Healthy Garden Solutions

(Please read our disclaimer)

Before reaching for an insect spray or a plant remedy, try to determine if an insect is eating the plant or if the plant is diseased. Applying a pesticide can expose us to immediate or long-term health risks. Studies have linked pesticide exposure to an increased risk of Parkinson's disease not only among those who work on farms, but even in persons who live near sprayed fields.

Another study found a relationship between exposure to pesticides in our food and environment and the development of type 2 diabetes. They found that pollutants tended to concentrate in body fat.

The Melaleuca Wellness Guide has a chapter entitled: "Healthy Garden Solutions." This chapter is based on suggestions shared by our readers:

Note: When using any kind of spray, test the results by spraying a few leaves and waiting a couple of days to see if any damage occurs. To prevent damage, avoid applying sprays during the heat of the day. Irrigate drought-stressed plants thoroughly before applying any kind of spray. Since soft body insects like aphids and thrips are killed on contact, after applying a spray, rinse with water. Oil sprays should not be used on Blue Spruces. Citrus are also sensitive to oil sprays. Your Cooperative Extension Agent can recommend spraying times for citrus.

Roses ⁃ Black spot, rust, and powdery mildew are three different diseases caused by fungal infections. Try spraying diluted Sol-U-Mel on affected leaves.

If you notice the first rose flowers of spring tinged with brown edges, the culprits might be thrips. Thrips are tiny, slender, difficult-to-see little insects that cause brown edges on flower buds. Roses and peonies can be affected. Spray diluted Tough & Tender on affected flower buds. Rinse with fresh water.

Aphids are soft body insects that suck plant juices. You will usually find them on new growth. Over- fertilizing can make for lots of tender new growth that attracts aphids. Spray with diluted Tough & Tender and rinse off with water. Natural predators such as lady bugs eat aphids.

Black Sooty Mold on Elm trees, or other susceptible trees, can be reduced by spraying Sol-U-Mel high into the tree. If needed, use a power sprayer. Black sooty mold is usually caused by aphid secretions as they feed on leaves. The aphids produce sticky "honeydew" that sometimes turns black. If you happen to park your car under an affected tree you will notice the sticky substance on your vehicle. You might also notice ants because they harvest the honeydew. Sometimes the honeydew dripping is caused by scale insects. Scale insects are harder to remove. But Sol-U-Mel should help as the scale insect does have periods of time before it forms its hard scale when it is more vulnerable to safer solutions.

Ants can be killed with PreSpot, Sol-U-Mel or Tough & Tender. If ants are making a little trail into your home, sometimes just dusting them with clove spice or dropping mint leaves on their trail will cause them to decide your home is not so attractive after all. In the yard, repeatedly spraying water on them can make them decide to move to another part of the yard. If you have fire ants, to kill them mix the following into a two gallon bucket of water: 1 capful of Tough & Tender, 1 capful of MelaMagic, 1 capful of Sol-U-Mel, 1 capful of Tub & Tile, and always 10 drops of Lemon Brite. Stir and pour half of the bucket on the fire ant bed. Wait 30 minutes and pour on the other half. This kills them "dead" and they won't come back.

Zinnias are prone to powdery white patches caused by powdery mildew. Give zinnias good air circulation and avoid watering them from above. If affected by powdery mildew, spray diluted Sol-U-Mel directly on the leaves of your zinnias. They will usually show improvement in one day.

Ninety percent of insects are good bugs. Beneficial insects help keep pests from causing damage. To attract and maintain a population of beneficial insects we need flowers like yarrows, dill, and cilantro which provide nectar and pollen. Planting fragrant plants such as herbs, marigolds, and nasturtiums help confuse and repel pests.

Some bugs, like squash bugs can be easily picked off plants, hopefully before they mate and multiply. MNN.com shows bug pictures and a bit of bug-education. Learning to identify good bugs versus pesky bugs can help you maintain a safe and healthy garden. And if you have children, this knowledge can be fun and a foundation for them in organic gardening.

A spray bottle of Tough & Tender and Sol-U-Mel along with common sense and a bit of patience can result in a healthy productive garden.

