Yesterday I discovered I have fungus gnats, which was somewhat of a bummer. I read up on them and what to do, and then proceeded to play video games while hitting my electronic cigarette all night. My ecig is very powerful and produces huge clouds of vapor, which generally float over to where my plants are and hover. This morning I didn't see any of the gnats... Did the vapor kill them? If so, awesome. I read on a site about using making a liquid tobacco insecticide that could be used to kill the larvae that are in my soil. What do y'all think?
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pests Nicotine as pesticide?
- Thread starter Big D
- Start date
I don't think it killed them. I'm pretty sure nicotinoids need to be eaten by insects in order to be ingested in high enough doses to be lethal. It probably pissed them off and made them move away from your plants, though.
Whenever I go backpacking in Wisconsin or the UP in spring/summer, I bring a pack of smokes with me for the same reason. Blackflies, gnats and mosquitos HATE smoke, especially tobacco smoke. They work better than DEET, that's for sure. It's so nice to puff on a cig get a break from the biting bastiges for a while by creating a cloudy bug-free zone around my head. I'm sure your plants would do the same, if they had lungs!
Whenever I go backpacking in Wisconsin or the UP in spring/summer, I bring a pack of smokes with me for the same reason. Blackflies, gnats and mosquitos HATE smoke, especially tobacco smoke. They work better than DEET, that's for sure. It's so nice to puff on a cig get a break from the biting bastiges for a while by creating a cloudy bug-free zone around my head. I'm sure your plants would do the same, if they had lungs!
What Buzz says.
I read nearly all tobacco contains the TMV.
However in hopes of combatting an almost-out-of-control aphid attack on this season's seedlings, I've experimented with making my own "death juice" consisting of "tobacco tea" made from 2 cigarettes, a tblspoon garlic powder, tblsp Moruga powder, cup of ethyl alcohol, cup of water. Stir, and filter through a funnel with a paper coffeefilter.
Upside : It does actually kill the aphids
Downside : It reeks like a mofo, and messes up the seedlings as well as the bugs. The leaves become crunchy and get big white spots. Many casualties.
Ever since I've resorted to a commercial "resilient bug/pest spray" that went totally genocide on aphids, fungus gnats and whitefly alike.
The seedlings have since recovered, and are doing fine.
I read nearly all tobacco contains the TMV.
However in hopes of combatting an almost-out-of-control aphid attack on this season's seedlings, I've experimented with making my own "death juice" consisting of "tobacco tea" made from 2 cigarettes, a tblspoon garlic powder, tblsp Moruga powder, cup of ethyl alcohol, cup of water. Stir, and filter through a funnel with a paper coffeefilter.
Upside : It does actually kill the aphids
Downside : It reeks like a mofo, and messes up the seedlings as well as the bugs. The leaves become crunchy and get big white spots. Many casualties.
Ever since I've resorted to a commercial "resilient bug/pest spray" that went totally genocide on aphids, fungus gnats and whitefly alike.
The seedlings have since recovered, and are doing fine.
Nicotine can work very well as a pesticide. There are several RTU sprays you can get from Nursery/ garden centers. Nicotine is water soluble. So if you were to get say an Organic Tobacco Blend and soak 2-2.5 grams in about 100ml of warm water over night you could make your own concentrate to mix and spray. Maybe add a drop or two of a non-antibacterial dish soap per Liter of water when mixing the spray bottle.
Be Careful though....... The Nightshade family can all suffer from Tobacco Mosaic Virus. Nightshades include Tomato, Bell Pepper, Chili Peppers, Egg Plant and others.
DLL
Be Careful though....... The Nightshade family can all suffer from Tobacco Mosaic Virus. Nightshades include Tomato, Bell Pepper, Chili Peppers, Egg Plant and others.
DLL
I used a tobacco tea to kill some root eating symphilids one time as a root drench... it seemed to work. However, it was a cactus that I applied it to... not a solanaceae.
Cool. How about if I use ecig juice? I have some that ranges from 6 mg/mL to 24 mg/mL. I might try to mix it with water and use that. It contains propylene glycol, vegetable glycerin, and some flavorings. I don't figure that would hurt the plants, and I'm guessing it should work to kill the larvae that are munching on my roots right now?
