Archive for January, 2010

Just before Christmas, I got a telephone call from a woman looking to purchase diatomaceous earth. She claimed her indoor plants were affected by some kind of small insect and she wanted to apply the product to the base of her plants in order to get rid of the problem and prevent total contamination.

For some reason, during the telephone conversation, she mentioned she had a sniffing dog. I informed her that diatomaceous earth could be dangerous for her dog, seeing that it could seriously irritate its respiratory tracts. At first the woman seemed a bit discouraged because she really wanted to use diatomaceous earth. However, I took a few minutes to explain the advantages of insecticidal soap to her – the fact that it was user and environment friendly, harmless for pets and humans, not to mention efficient. I also reminded her that repeat applications were necessary for best results and that, once her pest problem solved, she should regularly apply the soap as a preventative measure.

Well, she ended up ordering a couple of bottles and actually called me back to let me know how pleased she was with the outcome and with her decision to protect her dog from harmful irritants.

To learn more about the insecticidal soap available on my website, simply click here.

Now that the holidays are over and you are rearranging your house a little after getting rid of all the holiday ornaments, Christmas tree, and relatives, it’s a good idea to tend to your indoor plants.

I have a really close friend who is a biologist.  When he comes for a visit, he usually examines my house plants. When I say “examine”, I mean he turns the leaves over and inspects them for tiny little moving spider mites, which upon inspection with a magnifying glass, have the appearance of spiders. They can be red, yellow, black or green in colour.

He warns me that, though minuscule, they can multiply rapidly and cause tremendous damage. Once established, spider mite colonies will produce fine webbing between leaves and stems, and leaves will start to turn yellowish-grey and drop off.

Spider mites congregate in colonies on the underside of leaves. They feed by piercing the cells of plants to suck out their sap. Affected plants will have discolored leaves—usually grey or rusty—with telltale speckling. Leaves will eventually dry out and fall off. The needles of affected conifers will also dry out and fall off. Certain species of spider mite produce a webbing that can be seen around the dying leaves.

My buddy suggests I use a dilute soap solution to get rid of them. Bioprotec sop, a ready-to-use insecticidal soap made with fatty acid salts of potassium, is particularly effective for controlling spider mites. Because it does not contain alcohol, Bioprotec sop minimizes leaf burning. You need to reapply the product several times to prevent the reestablishment of colonies, since single treatments will miss a few eggs from which new bugs will emerge.

I think I’ll make it a regular habit to check my indoor plants more frequently during the winter months as some pests such as spider mites thrive in dry conditions. My friend also reminds me to be sure to check any newly purchased houseplants as they often arrive from the greenhouse with these unwelcome passengers.

Now that the holidays are (almost) over, if you had a cut or live Christmas tree, the time has come to get it OUT of your living room.

I made a few suggestions in December about what to do if you bought a LIVE tree.

If you have a CUT tree to get rid of, make sure you dispose of it so it gets recycled. Check your local community paper to find out if and when the pick up takes place. If there is no such service in your area, find out where you can bring your cut tree. Cut trees can be transformed into mulch, useful for a bunch of things such as landscaping. Recycled cut trees are also used to provide “homes” for fish and other aquatic life near shorelines, to protect sand dunes from erosion or even to decorate gardens.

For more Christmas tree disposal ideas, consider the following links:

http://www.christmastree.org/recycle.cfm

http://www.canadianchristmastrees.ca/recycling.html

http://www.americanforests.org/news/display.php?id=125

http://www.inhabitat.com/2007/12/24/a-greener-christmas-tree/