Essential oils and IPM

Here is an article from Maximum Yield

https://www.maximumyield.com/consider-essential-oils-for-your-garden/2/3872

Here is another article this on is by DoTerra.

https://www.doterra.com/US/en/brochures-magazines-doterra-living-spring-2015-doterra-gardeners-journal

Essential oils are condensed versions of their origin. This makes them highly fragrant, and also oil based. The fact that they are oils allows them to stick to the leaves and not wash off like other pesticides and deterrents. This will last for a couple weeks. It is not only oil based, but it is highly fragrant. When pests look for a victim, they do not just randomly choose any plant, they choose it based on specific chemical signals coming from the plant. These signals are called pheromones. These pheromones are like a road map right to your plant, and it can be caused from anything from drought, to nutrient deficiency, to even you harvesting from it! The highly fragrant oils will mask the smell of the pheromones and confuse insects. They will simply go elsewhere because your plants are not an easily recognizable target.

Step 3: Apply Your Oils

In a 1 gallon pump sprayer mix:

20 drops (about 1 teaspoon) of your Essential Oil MIX
5 drops of dish soap (to help mix the water and oil)
1 gallon of water

Spray in EARLY MORNING and BEFORE pests have found your plants. This is a great preventative, and will also make your garden smell great! instead of some of those pesticides and preventatives that smell foul or so potent that your neighbor things your garden is a chemistry experiment gone horribly wrong.

NOTE: It will fade, so re-apply every 2 weeks or as needed. It cannot hurt, so do not feel bad if you must re-apply it every week!

• Tip: Soak Q-tips in the oil solution and rub down posts, cages, and other items in the garden that can handle the concentrate. It will be stronger and last longer!

This is where I got my recipe. I really like the quailty of doterras oils. I never thought about using tea tree. I have tons of it.

http://www.gagegreen.org/forums/viewtopic.php?t=62

Just to be clear this is all just cut and paste. This is not my work.

FULLY ORGANIC INTEGRATED PEST MANAGEMENT

**These oils are simple hydrocarbons that'll break down in the presence of light and oxygen think ( cannabinoids or terpenes ) so they dissipate within 24 hours of use and will not harm smells or flavors.**

***DO NOT USE WITHIN 2 HOURS OF LIGHTS TURNING ON***

When using the Essential Oils for the first time, use it at a dose of maybe 2mL per Gallon. If you up to 10mL the first time, the plants, which are not used to the oils, may get burned. Start low and work your way up.

IPM 1-1: Foliar Spray (PPT BY ANDREW GUALDI)

Container #1
2 Cup of Warm Water
1.5 tsp Potassium Silicate (emulsifier)
1 tsp Aloe Vera Extract 200x

Container #2
1 tbs Mixed Essential Oils (ex. Cinnamon, Clove, Rosemary, Thyme)
1.5 tsp Neem Oil
1.5 tsp Karanja Oil

Container #3
1 Gallon of Warm Water (minus the 2 cups from Container #1)

Directions:
Mix Container #2 into Container #1
Stir, stir, stir
Dum into Container #3
Stir, Shake, Stir
Put into sprayer and use immediately

Use up to 10 ml of mixed essential oils (usually 3 or 4 kinds):
Lavender
Cinnamon
Clove
Thyme
Rosemary (Melts mite eggs)
Citronella
Spearmint
Peppermint
Eucalyptus

How to Emulsify: Use a small glass bottle with a screw cap. Add neem oil, K Sil (potassium silicate), a bit of water at room temperature. Screw the cap on and just shake the bottle for a few mins. If oil droplets are still floating around, add a bit more ksil and repeat the process. When it's a nice even liquid of milky consistency, pour into sprayer, add water add a form of saponin and go to town.
Also you may use Yucca Extract as well as Dr. Bronner’s Soaps.

