Hi All,
Can anyone say whether or not home made nicotine solutions kill bugs without hurting tobacco plants? Would it be used as a spot application when bugs are present, or a once a week preventative?
Living in a place with lots of bugs, near the sea, and not a tobacco producing area. So many bugs I've never seen before. I notice a lot of ants in my garden, and various fleas and black-and-white beetles. Something eats small holes and something devours entire leaves, leaving only stem and veins. Too hard it identify them--I'd rather just kill any bug on my transplants, and let God sort them out.
What about common houseflies and ants? Might they eat tobacco?
I have a little Admire and Orthene mixed with Acrobat/Dithane, but not enough to last long, and these can't be used every day to zap bugs on the leaves. So, I'm thinking about homemade nicotine spray. So far, I've used Sevin spray for that, but I feel that I am using too many poisons too often.
Admire Pro, which is an insecticide used by commercial tobacco farmers, is very effective and is a nicotinoid based insecticide, but hard to get your hands on. (imidacloprid) And the people next door keep bees--don't want to harm them.
What about Sevin? Any experience with that?
Orthene (acephatate) was used mostly when I worked commercial tobacco. Looking for an over the counter version.
When I worked commercially, there were a few insecticides that we used, and that was that. In the backyard, it's different--many unknown bugs, and I am now restricted to over the counter insecticides.
I'd really appreciate hearing about what you all have learned in the backyard tobacco patch about bugs. My plants are at the recent transplant stage, just beginning to grow new leaves. Meanwhile, I'll scour the forum for previously posted info. If anyone else lives close to the Atlantic Ocean, within 2 miles, he or she might have experienced similar bugs. Feel like I am giving the bugs a new treat.
Charley