A balanced view

[farmer jon]

it greatly disturbs me , the way editors & presenters alike give virtually zero coverage of dealing with pests,diseases & weed control by chemical means. kitchen garden is just as much to blame,where pests to a crop are listed then both organic AND chemical controls should be detailed. monty don recently wrote in a newspaper column that people should learn to live with marestail. what utter rubbish ! this pernicious weed should be tackled the very moment it is identified. I have seen first hand the rampant movement of this across half a field of allotments. once it takes hold it is extremely difficult to eradicate & the attitude of Mr don does not help matters.
if people want to be organic then all well & good but if their crops are diseased & they will not treat them ,at least give me & anyone else the chemical means to protect our own crops from contamination. the press/tv of the gardening world are trying to funnel everyone down the organic road by firstly making them afraid of chemicals & then not providing them with information on which to use for a particular situation.
lets have a balanced view & let people make up their own minds.

[Shallot Man]

Hear Hear.

[Tony Hague]

It will be a bit of a limited discussion these days.

If you know of anything that can be bought in a garden centre that will control equisetum arvense, for example, please do share it with me ! Even "proper" glyphosate (as opposed to the near -homeopathic dilutions supplied in the garden centre) will not get rid of it - for example Barclay's "Gallup" actually says it won't on the label. I read somewhere that reducing the use of Diuron for weed control on railway lines by substituting glyphosate actually increased the mares tail by clearing space for it to grow !

[vegpatchmum]

Agree with Farmerjohn completely. I try to grow chemical free wherever I can but sometimes I need a little help and even a 5 or 10% loss of a crop is a major issue when you consider the growing room I have.

That said, so far this year I haven't had to use any chemicals in either my garden or the school one but my greenhouses are now devloping a serious green/whitefly problem and I'll be calling in at the garden centre over the weekend to get something to erradicate this problem - perferably organic (and suggestions gratefully recieved) but if chemical is all I can get then I'll be getting that.

VPM
x

[Tony Hague]

Aside to VPM - soft (potassium) soap. Sray to run off (works by contact only). Chemical, but considered organically acceptable. Given that the most effective is an olive oil based soft soap, it is pretty safe stuff.

[peter]

Aside to VPM, permethrin, a synthetic version of pyrethrum, if its still sold.

[Westi]

It's about balance - organic most of the time but some of the weeds have also evolved to take over in this environment so we must show the upper hand from time to time! Sorry - I still consider myself 'mostly organic' nothing goes on what I will eventually eat.

Westi
(PS to those that are actually making a living out of growing - it about survival - never apologise!)

[Johnboy]

Hi VPM,
Welcome to Pragmatic gardening. Being as organic as you possibly can whilst still reserving the right to spray or treat something that will help you to harvest your labours and not sacrificing your crop for somebody else's fine principles.
Chemicals are not the evil that some people will have you understand.
I still am prepared to use the organic treatment Nicotine and responsibly used nothing but the target pest will be harmed.
JB.

[Shallot Man]

Johnboy. [HI VPM] Me too.