Organic Garden Products Field Trials

Over the coming season, I will be conducting field trials on a number of garden products from the Safer Brand and Havahart Brand Company to determine their effectiveness in a true garden environment! The following are the products we will be testing:

Safer Brand “Garden Fungicide”:
3/16/10: Last season was cold, very wet and fungus borne disease was terrible.  I lost a good percent of my garden to wilt and other fungal diseases, which will still be in my soil. This will be a good test for this product! It’s active ingredient is sulfur in a convenient liquid spray form, which is an old standby fungicide.

Safer Brand “End All Insect Killer”:
3/16/10: The active ingredients are Potassium Salts of Fatty Acids, Neem Oil and a small amount of Pryrethins, also in a handy spray bottle.

Safer Brand “Grub Killer”:
3/16/10: I had some lawn area dies off last year, and I suspected grubs.  I will try one area, and leave a control area to give this a fair test.

Safer Brand “Caterpillar Killer”:
3/16/10: The active ingredient is BT (Bacillus Thuringiensis) in concentrated liquid form for spraying. BY kills when caterpillars ingest sprayed plants, and will be uses first on my broccoli this Spring, which always attracts cabbage loopers.

Havahart “Critter Ridder”:   Completed Trial -  Results:  Of Minimal Value
3/16/10: A granular product containing oil of black pepper, Piperine and Capaicin, which claims to repel most small animals.  I have had severe damage to my garden from squirrels for the last several years, and have found nothing to be effective against them. This product is supposed to be effective for 30 days.  My plan is to apply it to the perimeter of my raised beds to keep the squirrels away.
3/20/10: I seeded several beds the beginning of the week, and the squirrels started digging where I planted spinach. Today I sprinkled “Cridder Ridder” over the seeded areas to see if it will prevents further digging!
3/29/10: There was evidence of one or two location where squirreled started to dig, but nothing significant. We had very heave rain all week, so I
applied another application to the beds where seeds have started germinated.
4/06/10: Found one squirrel dig in my lettuce planting, and two more in my garlic.  Damage is lighter that what I usually receive, but so far, it is not deterring
the squirrels completely.  Watering or rainfall seems to reduce the effectiveness.
4/30/10: There has been significant squirrel digging, which has increased after rainfall.
CONCLUSION:  This product seems to be effective in the short term, but decreases in effectiveness after any rainfall. This requires constant reapplication after rainfall or watering to maintain effective results.

Havahart “Deer Off”:
3/16/10: There are NO deer in my area, so why use this product!  Because it also claims to repel squirrels, which have been such a terrible problem for my garden.  It’s primary ingredient is Putrescent Egg Solids (which I believe is fancy talk for rotten eggs) and Capaicin.  I will be trying this in other areas to see which works best or at all - The Critter ridder or Deer Off. Interesting enough, it comes with it’s own battery operated sprayer!
5/16/10: I set out my melon and cuke seedlings today, and have seen rabbits & plenty of squirrels on the property. They always do quite a lot of damage to these plants.  The directions say to spray and let dry, and the results will last for 2 -3 months, but to “spray more often during periods when rain may occur”! Today is clear, warm and breezy, so the spray shoud dry quickly and completely.  No rain is forecast for 3 days. I will spray a second time the end of the week, after the rain, and before I leave for a 1-week vacation.  This will be a good test to see how well this product works.
5/19/10: Rabbits destroyed 3 of my cantaloupes and 2 of my French melons.   Shook container & re-sprayed.  It was a milky color, so in all fairness, I may not have shaken the container last time. Cukes were all fine, but I also re-sprayed them as well.
5/21/10: The Deer-Off has burned my cukes & melons, and might kill them.  Will try spraying around the area, and not right on the plants from now on.
5/31/10: No new damage.  Spraying around the edges seems to have helped.
6/5/10: A rabbit ate the tops off a small area of my carrots. Re-sprayed border area.  This product does not appear to have the long-term protection it claims!
6/12/10: Baby rabbits still feasting on my carrot tops, even with spraying with Deer Off every few days.  There is definitely no long-term protection, if any at all!