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pyrethrin ok to spray on flowering plants?

Grandad

Active member
Hi there.

I have a plant outside in 3rd week flowering (I'm force flowering it).

Caterpillars are a huge problem in my area. i found this out the hard way last year, and they've been eating away at my plant all summer here- but I controlled it with pyrethrin. I found a moth on it again this morning and yesterday so unless I use something now my flowers will be ruined.

Pyrethrin is supposed to oxidise in a couple of days and be harmless to us.

Is it ok to keep spraying it on the plant into flowering?

any help appreciated.
 

pastor420

Member
Yes, you can use them on flowering plants. I've used Pyrethrin as far along as week 7 when those blankity-blank mites showed up. Pyrethrins come from a Chrysanthemum blossom so they are natural which is a plus. They are used in pet flea collars so must of us have been exposed to them anyhow. Being as their half-life is very short, some sources say as short as 7 hrs., many products using Pyrethrins are labeled as safe for use up to day of harvest.

BTW, I used them a couple of grows ago it was "Garden Safe Fruit & Vegetable Insect Spray" and didn't taste a thing.
 
G

Guest

I've also used it in late bloom. Saved me a few times.

Pillars are not hard to kill but insects like Thrips and Mites build a tollerance quickly to it.
 
G

Guest

Pyrethrin is safe I companion plant mint,holy basil, and other smelly things that bugs dont like.
 

Grandad

Active member
thanks for the input.

Found another moth there this morning!

If I can get this to maturity will put up afew photos.

-G
 

DocLeaf

procreationist
ICMag Donor
Veteran
caterpillar are best removed by hand, since they are visibly controlled.

pyreths,, are better for controlling green/white/black flies and thrips
 

Grandad

Active member
I tried that last year- put and outdoor plant indoor for the last month so it wouldnt get mouldy at the end of flowering and then spent 2 weeks picking out dozens of tiny caterpillars. they glued the bud and leaf together and ate it from the inside out.
I'd prefer not to grow than go through that again.

Pyrethrin seems to work on them though. I love this stuff.
 

Blackvelvet

Member
Bacillus

Bacillus

Bacillus bacteria will control catapillers. Totally safe. Look for it in bottles under names like Dipel , Thuricide , and Caterpillar Attack. Bacillus intended for mosquitos will not kill catapillers.

If you intend to use pyrethrins, you don't want a synergist added to it. (A synergist helps it to work better.) A manmade non natural synergist commonly "thrown in" with pyrethrin is piperonyl butoxide.
 

inflorescence

Active member
Veteran
I think it's the UV in light that breaks down pyrethrins. Some products like Exclude are micro-encapsulated and break down over time, not UV but they add the dreaded piperonyl butoxide so I wouldn't use it for plants that are ingested although it is more effective for ornamentals due to the micro-encapsulation and pb.
 

Grandad

Active member
thanks again for the info. Appreciate this. Havent posted on ICMAG for years but reckon I'll have to start dropping in more often.

I came across references to BT when searching previous posts- but I can't get it in here where I live.

Anyway- the pyrethrin seems to be working. It says its for use on caterpillars on the label. Says its safe to use on food the next day too on the label and no mention of piperonyl butoxide so it doesnt seem to be in it. I found a baby caterpillar there a while ago doing its thing- wrapping itself up between two leaves stuck together.

you can see the damage it did in the first pic here. I used pyrethrin on it so the caterpillar isnt around anymore to show you...



White russian, 22 days flowering







The bottom half of the plant is damaged though. It seems to be sorted out a bit now- I'm feeding with bio grow/ bloom and epsom salts. Any ideas whats causing this?


 

whiteberrieS

Active member
Veteran
Lets hope they work on the thrips, EH?! Drove all the way to the hydroshop cuz the dude said they had the Monterey's Spinosad...they didnt. They had the pyrethrin. So hope it works.
 

Hydro-Soil

Active member
Veteran
No... it's not ok to spray on flowering plants. It's ok to spray on hard skinned fruit, sure... but you're not going to wash those buds and that crap tastes like ass. :D

Stay Safe! :blowbubbles:
 

demasoni

Member
Pyreth not ok.
Hopefully its not to late but thats a good bit of flowers already covered.
its supposedly "ok" for health (not really) but RUINS buds flavor in most cases as hydro said. It will not rinse off, even over time. Only instance would be in really early flowering as last resort for spider mites when theres basically no bud and plenty of rains to come.. Next time by hand or use what black velvet suggested. You see how nasty it is when you take a hit of some pyreth treated bud.
 

waveguide

Active member
Veteran
i've heard that pyrethrin is very bad.. nerve agent, deteriorates muscle tissue. dunno if i'd want to find out.
 

Jedika411

New member
Pyrethrin damage

Pyrethrin damage

I had a very healthy outdoor plant, until I sprayed it with a product containing pyrethrin. I had a small issue with moths but they weren't causing any damage, & I should have just left it be, but mum gave me this stuff & told me it was safe so I thought why not use it!
After 2 days leaves started to shrivle. This got worse & worse then leaves started to go yellow/brown. Mainly all of my plant has been damaged badly apart from some of the tops. My plant had been flowering for maybe 2 weeks.

(Prior to pyrethrin spray-swipol)

https://www.icmag.com/ic/picture.php?albumid=72411&pictureid=1724486

https://www.icmag.com/ic/picture.php?albumid=72411&pictureid=1724483

https://www.icmag.com/ic/picture.php?albumid=72411&pictureid=1724485

https://www.icmag.com/ic/picture.php?albumid=72411&pictureid=1724484
 
I had issues with moths too but i had an bare cfl flourecent light on in the garage at night with no fixture so moths and all kinds of bugs were attracted to it, and my plants were about 25' away. ever since i put a fixture over the bulb the bugs weren't attracted to the light at all. and that alone solved my catapiller problem and i had tons of em, they completely ruined a good crop cuz i couldn't see the catapillers inside the buds untill after harvest when you break open a nice looking dried bud and theres a catapiller carcass and cotton like webbing.
 
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