and the garden , that will help keep the bad bugs away , but then when they flower make an infusion. (ooooooer big werd wif me porridge) of the flowers , 6 pints of flower heads all to a gallon of water , n let it steep n ferment for a while with the top slightly loose ,( it may go bang if ya dont  ) then when its nice n yucky yellow greeen . strain it through a sieve n then a finer one n then muslin type stuff . bottle n use by diluting a 1/4 pint in pint sprayer of water  fer bug killing on all plants etc . u watch them booogers die ,heheheh,. oh and wash ya hands as its a strong insecticide ... courtesy of grandad traynier  :twisted:

[DD.]

As approved by the EU, of course, along with Fairy Liquid.

[John]

I'm pretty sure that's illegal - so I shall adopt the French attitude to inconvenient EU laws and shrug my shoulders

And yes, you can make an insectidide from fag ends (before someone mentions it) but it is extremely poisonous and I would suggest far safer to buy some derris.

[muntjac]

and then  we can always give the usual reply to the  to EU

[Zak the Rabbit]

I never new that, but i certainly like the sound of it,

trouble is, i put in my seed order two weeks ago, and despite being asked by my father-in-law if i wanted any flower seeds, i said no

what a wally! incedentally, where do you get muslin from for straining?



I wouldnt recommend the impromptu tab-end insecticide, like you say John its very poisonous. The nicotine is the insecticide, and its one of the most highly toxic compounds known. It is used comercially, i believe its one of the only things thats effective against colorado beetle


am i right in thinking you can eat the marigolds as well? never fancied that much, i might have tried the nasturtiums, but the cabbage whites munched the lot first


Martin

[Annie]

Yes,I thought you could eat them too,would this keep off little bitey insects do you think?

[John]

T&M do a marigold especially to ward off whitefly etc -

Marigold : Tomato Growing Secret

Thank goodness we don't have colorado beetle here.

[Eristic]

Thank goodness we don't have colorado beetle here.

We've got worse than colorado beetles now. Just wait till the southern green shield bugs get well established then organic principles may have to go back in the shed.

[Zak the Rabbit]

no problem, just collect them all up and take them to a southern petrol station, get yerself some nice wineglasses

[ACatCalledElvis]

Apparently marigolds release a chemical in their roots that can help in killig weeds - such as bindweed. Its a sort of self defence mechanism - to ensure the plant has a safe place to grow. And yes you cna eat them as well.

[GrannieAnnie]

But if that's the case, don't they kill the plants as well as the weeds? Elvis?

[bigtater]

in march this year i got a packet of pyrethrum seeds  from johnsons seeds   tanacetum coccineum just for this purpose of making bug spray it works too.
as a bonus the flowers are gorgeous great big daisy like heads in red and pink and white with a yellow centre.  

[hermon]

i had 2 packets of marigolds and i 've never grown them before so i didn't think they would come to anything i planted them in the middle of my tomatoes and wow did they grow! will do it again next year. didn't get any white fly either just lots of bees  

[ACatCalledElvis]

the african marigold (Tagetes Minut), is the one apparently that does this - and it affects plants with starchy roots, so only good along borders, as they may well affect your veggies!!

I say apparently, cos I saw this working in Cornwall this year, and will be putting into practice next year on the lottie, but it seems a pretty good way of land clearing.....

[noshed]

Worked for me OK