CasaSugar

How-To: Homemade Aphid Spray

CasaSugar — Thu, 24 Apr 2008 09:15:10 -0700

Even if you're not a gardener, you may have encountered plant-killing aphids, or plant lice, on plants near your home — I know I have. It turns out that you needn't be creeped out by these crawlers for long; you can make a simple, organic homemade spray to kick them to the curb. A tomato leaf spray works because the alkaloids in the leaves of the tomato plant, when mixed with water, are toxic to the little buggies, but still safe for you and your plants. You can also make a garlic oil spray, which contains sulfur, which is also toxic to aphids. But, since it kills all types of insects, even good ones (such as natural predators of aphids, like ladybugs), I don't recommend it.

To learn how to make tomato leaf spray, read more.

Supplies:

One to two cups of tomato leaves
Four cups of water
A strainer or cheesecloth
Spray bottle

Here's how, from About.com:

Chop the tomato leaves
Then, steep them in two cups of water overnight.
Strain out the leaves with your strainer or cheescloth.
Add another two cups of water to the liquid you were left with.
Put it in your spray bottle.
Spray the stems and the foliage of your infested plant, particularly the underside.

Source

How-To: Getting Rid of Household Ants

CasaSugar — Tue, 03 Jun 2008 04:30:10 -0700

There's nothing stylish or healthy about having ants marching through your home. But, unfortunately, when the weather warms up, those cold blooded little bodies have a habit of coming to your kitchen to search for food and water to bring back to their queen and growing nest. They tell their fellows in the colony where they're headed by leaving a chemical trail behind, so you may have encountered a swarm infesting your home, rather than just a straggler. Not fun. There are several important tricks to telling the little guys to stay where they belong, outdoors. To hear them, read more.

Indoor Steps

Follow their trail to find the food they're after, and clean it up!
Then, follow their trail to the hole they used to enter your home, and plug it up!
Vacuum up the little dudes on the trail and any stragglers around the house.
Then, wash the sites of chemical trails with either soapy water or a solution of vinegar and water. Any new ants coming in will be lost, since they'll have no trail to follow.
If the ants return, and you feel the need to use an insecticide, try an organic, nontoxic one first. Bugs'R'Done is one option, which is made of pure orange peel oil, or you can make up your own slurry of orange peel and water. You can also place a bit of Cream of Wheat near the ant nest or on their trail, which when eaten will cause the ants to swell up and poof.
If a nontoxic insecticide doesn't work, try an enclosed bait trap with boric acid or abamectin on the label, and make sure the ants are taking the bait (i.e. bringing the "food" back to the queen). These enclosed traps are less toxic to humans and tamper proof (safe for children/pets).
In general, don't leave food out and make sure your doors, windows, and walls are properly sealed, so the ants have no reason or way to enter.

Outdoor Steps

Plant and tree branches and leaves that touch the house are "ant highways," so trim them!
Mulch, wood piles and other debris often house ant nests, so keep them away from the house.
If you have no luck locating the colony indoors, pouring hot soapy water on the colony outside will serve as a deterrent.
Don't spray a mound or colony; it'll only kill the ones on the top and could cause them to break up and start more colonies. Just use the hot water.
Don't sprinkle or spray pesticides around the outside of your home; it may kill other insects or animals, and it's not a good choice for environmental or health reasons.

Most of these tips were compiled from an article by Penn State's College of Agricultural Science, which you can read here.
Source

Casa Verde: Gorgeous Green Bedding

CasaSugar — Tue, 20 May 2008 05:30:44 -0700

If you're looking for one easy way to green your bedroom, try starting with a bedding switch. A new duvet cover or set of pillows will make your whole bedroom look brand new. It's definitely a small change that will make a big difference, décor wise, in your home. Need more incentive? Consider the fact that conventional, nonorganic cotton uses more insecticides than any other single crop, and each year cotton producers use nearly $2.6 billion worth of pesticides, accounting for more than 10 percent of the world's pesticides and nearly 25 percent of the world's insecticides. All of those toxins don't make your nonorganic bedding seem that safe, or romantic, as you cuddle up in them at night, huh?

So, put your rebate check to a worthy cause, both personally and globally, and consider investing in some green bedding. I love this Tile Organic Duvet Cover and Sham Set ($29-$129) for its sleek, geometric look and clean lines (and of course its organic content). Check out the widget below for some of my other faves.

Organic Cotton Vintage Paisley Bedding - $69.00	Clodagh Deep Sea Duvet, 100% Organic Cotton Sateen - $89.99
Overlapping Leaves Organic Duvet Cover & Sham - $29.00	Area Organic Mist Charcoal Sheets - $100.00
Area Organic Details Sheets - $120.00	Organic Cotton Fiore Bedding - $169.00
Organic Cotton Serenity Bedding - $90.00	Organic Cotton Fleurette Pillowcases (set of 2) - $22.00
Organic Cotton Bangalore Bedding - $39.00	Organic Hemstitch Duvet Cover & Sham - Lime Green - $129.00
Amenity - Organic Sham Set - $65.00	Sunflower Organic Quilt & Sham - $249.00
Woodland Organic Duvet Cover & Sham - $29.00	Organic Cotton Vintage Stripe Reversible Shams - $59.00
Ikat Organic Duvet Cover & Sham - Green Apple/Pineapple Yellow - $129.00	Organic Safari Sheeting - $18.00
Organic Cotton Pillow - $50.00	Amenity Willow Organic Cotton Duvet Cover - Cream & Cocoa - $330.00
Amenity Bloom Organic Cotton Duvet Cover - Cream & Cocoa - $330.00	Unison Tatami Organic Ivory Duvet and Cases - $44.00
Amenity Cove Organic Cotton Duvet Cover - Cream & Moss - $330.00

Plant Therapy: Beware the Whitefly!

CasaSugar — Thu, 28 Feb 2008 11:15:03 -0800

If you have houseplants, you may have had to deal with an infestation of whiteflies. This houseplant enemy is particularly prevalent in Winter, when they shack up in your home waiting out the cold weather. Not an actual fly, these insects are related to scales, aphids, and mealybugs and are on a mission to hurt your houseplants.
When whiteflies hatch, they leave discarded white shells on your houseplant's leaves. If you see these, you likely have a whitefly problem. Investigate further by carefully turning over your houseplants' leaves and seeing if there are yellowish dots on the underside, especially near the veins. These yellow dots are the nymphs. As the nymph feeds, it will turn your plants' leaves yellow. Nymphs also leave droppings that turn into black mold on the underside of the leaves.

So, what should you do? To find out , read more.

First, move the infected plant or plants to a room by itself, where it can't infect other plants. A room that doesn't get much foot traffic is best, as whiteflies can hitch rides on your clothing and reinfect other healthy plants in your house. After you've isolated the infected plants, use a spray to treat the problem. You can use an organic soap, such as Gh Organics Insecticidal Soap, or Safer Insecticidal Soap. Make sure to cover both the tops and bottoms of all of the leaves, and spray directly on the insect for best results.

Source