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pests Natural pesticide- Canola oil of all things

Jeff H

Jeff H

So, I know many of you are organic gardeners and enjoy it. I am not one of them. But if you are, I found a product for you. 
 
I have some mites that I am treating and I also have roses with a bad case of powdery mildew. I needed some more sprays sooooooooo, Off I go to Lowes I go.
 
I find this great Bayer product that says on the label that it kills mites, insects and powdery mildew. Sounds like exactly what I wanted. I didn't really have any beneficial insects around and I wasn't really worried about killing some ants and flies, but the mites have to go, and the roses look like shit with all their leaves falling apart from the mildew. 
 
Reading the label it says that it is 96% canola oil and it is an organic treatment. Who knew. The same oil  fried the black bean cakes and chicken in earlier is an insecticide. A little looking on Google and it seems that some people are making noise about it but it doesn't seem to be a well known fact. 
 
If this really takes care of all of my issues I'll be a happy camper. 
 
 
I wonder how they get the oil to mix with water so it can be sprayed. The spray was white and didn't separate. 
 
I also wonder why this bottle was $15.00 if it is nothing more than a pint of Canola oil....Live and learn. 
 
Chances are, the reason it's $15 is because someone slapped the word insecticide on it
 
There are several organic pesticides that are mixed with canola oil. The oil acts as a sticking agent and helps keep the active ingredient on the plant surface. I know pyrethrins I use are mixed with canola oil and you have to be careful to not mix the spray too strong because it can be photo toxic. Last year I found that my butch t's were really sensitive to it and they completely defoliated. It looked like they were spayed with agent orange.
 
ya, it is not the canola oil, that just helps bind the chemical agent to stick to the plant aa you spray. just like homemade insecticide that uses dishsoap.
 
thanks for sharing.
 
I have found that ants are getting on some of my plants..what is a good organic ant killer or deterrent?
I have bhuts, and scorpions...
Someone above mentioned he canola hurt their marugas....i do not want to do this..lol
thanks for any advice.
 
Borax, water, sugar.
Cheap as dirt.
Just put it in an old jar lid and place it in their path.
Don't put it where a pet or kid may get to it, or birds. Don't allow it to escape into your garden.
Takes a couple days, but they will carry it into the nest and kill them off.
 
Next you need to check and see if the ants were farming aphids on your plants.
 
That's a whole other problem.
 
The canola oil won't harm your plants as long as you follow the directions for mixing the insecticide. I mixed too strongly and paid for it. Those plants bounced back in a few weeks and continued to pump out pods, so its not as severe as I might have made it sound.
 
Horticultural oil can be any light weight oil, like canola oil.  On it's own it works by suffocating bugs and interfering with the development of eggs, they're also commonly added as a surfactant to increase the coverage/effectiveness.  You'll need to use a wetting agent to get it to mix with water, a drop or two any phosphate free dish soap will work. 
 
I've never heard of canola oil having anti-fungal properties, that's definitely worth looking more into.
 
I prefer using neem oil as it's much more effective, although a lot more expensive for a high quality cold pressed highly active oil.  The problem with any horticultural oil is that it clogs the stomata, reducing transpiration.  So if used often, it will have a slight negative effect unless you spray it off a day or two later.  I'd rather pay more to mitigate that by using the most effective oil and using it less often.
 
Gotrox said:
Borax, water, sugar.
Cheap as dirt.
Just put it in an old jar lid and place it in their path.
Don't put it where a pet or kid may get to it, or birds. Don't allow it to escape into your garden.
Takes a couple days, but they will carry it into the nest and kill them off.
 
Next you need to check and see if the ants were farming aphids on your plants.
 
That's a whole other problem.
Click to expand...
UMM...FARMING APHIDS????!!!!
holy cow..sooo I am guessing I am about to learn a little more about gardening for the first time?... 
I am going to first of all see what an aphid looks like...
Whew..ok I am good on the aphids...I think.
I cant see any with my naked eye...or the one with clothes on.
And the ants are gone too, but its early yet...I will keep an eye on them.
 
Yup.
They herd them like minature sheep for the sticky sweet juice they produce as they suck the life out of your peppers.
 
And on the Original topic----Bonide pyretherin concentrate is cheap and the only thing that worked 100% of the time.
 
Be careful. Mixed up a batch of Canola Oil, Soap and Water for some mites on a tomato plant. Killed all the mites and every leaf on that plant. Plant still has all it's tomatoes on it and seems to have only been humiliated by this experience. New leaves have already started coming back. But I must admit in the days I used the "Bad Stuff" that never happened. 
 
SL3 said:
Be careful. Mixed up a batch of Canola Oil, Soap and Water for some mites on a tomato plant. Killed all the mites and every leaf on that plant. Plant still has all it's tomatoes on it and seems to have only been humiliated by this experience. New leaves have already started coming back. But I must admit in the days I used the "Bad Stuff" that never happened. 
Click to expand...
You should always spray a small portion of a plant to test the strength before spraying the whole plant, regardless if it's an organic or chem pesticide.
 
SL3 said:
Be careful. Mixed up a batch of Canola Oil, Soap and Water for some mites on a tomato plant. Killed all the mites and every leaf on that plant. Plant still has all it's tomatoes on it and seems to have only been humiliated by this experience. New leaves have already started coming back. But I must admit in the days I used the "Bad Stuff" that never happened. 
Click to expand...
 
I noticed from the plants I sprayed that they have an oily sheen on the leaves once the oil dried. I sprayed at dusk so the leaves had plenty of time to dry before the sun hit them. I wouldn't be surprised at all to hear that the sun burnt the heck out of your plant if you sprayed during the day. What time did you and theghostpepperstore spray your plants?
Monkey Hunter said:
 
 
I've never heard of canola oil having anti-fungal properties, that's definitely worth looking more into.
 
 
Click to expand...
 
Well, the roses show no signs of having any new powdery mildew, and actually look pretty healthy but it has only been a few days since I sprayed.
 
Jeff H said:
 
 What time did you and theghostpepperstore spray your plants?

 
Click to expand...
 
I honestly do not remember, typically I spray at dusk, but it is possible that I sprayed during the day. The really odd thing was that only Butch T's were affected, all the bhuts got the same treatment and had no problems.
 
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