Have you ever thought about making your own tobacco insecticide/pesticide as an organic alternative to the shop bought plant care products?

Now here is your chance TO EXPERIMENT

I’m offering 1000 tobacco (Nicotinia Tobacum Golden Virginia) seeds for you to grow on in spring and save the leaves to make a liquid spray.

I have tried a mix myself this year and followed the simple recipe, I didn’t heat up the leaves to make an oil but I did add a drop of neem oil to the mix. 

There’s no guarantee this will work for you but I thought it would appeal to the adventurous gardener who likes to experiment with a different/organic approach to gardening.

Here’s the recipe, you will find others online as well as further reading should you feel the need

RECIPE (one of many)

1.  Put 1 cup of dry tobacco in 5 ltrs of water for at least half an hour. Soaking for longer periods produces a stronger pesticide. Stronger pesticides work faster, but they are also more dangerous to beneficial garden insects.

2. Add a teaspoon of dishwashing liquid to the tobacco solution. This acts as a surfactant to improve spread ability and helps the solution stick to plants.

3. Strain the liquid into containers. Use a fine sieve to remove the tobacco pieces. Tighten the lids securely. The pesticide will keep for a couple of weeks if stored in a cool location such as a garage or cellar. Keep away from children and pets

4. Use a Spray on the affected plant parts. Try to be accurate with the direction. Spray growing shoots infested with aphids but not nearby, aphid-free leaves. Tobacco spray is natural but still dangerous to beneficial insects such as ladybirds.

5. Avoid using spray plants not in the tobacco family, (Solanaceae). Including tomatoes (Lycopersicon esculentum), potatoes (Solanum tuberosum) and peppers (Capsicum spp.). Tobacco may transmit the tobacco mosaic virus and cause more problems for these plants than the pests.

About Tobacco

Tobacco extracts are broad spectrum pesticides. They are effective as insecticides, nematicides, fungicides and show antibacterial properties. So can act as a non-target biocides but with lesser mammalian toxicity.

However, most of the commercially available synthetic pesticides are more toxic on mammals and also cause greater damage to the environment when compared with tobacco extracts.

Disclaimer

Please be aware I take no responsibility for the use of this homemade product and can’t guarantee its success. It is after all an experiment and a throwback to older methods of gardening.

Tobacco cultivars defend themselves by producing nicotine to discourage aphids, beetles, caterpillars, leaf miners, spider mites and a host of other rapacious insects. The chemical disrupts neurotransmitters as they send messages to muscles, including the heart. In tiny bug systems, the interruptions can be fatal.

Nicotine was used by Native Americans to protect their crops, but until the 20th century, pesticide use was not particularly widespread. One of the first plant-based pesticides, nicotine is a classified as a “botanical” or “biopesticide,” a pesticide made from natural ingredients. It is thus acceptable for use in organic farming. Nicotine, however, can be a bit too effective at what it does. Not only is it toxic for insects, including beneficial insects such as praying mantises and pollinating bees, it also affects fish, birds and errant mammals such as rabbits, rats or people who ingest it. Typically marketed as 40 percent nicotine sulfate, nicotine is one of the most effective biopesticides -- and one of the most dangerous for humans to handle.

Postage

 The large letter will be sent 1st class at cost. 

Let me know if there are any issues. I offer a money back guarantee if you are not delighted with the items.

Cheers