"The purified terpenoid constituents of essential oils are moderately toxic to mammals (Table 1), but, with few exceptions, the oils themselves or products based on oils are mostly nontoxic to mammals, birds, and fish (Stroh et al., 199, therefore, justifying their placement under “green pesticides”. Owing to their volatility, essential oils have limited persistence under field conditions; therefore, although natural enemies are susceptible via direct contact, predators and parasitoids reinvading a treated crop one or more days after treatment are unlikely to be poisoned by residue contact as often occurs with conventional insecticides.

Other essential oils such as lemon grass (Cimbopogon winteriana), Eulcalyptus globulus, rosemary (Rosemarinus officinalis), vetiver (Vetiveria zizanoides), clove (Eugenia caryophyllus) and thyme (Thymus vulgaris) are known for their pest control properties. While peppermint (Mentha piperita) repels ants, flies, lice and moths; pennyroyal (Mentha pulegium) wards off fleas, ants, lice, mosquitoes, ticks and moths. Spearmint (Mentha spicata) and basil (Ocimum basilicum) are also effective in warding off flies. Similarly, essential oil bearing plants like Artemesia vulgaris, Melaleuca leucadendron, Pelargonium roseum, Lavandula angustifolia, Mentha piperita, and Juniperus virginiana are also effective against various insects and fungal pathogens (Kordali et al., 2005). Studies conducted on the effects of volatile oil constituents of Mentha species are highly effective against Callosobruchus maculatus and Tribolium castanum, the common stored grain pests (Tripathi et al., 2000). Essential oils derived from eucalyptus and lemongrass have also been found effective as animal repellents, antifeedants, insecticides, miticides and antimicrobial products; thus finding use as disinfectants, sanitizers, bacteriostats, microbiocides, fungicides and some have made impact in protecting household belongings. Essential oil from Cinnamomum zeylanicum, Cymbopogon citratus, Lavandula angustifolia syn. L. officinalis, Tanacetum vulgare, Rabdosia melissoides, Acorus calamus, Eugenia caryophyllata, Ocimum spp., Gaultheria procumbens, Cuminum cymium, Bunium persicum, Trachyspermum ammi, Foeniculum vulgare, Abelmoschus moschatus, Cedrus spp. and Piper species are also known for their varied pest control properties.

Citronella (Cymbopogon nardus) essential oil has been used for over fifty years both as an insect repellent and an animal repellent. Combining few drops each of citronella, lemon (Citrus limon), rose (Rosa damascena), lavender and basil essential oils with one litre of distilled water is effective to ward off indoor insect pests. The larvicidal activity of citronella oil has been mainly attributed to its major monoterpenic constituent citronellal (Zaridah et al., 2003)."

Lavender, Lavandula angustifolia – linalyl acetate, linalool, borneol, geraniol, lavandulol, lavandulyl acetate, terpineol, cineol, limonene, ocimene, caryophyllene, aeranyl acetate, pinene

Eucalyptus, Blue Gum, Eucalyptus globulus – cineol, pinene, limonene, cymene, phellendrene, terpinene, aromadendrene, citronellal, camphene, fenchene

Clove bud, Eugenia caryophyllus – eugenol, eugenyl acetate, caryophyllene

Mint, Peppermint, Mentha piperta – menthol, menthone, menthyl acetate, menthofuran, limonene, pulegone, cineol, carvone, jasmone, carvacrol, phellandrene

Rosemary, Rosmarinus officinalis – pinene, camphene, limonene, cineol, borneol, camphor, linalool, terpineol, octanone, bornyl acetate, cuminic, caryophyllene

Eugenol is a component of clove oil. It is a fast acting contact insecticide that is effective on a wide variety of household pests such as cockroaches, ants, dust mites, flies, wasps, spiders, crickets, and fleas. It is also used on some ornamental plant pests such as armyworms, thrips, aphids and mites.
Eugenol has little or no residual activity, although the scent of cloves will linger. Products based on eugenol are considered minimum risk pesticides with very low risk of damage to the environment or user.

Limonene is a naturally occurring chemical which is used in many
food products, soaps and perfumes for its lemon-like flavor and odor.
Limonene also is a registered active ingredient in 15 pesticide products used
as insecticides, insect repellents, and dog and cat repellents.

