Backyard Aquaponics
A place to discuss aquaponics

We should probably have a sticky of fish (as well as human and plant) safe plant remedies.
And any precautions to use when using such remedies.

fish safe list Everything should only be used in moderations, too much run off of anything into the system can be bad.

Plain water spray against Aphids
Hand pick off bugs and feed them to your fish
Yellow sticky cards for whiteflys
Fine mesh netting or floating row cover fabric to keep all bugs off until time for pollination.
Stuff like Dippel dust or Thuricide for use on plants against chewing caterpillars.
Mosquito dunks against mosquitoes -if you have a tank without fish for a time period
Milk spray (used in moderation) for powdery mildew.
Iron Sulfate foliar spray on plants against Iron deficiency in systems where the pH is too high for effective iron uptake by plants.
Seasol (I've only heard this never used it myself) plant spray against trace nutrient deficiencies.
Banana in the grow bed against potassium deficiency (should probably remove or wash peal well as it could be covered in pesticide.) (does anyone know if citrus would work for this as they are generally good sources of potassium too.)

Some things I'm curious about
Does anyone know if the following things are safe or bad for fish?
?neem oil? Very good Organic pesticide but I'm cautious about using anything I have not heard is expressly safe for fish.
?Garlic concoctions?
?Mint? I know there are sprays out there with the active ingredient of mint, what do fish thing of mint oil?
?Sesame oil? the active ingredient in Organocide primary ingredient is edible fish oil.
?Pepper spray? People often make home made insecticides that include hot pepper in the mix, do fish like things spicy or will they get all teary eyed over the use of such a thing?
Most of the handy organic methods involve oil which is likely not so good for heavy use around an Aquaponics system as you then wind up with an oil slick on everything which might not be good for the fish or bacteria.
????
?Has anyone experience with the newer fermented organic insecticide? If so, please tell about it. Is there any chance that it would be appropriate for use around fish or is it nasty stuff?
????


Warning, anyone who might be tempted to try any sort of soap products as insecticide around your AP system. Stop!!!!! Soap in general is a suficant, that is how it works to kill most of the insect pests, the ones that breath through their skin, will die if hit with a soap spray. The soap is also meant to help the spray spread and stick to the leaves of the plants. The reason this is bad, is that it will kill your fish if it gets to their gills It is also likely not so good for the bacteria in your grow beds. Don't use home made insect spray recipes that call for dish soap or dish detergent or any other types of soap. Organic does not necessarily mean safe for your fish so Organic insecticidal soap is not safe to use around your AP system.

I hope many others share their tips and tricks along these lines so we can keep our plants healty and our fish safe (at least till we eat them.)

[flash=]DO NOT[/flash] use Derris Dust on plants in AP.

The active ingredient is Rotenone which is fatal to fish.

spraying with plain water only spreads the insects i've found.
an 80% solution of seasol applied directly to aphids will kill them, not practical on a large scale though.
dipel will only last until it rains.

what AP is really lacking is effective pest control, all the orangic means lack the punch required to control a pest problem (i mean mroe than just a bug or 2)

2 i've had success with is rhubarb spray and chive spray in the dirt gardan. i'm lacking sufficent amounts to test on fish right now, and i'd like to do more research on it in recirculated systems before i put it into anything i might eat, but they have proven just as effective as commercial sprays so it holds great promise.
the rhubarb nails all kinds of catapillars and the chives take care of aphids.

I've had good results with spraying off aphids. Only problem is, it needs to be repeated regularly, especially if ants are actively farming the aphids and therefore collecting and returning the aphids to the plants.

Anyone know any fish safe ant repellent?

my problem with just spraying them off is it requires far too much search and destroy time for a system the size of the one i'm building.

I use Rubarb spray, the pick/squish method and for the big ones the pick and toss in the pond method. The ever effective companion planting, or good bug against bad bug would be the best I think.
Nothing added.

I need to figure out how to keep ants away since they seem to protect the aphids.

i've been thinking about the ant problem as well.
put the feet of your GB's in a water trap, as long as there isn't any other path into the bed it will keep them out.

Ants, someone here a year or so back I think said to use, yeast and honey, mix the two and the ants garb some taking it back to the nest. May take a while but spose to get rid of the ants. I tried it when suggested on an outside problem can not remember the outcome. The ants loved it though. That I do remember.

Ant-rid uses Boracic acid and honey, only works on certain ants as others avoid it. Never heard of the honey and yeast John have you got any links?
Lethicin was suggested as a safe surfactant in one of the earlier posts though I am unsure if it was tried.

No no links Sleepe, just something I recalled. Thought I got it here somewheres.

No worries John will check it out.
Have made my own antrid with borax, brown sugar hot water and a small amount of honey. As its the boron that kills them I don't use it near the pond, usually in an upturned beer bottle cap on a trail.
Dosn't work on meat ants though

Mm that was easy http://www.ehso.com/ehshome/ants.php

Can one of our US members confirm that grits are cornflour?

I tried growing rhubarb, partly for the bug repellant (and I love rhubarb) but thrips ate and killed it

<southern> Grits are definitely corn flour pieces. Sorta like oatmeal, but much smaller grain size. </southern>