Organic Gardening Pesticides

If you are under the impression that the term “organic gardening” means vegetables that are grown without the use of “any” chemical pesticides you would not be quite right.

There are certain pesticides approved for us by organic gardeners. These chemicals have been derived from botanical and mineral-bearing sources. Although these chemicals might still be highly toxic, they break down more rapidly than common chemicals like Sevins, Malathions and 2,4,Ds.

These approved chemicals are given toxicity ratings similar to those of the more common chemicals.

The ratings are as follows — CAUTION, WARNING or DANGER.

“CAUTION” means low toxicity or completely free from danger
“WARNING” means moderately toxic
“DANGER” means highly toxic.

Some of the approved botanical based organic gardening pesticides are…

Nicotine Sulfate is classified in the “DANGER” category. It extracted from tobacco or related Nicotiana species and is one of the oldest botanical insecticides in use today.

The next three approved botanical based organic gardening pesticides are rated in the “CAUTION” category and include…

Sabadilla, derived from the seeds of the sabadilla lily. The active ingredient is an alkaloid known as veratrine.

Rotenone, a resinous compound produced by the roots of two members of the Leguminoceae family.

Pyrethrum, extracted from a chrysanthemum plant and is the most widely used botanical insecticide in the United States.

Two of the approved mineral based organic gardening pesticides are…

Sulfur, can be used as a dust, wettable powder, paste or liquid and is probably the oldest known pesticide in use today. Sulfur caries a “CAUTION” rating.

Lime sulfur, made by boiling lime and sulfur together and used as a dormant spray on fruit trees is assigned a “DANGER” rating.

I am sure you are starting to now understand that not everything is as it might seem when it comes to organic gardening pesticides.

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