Pulegone - The essential oils (EOs) extracted from the mint species Mentha pulegium and Mentha spicata, together with their main constituents, pulegone, menthone, and carvone, were tested for insecticidal and genotoxic activities on Drosophila melanogaster. The EOs of both aromatic plants showed strong insecticidal activity, while only the oil of M. spicata exhibited a mutagenic one. Among the constituents studied, the most effective insecticide was found to be pulegone, while the most effective for genotoxic activity was menthone. Data show that both toxic and genotoxic activities of the EOs of the two studied mint plants are not in accordance with those of their main constituents, pulegone, menthone, and carvone. Pulegone is significantly more effective (9 times) as an insecticide, while menthone and carvone are less effective (6 and 2 times, respectively) insecticides when used in their authentic forms, and a mixture of authentic pulegone and menthone, in levels resembling their content in the oil of M. pulegium, showed that the strong toxicity of pulegone is suppressed in the presence of menthone. All the above suggest that synergistic/antagonistic phenomena may be involved that alter the toxicity of the whole EO.

Linalool - Linalool has been shown to be good at killing mites: It's called an acaricide, which is are "pesticides that kill members of the Acari group, which includes ticks and mites" (p. 411 and 420, Bioactive Natural Products). "As a pesticide, Linalool is intended for use indoors to control pests (fleas and ticks) on pets and the spaces they inhabit by affecting the insect’s nervous system. Linalool is also used as an outdoor mosquito inhibitor..." (from the FDA handout), although there is some doubt about its efficacy for mosquitoes.

I could go on about pinene, cineol and acetates, but I'll stop here and supply some scientific evidence displaying the power of plants.

This is truly an important read for anybody interested in making their own cheap, safe and effective insecticides, using readily available plant material.

2.5 Comparative toxicities
Based on the 100% lethal concentration and following the natural composition of the oil indicated byGC/MS (see Table 1), individual constituents were tested at levels equivalent to those found in the LC100 of the oil (20ml litre−1 for beans and 40ml litre−1 for tomatoes) (see Table 2). Individual constituents (α-pinene 98%, β-pinene 99%, 1,8-cineole 99%, p-cymene 99%, α- terpineol 97%, bornyl acetate 97%, borneol 99%, camphor 96%, D-limonene 97% and camphene 95%) were obtained from Sigma-Aldrich (St Louis, MO, USA). In order to identify the contribution of each constituent to the toxicity of the oil, we made a blend of all major constituents as well as blends each lacking one of the ten major constituents (see Fig. 1).We compared the toxicity of the complete and incomplete blends with that of pure rosemary oil. In the next step we made blends of those constituents which contributed to the toxicity of the oil (active constituents) and compared them with those which did not affect the toxicity (inactive constituents)

Once again all copied and pasted

Some you tube videos that may be of some interest






https://youtu.be/8Hz3RcPi-CE
https://youtu.be/33Q0uP4odh4
https://youtu.be/XtmcR009tGI
https://youtu.be/keBCK0oO56Q

Copied from @AkFrost on the what's your IPM thread
I believe it’s Coots ipm spray or MOFO’s from GC. It’s 1tbsp of organic cold pressed neem oil emulsified in 1tsp of agsil and 1/4 tsp of 200x aloe vera powder per gallon of water. I spray at least once a week when the lights are off.

I feel bad for reviving this thread but feels like a good place to ask these questions.

Some background:
Last grow I had mold (grayish looking cotton is best as I could describe it).

I am not sure of the reason.

Conditions;
- RH was around 50%-55% and temps around 27-28C (couldn't get them lower due to summer weather on top of all the heat from lights etc.)

I would guess it was due to the main cola being huge (It was around 12cm (4.5 inches) in diameter, if not wider). I almost cried when I had thrown that away.

Now the current grow is like 4 weeks away I think. By looking at my compact rather small, but packed flowers (looks sort of packed already), I would say there is going to be some huge colas again.

