[mumofstig]

yes it is against the law - stupid I know, but there you go *sigh*

It is illegal to use any substances, as pesticides or fungicides, that have not been tested and approved by the EU regulators.
That is the point I need to make for the forum - what you do on your own plot is up to you, of course.

[seaside]

So, is it illegal to squeeze a fresh lemon onto the food I'm growing that I will be eating that day ? I do wonder whether there is a bit of scare mongering going on here, and wonder if you are quoting the law accurately.

I'm not being rude, I'm really interested. As someone who ran a complementary healing centre for years back in the 1990s, I have kept up to date with certain laws and am hugely aware of the games authority can play with health and wellbeing, and the overall politics involved, when they say "scientifically untested" methodology is "unproven". And of course it is unproven because no funded scientist would do the research for fear of being blackballed by the establishment. But specifically illegal  ? a lemon ?
Surely not. I find it quite plausible that a branded product should not be miss-used, and rightly so, but I find it extraordinarily difficult to believe the actual law states an allotment holder cannot put his own lemon juice onto another plant of his, and be held in breach of the law. Maybe you are just talking about this particular forum's policy regarding such matters ? I would appreciate very much if you could let me know what law you refer to, as I would like to look into it.
By all means move some of the comments to a different thread as I wouldn't want to get in the way of our tomato talk in general.

[JayG]

It's not that complicated Seaside: only substances specifically approved by the EU for pesticide use can be legally used for that purpose (everything else is illegal by default, and no-one is going to spend a small fortune to get the necessary approval for lemon juice or many other "home remedies" for use as pesticides.)

I understand that if you wanted to spray lemon juice onto your tomatoes to make them smell nice, that would be legal, but to do the same thing to treat botrytis wouldn't. 

Simple, eh? (hopefully you can now appreciate the position the forum finds itself in!)

[Sparkyrog]

like all Forum's between a rock and a hard place 

[New shoot]

Today's tom harvest 

Maskotka and Latah in the bowl, huge clunking great Chocolate Cherokees lurking at the back, a smaller red Wladleks at the front and the orange/red one at the front is my first Brooks Special 



A few beans, outdoor cukes and onions for scale 

[Godhelm]

I grew some Maskotka a couple of years ago and found them to be really robust plants and more able to stand up to a bit of wind or ocassional dryness than some other varieties. Will put them on the 'maybe' list for next year.

[mumofstig]

So, is it illegal to squeeze a fresh lemon onto the food I'm growing that I will be eating that day ? I do wonder whether there is a bit of scare mongering going on here, and wonder if you are quoting the law accurately.I'm not being rude, I'm really interested.

We are

The law requires that only plant protection products authorised by Ministers shall be sold, supplied, used, stored or advertised.

http://www.pesticides.gov.uk/guidance/industries/pesticides/topics/pesticide-approvals/Approvals-for-Pesticides-in-the-UK

[devonbarmygardener]

I was interested by Medwyn Williams explanation of feed for toms.

I have been trying Baby Bio for tomatoes this year and not sure how good it is
I presume all tom specific feeds must be based on high N, no Phos and moderate potash BUT now I know about this split that they like I fed the toms this morning with a high nitrogen feed by Vitax and some sulphate of potash and will see how they go

[JayG]

Can you post a link to where you found this explanation from Medwyn Williams DBG?

(I may have misunderstood what you were saying but I've not heard about high nitrogen for tomatoes at any stage of growth before from anyone.) 

[viettaclark]

Surely it's high potassium for flowers and fruit? Nitrogen just promotes leafy growth.
I can recommend a homemade comfrey feed as my toms are the best they've ever been but the garden stank (and I mean STANK) for days and I had to avoid the neighbours!

[mumofstig]

Can you post a link to where you found this explanation from Medwyn Williams DBG?

(I may have misunderstood what you were saying but I've not heard about high nitrogen for tomatoes at any stage of growth before from anyone.) 

It's from the link I posted previously on this thread 

[seaside]

So, is it illegal to squeeze a fresh lemon onto the food I'm growing that I will be eating that day ? I do wonder whether there is a bit of scare mongering going on here, and wonder if you are quoting the law accurately.I'm not being rude, I'm really interested.

We are

The law requires that only plant protection products authorised by Ministers shall be sold, supplied, used, stored or advertised.

http://www.pesticides.gov.uk/guidance/industries/pesticides/topics/pesticide-approvals/Approvals-for-Pesticides-in-the-UK

Mos, are we at liberty (  ) to talk of comfrey and nettle being used as fertilisers under your interpretation of the law or are we just talking plant protection products ?
It feels like the forum is over interpreting the law here with regard to the humble lemon and clove of garlic. Still, just my opinion.

[New shoot]

Your question has already been answered 

yes it is against the law - stupid I know, but there you go *sigh*

It is illegal to use any substances, as pesticides or fungicides, that have not been tested and approved by the EU regulators.
That is the point I need to make for the forum - what you do on your own plot is up to you, of course.

So, is it illegal to squeeze a fresh lemon onto the food I'm growing that I will be eating that day ? I do wonder whether there is a bit of scare mongering going on here, and wonder if you are quoting the law accurately.I'm not being rude, I'm really interested.

We are

The law requires that only plant protection products authorised by Ministers shall be sold, supplied, used, stored or advertised.

http://www.pesticides.gov.uk/guidance/industries/pesticides/topics/pesticide-approvals/Approvals-for-Pesticides-in-the-UK

The link MoS posted to relates to products registered for plant protection i.e. pesticides and fungicides.  Our policy is not to condone the use of any unregistered products.  As has also been said, what you do on your own plot is your decision

[Aunt Sally]

And you can use whatever you like (legally) as plant food.

[JayG]

Mos, are we at liberty (  ) to talk of comfrey and nettle being used as fertilisers under your interpretation of the law or are we just talking plant protection products ?
It feels like the forum is over interpreting the law here with regard to the humble lemon and clove of garlic. Still, just my opinion.

I thought it had been made perfectly clear in this thread that EU rules concerning "home made gardening remedies" relate to their use as pesticides.