~ Richard M Barry
Healthy Garden Solutions in The Melaleuca Wellness Guide

These healthy garden solutions are from the chapter beginning on page 285:

Ant Killer
Ants, Fire
Ant Prevention
Aphids
Apple Spray
Army Worms
Bagworms
Bugs – Yard
Crepe Myrtles
Disinfectant
Fertilizer
Flowering Bushes
Fruit Trees
Fungus
Garden Beds
Gnats
Grass
Green House
Heliopsis
Houseplants
Insect Repellent
Lawns
Lawn Spray
Mildew
Mites
Mold – Gardens
Mold Spores
Mushrooms
Musty Areas
Plants
Plant – Indoor
Plant Sprays
Red Spider Mites
Rhubarb
Rose Bushes
Scale
Scale Insects
Shrubs
Slugs
Soil Surfactant
Spiders
Summer Sun
Thrips
Tomatoes
Trees
Webworms
Zinnias

Read more about The Melaleuca Wellness Guide »

Healthy Garden Solutions Success Stories

I spray diluted Sol-U-Mel on my rose bush to get rid of aphids, and also spray it on my hostas to keep bugs from eating holes in them. I also sprayed my patio chairs in the places that earwigs like to hide and they never came back all summer.

~ Jo-Ann

Gardens love Melaleuca! The first year that I put in my garden I read in The Melaleuca Wellness Guide how Tough & Tender made a great fertilizer for tomato plants. There is a whole section on how to use Melaleuca products for our gardens and plants. I used it as directed and my plants were huge! I regularly spray my entire garden with diluted Sol-U-Mel to ward off pesky bugs, and make a spray with a teaspoon of Lemon Brite, teaspoon of Sol-U-Mel, some garlic, cayenne and vegetable oil to spray for slugs and fungus. People always ask me what my secret is, as all the plants seem to do better after being sprayed with the Sol-U-Mel. I tell my customers that they can wash the floor and pour the water in their garden! Really, they ask me? Yes, I say, they are safe and your garden will be amazing! I also spray diluted Sol-U-Mel on myself to keep away mosquitoes and black flies while I work in the garden and especially when I go berry picking in the bush. I am so happy that I have something safe that I can use! Thank you Melaleuca and The Melaleuca Wellness Guide!

~ Sue

I LOVE using Melaleuca products when I work in the yard or garden...whether as an insect repellant for my body, ant killer, or insect killer on plants. Last summer, it seemed like overnight, aphids attacked my tomato plants and infested them. I grabbed my diluted Sol-U-Mel (1 oz per spray bottle) and started spraying. I love the smell so that was so pleasant, but I also didn't have to worry about getting it all over my hands and arms and inhaling toxic fumes. Immediately the bugs died. I applied the Sol-U-Mel a couple of days later to the bugs I missed and had no more problems with aphids. I love your chapter on Healthy Garden Solutions in The Melaleuca Wellness Guide and I look forward to your newsletters each week. Please keep them coming.

~ Willene

For a safer garden, I use undiluted PreSpot to get rid of ants. I also spray Tough & Tender on all the rose bushes.

~ Sandy

I love Melaleuca's safe products! The Melaleuca Wellness Guide is so valuable when I need some answers for different problems! It is extremely helpful! As a gardener, I am thankful to spray my fruit trees with diluted Lemon Brite dish detergent to protect against bugs. With my sprayer in hand, it is also an opportunity to share with my neighbors about how important it is that this is not toxic for them and us, and it works! A solution of Lemon Brite was also helpful last summer with an infestation of immature potato beetles. For aphids in the garden, for example broccoli-cabbage crops, I like to use diluted Tough &Tender. It is important to be persistent to follow up and check inside leaves to make sure the aphids are all cleaned up.

~ Rita

I have many perennial plants around our home. After returning home from a week's vacation last summer, my Hosta plants were all infected with a little red bug. I came in the house and looked in my Wellness Guide. As advised, I grabbed my bottle of Tough & Tender spray and went to work spraying my Hosta plants. The bugs were eating holes in my plants. The next day, the bugs were ALL GONE! My Hostas had no damage from the Tough & Tender and were beautiful the rest of the summer! THANK you Melaleuca and RM Barry Publications!

~ Mickey

I have lots of roses, about 40 plants, and other than feeding the roses with healthy soil additives like manure, alfalfa pellets, banana peels and fertilizers, I just use Tough & Tender. In the spring I used to notice the first flowers on some roses were brownish. I discovered they were thrips... so tiny you can barely see them. The Melaleuca Wellness Guide recommends Tough & Tender. One spray with Tough & Tender takes care of them. Now when the roses are setting their first blooms I go around early in the morning and as I admire them I give them a quick spray. My roses are beautiful and healthy. I only need to do this one time in the spring.

~ Gloria

Ants will appear here and there in the garden. I try not to kill anything, but ants can be a problem. I've used PreSpot, Sol-U-Mel or Tough & Tender on the ants. A bucket of water with a bit of product is usually enough to discourage their presence.

~ Anna