Seems like today is the day to get useful information via email, and then publish the same (since this information is concise and useful)

Garlic Oil Spray Target insects: Aphids, cabbage loopers, grasshoppers, June bugs, leafhoppers, mites, squash bugs, slugs and whiteflies. May also help to repel rabbits! Never use oils sprays on Blue Spruce as it will remove the blue waxy coating on the needles! Because garlic contains naturally occurring sulfur it also acts as an antibacterial agent and fungus preventative.

To make: Combine 3 ounces of minced garlic cloves with 1 ounce of mineral oil. Let soak for 24 hours or longer. Strain. Next mix 1 teaspoon of fish emulsion with 16 ounces of water. Add 1 tablespoon of castille soap to this. Now slowly combine the fish emulsion water with the garlic oil. Kept in a sealed glass container this mixture will stay viable for several months. To use: Mix 2 tablespoons of garlic oil with 1 pint of water and spray.

When working with oil sprays you want to monitor the climate conditions so your plants won’t get phytotoxic burn. Use this simple equation: Take the current outdoor Fahrenheit temperature then add to this the percentage of humidity, if the total is more than 140 don’t spray.

Example: Temperature of 80 degrees plus humidity of 67 percent equals 147, don’t spray. You also do not want to spray when temps are above 80F.

Horseradish Pesticide

How about some alternative uses for this invasive plant?
Target insects: Aphids, blister beetles, caterpillars, Colorado beetles, whiteflies and soft-bodied insects. Maybe even slugs.
To make: Bring 3 quarts of water to a boil, add 2 cups of cayenne peppers, a 1 inch piece of chopped horseradish root, and 2 cups of packed scented geranium leaves, any kind. Let mixture steep for 1 hour, cool, strain and spray. Note: this can be made without the scented geranium leaves if you don’t have them to spare.

NOTE: Penn State University announced in 1995 that minced horseradish holds promise in decontaminating wastewater and now says it may clean contaminated soils as well! Penn State’s center for Bioremediation and Detoxification reports that minced horseradish combined with hydrogen peroxide can completely remove chlorinated phenols and other contaminants found in industrial wastes. Experiments involve applying the mixture directly to tainted soils or growing horseradish in contaminated soil and rototilling the roots just before applying hydrogen peroxide!

The cleansing properties of horseradish have been known for more than a decade, however treating a purified form has been far too expensive. This method has proved to be just as effective, but at a fraction of the cost!

Lime Spray

Target insects: Cucumber beetles, mites and general purpose.

To make: Mix 1 ounce of hydrated lime, 32 ounces of water and 1 teaspoon of castille soap. Use up to twice a week.
Marigold Spray (use pot marigold: Calendula officinalis)

Target insects: Repels asparagus beetles, tomato hornworms, leaf cutting and chewing insects, like leaf cutting bees on your roses and lilacs.

To make: Mash 1 cup of marigold leaves and flowers. Mix with 1 pint of water. Let soak for 24 hours. Strain through cheesecloth. Dilute further with 1 1/2 quarts of water then add 1/4 teaspoon of castille soap. Spray target areas.

Orange Peel Spray

Oranges and other citrus fruit contain natural ocurring pesticide compounds called limonene and linalool. These compounds can be used as a treatment for soft bodied pests such as aphids, fungus gnats, mealy bugs and as an ant repellant.

To Make: Pour 2 cups of boiling water over peelings of one orange. Let this steep for about 24 hours. Strain the mixture into a glass jar and toss the peels into the compost. Use this liquid as a spray mixing in a few drops of castille soap on target insects or on ants and their nests. Smells nice too!
Pepper and Herb Dusts

Target Insects: General

Peppers and certain herbs contain the compound “capasaicin” which will irritate and repel many insects. Cayenne, chili, dill, paprika, red and black peppers can be used as dusts. Purchase the cheapest you can find, or grow hot peppers and dill in your garden. Dry them and pulverize them in a food processor. Sprinkle on moist plant foliage and the surrounding soil.

Pepper Spray

Target insects: All-purpose

Just like the pepper dusts a spray made from hot peppers will release the capasaicin compound to repel insects.
To make: Mix 1/2 cup of finely chopped or ground hot peppers with 1 pint of water. Let this sit for 24 hours. Use as is for a soil drench application or strain the mixture through cheesecloth until you have a clear liquid. Add a few drops of castille soap and use as a foliar application. Keep away from your eyes and skin when using.

Tomato or Potato Leaf Spray

Target insects: Repels asparagus beetles and flea beetles.This will kill earworms and maggots and acts as an antifeedent for other insects.

FLAME WEEDING - This method can be done with a small propane torch, however for larger areas one of the weed flaming torches is an excellent tool. Weed flaming has long been a practice on organic farms in Europe. The point of flaming is not to charbroil the weeds, but heat them just enough that they wilt. This will heat up the cell sap in turn causing them to expand and rupture. Flaming can be used as a spot treatment in lawns. The grass is going to get singed, however it will bounce right back. You may need to flame tough perennial weeds a couple of times to get rid of them. You will have to practice to get the technique down. Keep some water handy when you are flame weeding!