Sadly that worries me more than it makes me happy as I'm afraid that my flowers will get attacked by some mold/bud rot :S

My thought and question:
Do you think I can combat this sh*t by diffusing some organic oils like "tea tree", "cloves", "eucalyptus"? (that's all i have atm., ready to buy more, just name it).

I have a tiny diffusor, that holds approx. 50ml water, so I would do a drop of each of those 3 oils (that's 3 drops in total) and diffuse twice a day (lil' diffuser takes runs for like 1h before it fully "evaporate" 50ml). I'm not diffusing in an actual tent, but in the same room where the tent is, to be more accurate diffusor is placed approx. "0.5 meters" (1.5 feet) away from the tent or better said intake "hole" =)

Now, are those oils gonna do it or I need something else?

What's your experience guys?

This photo is of flowers life pre-bloom in a 12 ounce cup; These flowers are to attract bee's to outdoor gardens . They mention that we have shortage of Bees and we should plant Bee attractors to rebuild better population of Bee's . I am growing these flowers under a single T5 3 foot long light bulb ; 40 Watt I am guessing .



These Bee Attractor Plants ( in photo ) are easier to grow than Wildflower Seeds . Bee Attractor Seeds are large and Wildflower Seeds are very small .With Wildflowers I have to keep the soil extremely light and very fluffy until they are very developed , due to the small initial tap root small size and initial weak power of the roots to penetrate the soil . I had to make custom pots from porch screen so that I could periodically squeeze the grow medium one half of the way down , which forces the grow medium upwards ; thus reducing the soil medium density and returning the light and fluffiness of the grow medium back to the original state of low density grow medium . The Bee attractors in the picture are larger seeds then the Wildflower and thus the Bee Attractors are more powerful in the tap root , and less sensitive and can grow in medium that is not as fluffy . Apparently , growing the Wildflowers are more educational to grow , because you have to keep the root zone extremely fluffy or they start out good but the roots stop explanding due to the soil getting more dense as time goes on , and teaches me that all seeds probably grow in the root zone if one devises a method of keeping the grow medium in the root zone very light and fluffy . I am beginning to see a problem for me if growing in big pot , how to keep the root zone grow medium light and fluffy . I guess if you grow cannabis , I would start in small pot and once the roots get big and strong , I can transplant into bigger pot and hope the transplanted plant has stronger roots and can thrive in a grow medium that has a higher weight per unit volume density . Keeping the grow medium loose and fluffy at all times allows me to reduce my perlite content . I am having to use less perlite because if I use too much perlite that nutrient levels become to little to sustain plant life very long .

I quit growing in any mixure of coco coir and using 80 percent prefertilized coco coir combined with 20 percent perlite . In order to use a higher percent of perlite , I would have to creat liquid nutrients combined with water to match what hydroponic gardners use and I would probably have to feed my plants on the same regularity of feeding nutrients that hydroponic gardeners schedule and nutrient composition depending on how old the plant is in veg or flowering stages . Therefore , because I am not educated enough to switch to hydroponics or aeroponics , I am therefore limited in how much perlite I can use in my grow medium . I am not measuring scientifically how much perlite I am using in my grow medium . I make a batch , slowly adding perlite at a time , shake it , and observe how many pieces of perlite there are on the surface of the grow medium . Then I add a little bit more and shake it up the batch . I repeat the process until it looks like what is working in my other pots that are succeding . It probably runs between 15 percent and 20 percent . The grow medium is a mixture of perlite and prefertilized coco coir . The only nutrients I add through foliar is Nitrogen ( Urea ) , Calcium Nitrate and Two Amino Acids that has been claimed by botanists open calcium channels in the roots to fight powdery mildew and perhaps mold or fungus that look brown on the edges of leaves .

Halman9000

Im growing organically and need some advice to get rid of spider mites. Wanted to kick my plants into bloombut i want to make sure the mites are gone. Ive used lemon grass and peppermint oils. Just want to make sure they are completly gone for good