How Can Pesticides Be Safe For Vegetables?

[LillyBelle]

I know that we sometimes have no choice but to use pesticides on our vegetables, fruits and flowers to protect them from getting destroyed. However, I have often wondered what keeps the plants from absorbing the chemicals and becoming unsafe to consume> Are pesticides actually safe to apply to vegetables and fruits?

 

[amelia88]

For the stuff I grow, I prefer to use natural pesticides that you can make from things you may have lying around the house.

One I use is cayenne pepper in water - I just add that to a spritz bottle and let it sit overnight then apply it to my plants.

Honestly it seems to work fine in repelling bugs and mites and it gives me peace of mind knowing that there's not a bunch of un-pronouncable chemical names going all over my food source!

 

[headfullofbees]

For the stuff I grow, I prefer to use natural pesticides that you can make from things you may have lying around the house.

One I use is cayenne pepper in water - I just add that to a spritz bottle and let it sit overnight then apply it to my plants.

Honestly it seems to work fine in repelling bugs and mites and it gives me peace of mind knowing that there's not a bunch of un-pronouncable chemical names going all over my food source!

I'm similar to you in not using bought pesticides, BUT...there is the argument that we ARE still using chemicals.
Further, is all the stuff you grow hot and spicy?
If it is not, then that shows that chemical compounds, such as capsaicin, can break down harmlessly.

One last point, which has just occurred to me; chillies are Solenaceae, (Nightshades) which means you are making a harmless (to humans) spray from a poisonous plant!

 

[Chuck]

A few bought pesticides are safe and are much more effective than "home grown". Having said this, most bought pesticides are oil/chemical based and have warning labels, which to me means if you have to be warned about them they are not safe for humans and/or pets. There are 3 pesticides available that are "manufactured" from natural occurring substances and are all harmless up to the minute of harvest. These three pesticides are all any gardener will need. One is a fairly new product made from a soil bacteria called Spinosad. Spinosad is the active ingredient and is sold under many brand names. The second is only for caterpillars and the active ingredient is a naturally occuring bacteria called Bacillus thuringiensis, which is also sold under many brand names and the third is Neem Oil made of the extract from Neem Tree seeds. Neem is also a fungicide and miticide and is also sold under many brand names. These three products will effectively control anything you might encounter in your garden that are chewing, eating, sucking, biting or stinging your plants, whether they be vegetables, flowers, shrubs or trees.

 

[Durgan]

Probably no 'cide is safe.Be it herbicide,or pesticide.

 

[JBtheExplorer]

Are pesticides actually safe to apply to vegetables and fruits?

By Government standards, yes, because they'll give anything a pass for money or political gains.

In reality, no. Putting chemicals on our foods or in our soils is always unsafe and should never be done. Anything that ends in "-cide" is bad. "Cide" is another word for killer, and those chemicals do a lot more damage than just killing the pests, even if you can't necessarily see the damage it does, whether it be to the Earth, to beneficial insects, or to ourselves.

My thought is that if something doesn't already naturally exist in your garden to fight off pests or disease, there's a reason it's not and probably shouldn't be added.

 

[headfullofbees]

Diluted MILK is used as a fungicide (against mildew).
Most gardener's pestiCIDES are made from natural plant oils.

"CIDE" just means killer.

Milk does not exist naturally in my garden.

 

[Beverly]

Hi @LillyBelle...it is true there are many options to replace the commercially available toxic remedies that are harmful to mother nature and her inhabitants (like us, for example and like pollinators, for example). There is a man referred to as the "DirtDoctor" who lives in Texas, has a beautiful garden, and has been using organic pest control exclusively for the past 30 years. His name is Howard Garrett. You can find him, his garden, and his remedies (many of which you can make yourself) at
www.dirtdoctor.com.
You might take a look at his video and take a listen to what he has to say. He is one of thousands (probably millions) of people around the world who garden "nature friendly" and he has been doing this for 30 years. Just take a look at his garden, and you will see that the commercially available toxic cides are not as necessary as you might think. There is another way

 

[Fernsdaddy]

The only good pesticides are bugs that eat the bad ones.

 

[Beverly]

I think that might be a tad extreme @Fernsdaddy. Milk is a good example, Neem is a good example, diatomaceous earth is a good example, hot peppers are a good example. I can think of dozens (possibly hundreds) of good examples that are not predator bugs. Certainly inviting Lady Beetles into a garden does wonders for getting rid of aphids is another example. But it is not the only one that is safe and effective.

 

[Fernsdaddy]

I think that might be a tad extreme @Fernsdaddy. Milk is a good example, Neem is a good example, diatomaceous earth is a good example, hot peppers are a good example. I can think of dozens (possibly hundreds) of good examples that are not predator bugs. Certainly inviting Lady Beetles into a garden does wonders for getting rid of aphids is another example. But it is not the only one that is safe and effective.

I should have said the best pesticides for me are good bugs, I wasn't saying there aren't other types of pesticides that work, I'm just fussy about what I use in my gardens.

 

[Chuck]

There are garlic sprays, pepper sprays, soaps, DE, oils, beneficial insects, ashes, and a host of others. They all, to a certain extent, get rid of pests, and sometimes they even act as a systemic like garlic has been proven to be. There is nothing wrong with any and all of these and they all work to a degree and they are all natural and harmless to us and our pets, BUT, why, if you have a REAL problem, would you not use something that is a rapid solution and guaranteed to be effective and harmless and organic? Why mess around when you have a visible problem with a pest? Eradicate the problem ASAP and use the other "remedies" as prevention.

 

[headfullofbees]

There are garlic sprays, pepper sprays, soaps, DE, oils, beneficial insects, ashes, and a host of others. They all, to a certain extent, get rid of pests, and sometimes they even act as a systemic like garlic has been proven to be. There is nothing wrong with any and all of these and they all work to a degree and they are all natural and harmless to us and our pets, BUT, why, if you have a REAL problem, would you not use something that is a rapid solution and guaranteed to be effective and harmless and organic? Why mess around when you have a visible problem with a pest? Eradicate the problem ASAP and use the other "remedies" as prevention.

And DON'T get hung up on words.

 

[Esther Knapicius]

the chemical development of pesticides "should" follow the same principles as do the chemical development of medicines we humans take that target a certain area of the body, however, as we realize there are also side effects to everything introduced to the body/plant that is unnatural. So it is up to us to educate ourselves to decide what is harmful, what is acceptable etc.

 

[Vinaya]

Never apply pesticides on the flowering vegetables, always use pesticide on leaves or stem. For example don't spray pesticide on tomato fruits, spray on leaves, stem or branches instead. Wait at least 15 days before you pluck the pesticide applied vegetables. By the way you can also prepare organic pesticide.