HOREHOUND LEAVES(Marrubium Vulgare) like many varieties in the mint family, the many tiny flowers attract Braconid and Icheumonid wasps, and Tachinidin and Syrid flies. The larval forms of these insects parasitize or otherwise consume many other insects that we consider pests. A hardy plant; it grows where many others fail to thrive it survives all but the harshest winters, and even then will selfseed effectively. Blooms over a long season, attracting beneficial insects almost as long as you are likely to need them. For best results use horehound directly as a companion plant. (Tomatoes are “encouraged” by growing horehound nearby). This applies to peppers and garden variety members of the potato family.

INSECTICIDAL SOAPS are totally bio-degradable and environmentally safe, however, kills beneficial insects as well. The spray penetrates their bodies and causes cell membranes to burst. Spray only those plants exhibiting symptoms. Works as a smothering agent on a wide variety of insects: aphids, mites, white fly, scale, leafhoppers and others. Safe to use up to the day of harvest. Must be sprayed directly on pests for control. Spray the entire plant thoroughly and repeat applications frequently. Soft water produces a sudsier spray that will reach all surfaces of a plant.

LEBIA GRANDIS (Coleoptera: Carabidae) belongs to a large family of beetles containing approximately 40,000 species. Forty-eight species occur in North America. The life history is known for less than 10 of the North American species. The adults are predators and first instar larvae are parasitoids of chrysomelid beetles.

Appearance: Lebia beetles are usually colourful as adults and range in size from 2.5 to 14 mm in length, depending on the species. Head is usually pale (with a reddish tinge) as are mouthparts, antennae, and thorax. Abdomen is mostly black with metallic blue, purple, or sometimes greenish luster to the elytra (wing covers). Legs are entirely pale with a reddish tinge.

Lebia grandis first instar larvae are pale to tan in colouration, heavily sclerotized (hardened), with well developed appendages, mouthparts and antennae, as is typical for carabid larvae. Body length ranges from 3 to 4 mm and width is about 0.5 mm. The second instar larvae undergo a gradual degeneration of appendages, develop a distended body with reduced sclerotization (a simple form of hypermetamorphosis), eventually bearing little resemblance to the first instars.

Pests Attacked: Lebia grandis is an indigenous natural enemy of the Colorado potato beetle, Leptinotarsa decemlineata. In fields of cultivated potato, adults are specialist predators of all immature stages of L. decemlineata. However, note that in no-choice feeding trials in the laboratory, L. grandis adults devoured the larvae of the asparagus beetle (Crioceris asparagi). {Neither adults nor larvae of C. asparagi are known to feed on potato plants.} L. grandis larvae are specialist ectoparasitoids of L. decemlineata mature larvae and pupae in the soil.

NEEM when sprayed to foliage often deters leaf-feeding insects (caterpillars). It apparently affects the hormones many insects need to develop, killing them as they attempt to molt or emerge from eggs. Its demonstrated safety to humans (used as toothpaste in India), has recently exempted Neem from food-crop restrictions, by the EPA; thereby enabling manufacturers to market its use on edible or ornamental plants.

Was looking around for some natural animals of insects in order to avoid usage of chemicals and pesticides, and came across this article on ladybugs. The article can be read at this location:

Ladybugs, also called lady beetles or ladybird beetles, are a very beneficial group. They are natural enemies of many insects, especially aphids and other sap feeders. A single lady beetle may eat as many as 5,000 aphids in its lifetime.
Although they look dangerous, lady beetle larvae are quite harmless to humans. After feeding on insect prey for several weeks, the larva pupates on a leaf. Adults tend to move on once pests get scarce, while the larvae remain and search for more prey.

The article essetially talks about the ladybugs found in Kentucky such as Coleomegilla maculata, Harmonia axyridis, Hippodamia convergens, Coccinella septempunctata. Another major lesson from this article talks about what can be done to maxmize the beneficial impact of ladybugs:
* Learn to recognize the different stages of these beneficial insects.
* Make insecticide applications only when necessary and use selective insecticides or limited treatments to avoid killing lady beetles.
* Add plants that can provide pollen and nectar for lady beetles. These are important components of the diets of some species.

Question: There are little black gnats flying around my house, and I’ve tracked them back to my houseplants. How can I control these annoying creatures, and are they harming my plants?

Answer: The little black insects are most likely fungus gnats. They breed in overly damp soil, where both the larvae and adults feed on abundant soil fungi. If the population of gnats is very high, the larvae may run out of fungus to eat and turn to your plants’ rootlets for food, but this rarely causes plants distress. To rid yourself of these pests, allow the soil surface to dry out a little between waterings. Most houseplants do better when the soil is not overly wet, so this should not hurt them. To break the breeding cycle and eliminate the pests you can also spread a thin layer of sand or gravel over top of the potting soil — this works well if you have plants that do actually require a constantly wet soil. This layer will dry out very quickly (faster than the potting mix) and the gnats will have no place to breed. Each generation lives only a short while so once the surface moisture stops they should disappear in a few weeks. There are also commercial products containing a special strain of the biological control Bt that help control this pest.