If you want stuff dead, Sevin does the job. It's also a suspected carcinogen and is one of the more toxic pesticides to earthworms and is kind of a nuclear solution to all forms of insects and likely other life forms as well.

Does it *work* Yes. Would I recommend it for a home garden? No. There are almost certainly less toxic options for whatever the issue is.

If you want bugs and worms on your food then don't buy it. There are other things you can use but are hard to find in most stores. If it's that dangerous, then half or more gardeners would be dead now.

Well, why don't we find out what the pest problem is first and then we can all reason together whether there is a less toxic option that is easily available and works well.

One of the most serious consequences of using such a hazardous, broad spectrum pesticide is the sudden explosion of pest insects in the garden in the days and weeks following the application. This is due to the killing of the many species of beneficial critters that abound. There are active predators, parasites, and parasitoids that are keeping pests under control....under our very noses.

This is a known and recognized phenomenon across the broad spectrum of horticulture, landscaping, arboriculture, commercial agriculture, and home gardening.

Observant gardeners (and professionals, too) recognize this and will avoid the use of such chemicals. Literally, once you buy into the uninformed (to be nice) opinion that such chemicals will help control pests, you will be forever locked into using them....more and more and more.

We would be most happy to help you come up with some safe and smart solutions for your pest problems. What have you been observing?

I'm sorry--is this the organic gardening forum--LOL--just kidding, all!

I am about 99% organic, using pesticides only on my vulnerable plants (squash, cukes, and melons), that have died on me every year before this one. Light, judicious, label-reading use will not kill you or all the beneficials in your garden. I am using the liquid (nonconcentrated) product on the stems only of these plants to prevent borer loss, applied weekly to the stems only. I have read that applying this in the evening, and NOT near blossoms, is the way to avoid harming pollinators, so that's exactly what I do.

I have tried covering, wrapping, etc., and nothing saved any of these plants from borers--they got them all. I thought just squash fell victims to the SVB, but the little buggers got all of the melons and cukes, too--3 years in a row.

Let's not be judgmental about the PROPER use of pesticides here, people. I have decided that we, NOT the borers, are going to eat squash, melons, and cukes this year.

I'm sorry--is this the organic gardening forum--LOL--just kidding, all!

No, it most certainly is not the organic gardening forum. However IPM is a very sensible approach to growing anything and it widely used by organic and non organic growers alike.

One of the principles of IPM is to know the enemy, understand the control options that actually work and begin with the least toxic solution, moving to more toxic solutions only if the less toxic options don't work or aren't practical for some reason.

It's not 'organic', but more about learning to work with nature rather than view nature as the enemy and constantly fight it.

In your case I suspect you understand and practice IPM principles because you are using a broad spectrum pesticide, but have tried less toxic measures and found they didn't work out for you. Even so, you are using it in the most targeted, limited manner you find effective.

That's a *smart*, educated approach.

In other words please don't understand me or anyone else to be a religious organic type who is here to preach 'organic good, synthetic bad' LOL.

I think it's fair to point out that pesticides like Sevin can be very effective, but can also easily backfire on the user and create problems all their own.

As a rule of thumb, I will not use synthetic pesticides for any reason, and use organic controls only as needed.

For example, my bush beans have holes in the leaves where the beetles have been chewing. There's not many, and I see no signs of damage to the beans I'm harvesting, so I'll leave them be for a while. I have not entered my garden into a beauty contest, so I'm not worried about looks.

What I have learned in my second year of being at this is to keep your garden as natural as possible. Life begets life. The changes I have seen in the backyard are amazing. My 5 year old and I check the garden daily, and watching nature's version of biological warfare is interesting to him, and he learns something. Last year as I was beginning to learn about the art of gardening, we would find a bug, capture him, and go find out what it was. He can now differentiate between good bugs and bad bugs.

Some gardeners swear by certain ways of doing things. I'm one of them. In the ongoing battle to turn rock hard clay into fertile soil, I've found something almost spiritual. After continous double digging, cover cropping, composting, etc., that clay is turning into something that will support the life needed to help produce a food supply. Eight years prior I never saw an earthworm in the soil on my land. They are everywhere now it seems. The last census I did had about 7 worms per cubic foot. I am not going to sterilize my soil by using man made fertilizer or chemicals in my garden.

By no means am I an organic gardener by USDA definition, but I try to grow as naturally as possible. So far, I've not had to spray this year, which is way unusual here in N. Mississippi. I guess companion planting and Good Bug Blend has been working, or I've been lucky.

