Little white things and black soot

Zote is a non-detergent natural soap

The last time I did this it was on tomatoes and white flies. Didn't have much luck. I have no tomatoes now but my limes are really suffering. Little white things that look like eggs, black soot on most leaves and some leaves are curling unnaturally. What worries me is you are supposed to spray both sides of the leaves and my trees are a tightly packed maze of branches. My pruning so far has only been to cut the suckers that shoot straight up.

So I pulled out what was left of my last batch, ran it through a strainer and added water in a gallon bucket. Then I put the bar of soap in and will leave it over night. All sites say a 1% solution so I may need to make this a 3-gallon batch. How the heck do you measure 1%. Liquid soap like Dr. Bronners would be easier.

Homemade Insecticidal Soap Recipe Variations

Like any other home remedy, there are as many variations on this recipe as there are gardeners! You can also try:

Diluted Solution: If the spray causes damage or burns your plant foliage, cut the amount of soap in half and try a 1% solution. This is the concentration usually found in commercial sprays. The lighter solution might be less effective but is gentler on plants.

Cooking Oil: To help the solution stick a little longer, add two tablespoons of light cooking oil (such as corn, canola, olive, or safflower) per gallon of water to the mix.

Vinegar: To make a spray that also targets powdery mildew, add a teaspoon of cider vinegar per gallon of water to the mix.

Garlic or Pepper: To help repel chewing insects, add a teaspoon of ground red pepper and/or garlic per gallon of water to the mix.

Bar Soap: For a less-exact recipe, drop a bar of pure soap (such as organic bar soap or Ivory) into a gallon of water and leave it overnight. Remove the bar and shake well before spraying.

Why did I wait so long?

After the tomatoes expired  should have cleaned up the bed, added a little more good soil and planted some more of anything. The few herbs that were beyond useful took up the space instead. This year I planted tomatoes on either end, with peas, onions and chard in the middle. The webbing I put up to discourage my cat from using it as a bathroom will help start the climbers but they will need more support later on. Last year with shallow wide containers I had almost no luck with radishes, greens of any type or onions. Hoping with deeper and better soil I'll get something to eat.

The next issue will be trying to keep the bugs from eating everything. When white flies attacked the tomatoes last year I tried a commercial spray and a dish soap spray with little effect. That's when I read about Zote, an  insecticidal soap but the tomatoes were too far gone to bother with. I've since made a spray although a little stronger than the Mother Earth News article below. I sprayed some on my Avocado which is getting brown leaves from something.

Planted more tomatoes and Albahaca grande (Basil)

Hoja Santa, next pinapple and a tired basil 

Zote and Fels-Naptha are insecticidal

To make the insecticidal soap spray, shave one quarter of a bar of Fels-Naptha laundry soap (about 1 inch) into 1 quart of heated water and stir until dissolved. This will be your insecticidal soap concentrate. Put the soap solution into a labeled jar.

To use the soap spray, put 1 teaspoon of concentrate per quart into a sprayer. This insecticidal soap is a contact poison, so spray it directly onto the insects you want to eliminate from your home, garden or orchard. For additional killing power, add one-quarter cup of rubbing alcohol per quart.

Make Homemade Insecticidal Soap Spray