[p-robin-g]

Hi there,

new to the grow your own scene this year, I've built a couple of raised beds, doing basic stuff such as salad leaves, onions carrotts etc. My grandad has been helping me out with his experience! Things have been doing great until the last couple of weeks where I seem to have been infested with several pests, such as (I think!) blackfly, ants etc. and they seem to be eating everything. My grandad had something in his shed which he said would get rid of most things, but it looks very old to me, its some kind of powder and its called DDT. Would this be OK to use? He has been right on everything so far but I just wanted to check this.

Thanks in advance!

PRG

[Ropster]

i wouldnt put DDT an anything i was going to eat, Im fairly sure it was banned a long time ago

[mumofstig]

DDT was banned in the 70s I think  very very nasty stuff is DDT ...........

Ant's don't do any harm, but you usually find them where there is black or greenfly. You can use a little washing up liquid in water to spray against these...you will have to repeat every few days. There are a few chemical sprays you can use against bugs....look in places like Wilkinson's but make sure it is one for vegetables 

[DavidT]

Good evening and welcome to the site. DO NOT use DDT, it has been illegal for adout 50 years. There are plenty of modern, SAFE solutions for pest control. You have ants because they are " farming " the aphids. Neither pest is actually eating the plants, so a bit more info would be helpful if you have holes in the leaves.