Pakistan Gardening Forum

Cucumber Issues

Gurus please help me.. my plants are in big trouble..








Okra Issues






little bit same like Cucumber but its leaves have some Very Tiny Black Bugs with few white tiny egg like structure at their back..

plzz plzzz help me.. Gurus..

The plants are perfectly fine, no problem at all. Pluck the lower damaged leaves and use a general purpose pesticide for the black bugs.

Thanks alot Sir...

is it safe to use general purpose pesticide on edible plants. dont they leave some harmful residue on them. i read somewhere that a home made pesticide made out of garlic, chilli and saop works well with all kinds of plants. is it true.

i didnt use any sort of pesticides on my veggies.. i m growing so many and also harvest some in very good condition without using any pesticides.. well its seems to be non harmful (as ingredients says)

Madiha Humbal wrote:is it safe to use general purpose pesticide on edible plants. dont they leave some harmful residue on them. i read somewhere that a home made pesticide made out of garlic, chilli and saop works well with all kinds of plants. is it true.

Soap solution will work if the pest invasion has just started....If the plant is heavily infested by bugs, even soap solution wont work, you will have to use a pesticide.
If you have any fears of poisoning of veggies from the chemicals you can wash the plants with clean water after the pests have died with chemical spray.

Tahir Khan wrote:

Madiha Humbal wrote:is it safe to use general purpose pesticide on edible plants. dont they leave some harmful residue on them. i read somewhere that a home made pesticide made out of garlic, chilli and saop works well with all kinds of plants. is it true.

Soap solution will work if the pest invasion has just started....If the plant is heavily infested by bugs, even soap solution wont work, you will have to use a pesticide.
If you have any fears of poisoning of veggies from the chemicals you can wash the plants with clean water after the pests have died with chemical spray.

Please clarify.Don't the leaves & the fruit absorb enough quantity of chemical pesticide to be a health hazard in that timeframe? How quickly should the washing be done & after how long can the veggie be consumed?

Tahir Sb, waiting for your response, since I also have a similar problem at hand.

munir wrote:

Tahir Khan wrote:

Madiha Humbal wrote:is it safe to use general purpose pesticide on edible plants. dont they leave some harmful residue on them. i read somewhere that a home made pesticide made out of garlic, chilli and saop works well with all kinds of plants. is it true.

Soap solution will work if the pest invasion has just started....If the plant is heavily infested by bugs, even soap solution wont work, you will have to use a pesticide.
If you have any fears of poisoning of veggies from the chemicals you can wash the plants with clean water after the pests have died with chemical spray.

Please clarify.Don't the leaves & the fruit absorb enough quantity of chemical pesticide to be a health hazard in that timeframe? How quickly should the washing be done & after how long can the veggie be consumed?

If you wash it off immediately.. like after 10-15 min...There is a little chance of chemical absorption...even if one is still concerned then wait about 15 days to harvest the veggies so if there is any chemical residue there, it is washed by rains or daily watering.

These products are safe to use on edible plants and will do no harm to you, your children, the soil or your plants, they are cheap too

Organic sprays, and dusts Preparation

Wormwood extract
Made by boiling 100 grams of dried wormwood in 1 liter of water for 20 minutes. Leave for a day. Sift and add soft soap. Thin 1 at 4 before spraying
Chive extract
Made by putting fresh leaves 2-3 days in water, after which it is sifted and soft soap is added. Thin 1 at 4 before spraying.
Summer tansy dust
Made by grinding dried herb, and spreading on the ground at density of 1 gram per m². Repels root fly
Stinging nettle extract
Made by boiling a bucket of stinging nettles for 20-30 minutes in water, sifting it and leaving it to stand for a day. Soft soap is added at a density of 1/100 and the mixture is thinned 1 at 4 before spraying (against aphids, caterpillars) Sometimes brown sugar, brown soap and milk is also added to strengthen the mixture.
Daffodil extract
Made by boiling 30 grams of daffodils for 20 minutes in 1liter of water. Leave to stand for a day, add 1/100 brown soap and dilute 1 at 4 before spraying (against moulds)
Garlic extract
Made by soaking mushed garlic in water, adding soft soap at density of 1/100 (against insects)
Rhubarb extract
Made by boiling 1 kg of leaves in 2 liters of water for 20 mins, adding 1/100 soft soap, sifting it and spraying it (against aphids)
Onion extract
Made by leaving the leaves for a few days in water, adding 1/100 soft soap, sifting and spraying it (against aphids and caterpillars)
Sambucus extract
Made by boiling 500 grams of leaves for 30 minutes in 1 liter of water, sifting and thinning it (against aphids and caterpillars)
Tobacco extract
Soak old cigar butts, cigarette butts or other tobacco in water, strain, add a little dish soap and spray for aphids, whiteflies and other insects. The active ingredient is nicotine.

Other organic sprays and dusts - mineral dusts are used; a few are:

Sulfur (organic fungicide, pesticide, and acaricide)
Bio-S (sulfur mixture)
Pilzvorsoge
Spruzit
Carbolineum
Basalt dusting powder
Gene silencing pesticide
Steam (Thermal pest control)

Please only use liquid soap and dont use washing up liquid as it contains many chemicals that are harmful to plants

ordinary fly or mosquito killer will work also