So, do you have a pest problem cropping up, or are you thinking preventative maintenance?

For others, synthetic inputs is their way of doing things.

I was originally told to use Liquid 7 by my nursery until I told them it was for vegetables. They gave me Green Light - Many purpose dust. I used this on my tomatoes and peppers. I really wanted to grow organically but I had so many bugs it left me with not much choice. Is this toxic? Anyone used it before?

Green Light is a brand name rather than a specific product. What pests were you dealing with? Impossible to make a recommendation without knowing the enemy. Some products work on some things and not others.

It is Green Light - Many Purpose Dust^ I had some type of soil gnat and this was recommended by the nursery. It kills pretty much anything according to it's labels but it is a pesticide. The lady said it's safe to sprinkle directly onto the plant even the fruit itself.

Active ingredient is deltamethrin, a synthetic pyrethroid. Broad spectrum. To be clear, I am not condemning it's use.

Just letting you know it's a broad spectrum insecticide that kills the good with the bad so care should be used.

Most 'soil gnats' turn out to be fungus gnats and they are present due to continually wet, decaying organic matter. They seek it out to lay eggs in.

I have used Sevin better known as carbaryl on my vegetable farm for over thirty years. Used as directed its very safe and effective. We don't use it as much today as in the past since newer even safer pesticides have replaced it. But its still a good last resort pesticide for garden pests. Please keep in mind that if you apply it to a vegetable you should not pick or eat the vegetable for 7 days to allow the residue to decompose... Bob.

If it's that dangerous, then half or more gardeners would be dead now.

Carcinogens A) don't strike everyone, and B) can take decades before they kill. And the cancer won't have the word "Sevin" scrawled across its tumors. That doesn't make it not the cause.

Laboratory testing says that Sevin is a likely carcinogen. Isn't that enough to know right there? There's much safer stuff out there..

I have seen the times that a swarm of corn root worm beetles [hundreds/thousands] hatched out [perhaps in the adjacent corn field] and started eating up corn tassels, silks, and the leaves of a later planting of sweet corn or perhaps melons....in moments of time. I have wondered what some would do besides panic.

I have wondered what some would do besides panic.

Stop planting corn in that field for a year so the larvae starve to death the following year and can't become adults.

Sevin for food?

Only if you follow proper pre-harvest interval period between picking the fruit.

There...that was easy.

justaguy,

The field isn't planted in corn every year. There are other fields in corn around here in any given year and these buggers have wings.

I don't own the field either...any other suggestions?

any other suggestions?

Standard IPM approach: Identify the problem (done). Look up controls for the problem, from as diverse sources of information as you can find. Identify which have the lowest potential for harming yourself, your plants, and your beneficials. Apply the lowest harm pesticide on your list. Observe the results. If the problem is not solved, continue up your list until the problem is solved.

The lowest harm counters for rootworms are yellow sticky traps and garlic repellents; I'd also give them the lowest chance of success. I'd give them a small patch and compare them to a pesticide application (preferably not Sevin, but if you want to use it as a baseline, go ahead). Predator introductions can work, but they're hit or miss. They're also worth a try to see how well they perform.

"Laboratory testing says that Sevin is a likely carcinogen. Isn't that enough to know right there? There's much safer stuff out there.."

I'm suspicious of using any label reading that recommends wearing protective equipment during mixing or application that further requires a time period before harvest.

Wayne. Rootworm beetles are the scourge of living in corn country. I found out the hard way when I planted 14 acres of sweetcorn only to loose half to beetles before I discovered how destructive they can be. Pyrethum will control the beetles just apply it when pollen sheds in the evening when the bees are gone for the day.. Bob.

Pyrethrin is much lower impact than Sevin. It's not completely nontoxic to mammals, but it's much better. It also will leave some predator species alone, and won't kill your earthworms.

One thing I have noticed about honeybees around here is that they don't leave until dark....flashlight work necessary.

Hmmmm, I bought some during the winter when it was on sale because of recomendations from this board!
I planned on using it on squash plants ( I must have the squash borers, but can't find any evidence), but so far so good without using it. I planted my squash in a new bed and have a couple of zuks that will be ready in a couple of days.
Having gone so long without any squash, I've forgotten how to ID the male VS female flowers! Any help out there?

The female flowers have a minature fruit behind the blossom while the male flowers do not. On vine crops the female blossoms are farther out on the vine while the male blossoms are closer to the beginning of the vine.

Thank you, I can see it now. NT