firt tips&tonics

[rdh]

has any seen the guy on tv that firts with house hold
products(beer,shampoo,ammonia and more)he says bugs dont
like lemon scent dish soap is this stuff true ?
he is at http://www.jerrybaker.com

[Skookum]

I've seen him many times on TV. I have wondered myself about how well his formulas work. But, he has been around for some time now, if his stuff did not work, I think it would have caught up with him by now.

I would like to have the formulas he uses just as a alternative solution to some problems. Many people out there are getting to the point that they do not want you to apply harsh chemicals around their house. Cannot say I blame them, I do not use an abundance of pesticides around my own home since I have kids.

[moonarrow]

rdh these formulas do work, the reason bugs don't llike the lemon soap is because of and ingredient called delomonine which is and acid from citrus fruit that eats their exoskeleton. I use lot of these organic formulas in my busiiness, these formulas can be found at http://www.dirtdoctor.com, on some of my other I posted this as HowardGarrett.com but this has changed to dirtdoctor.com, I have met Howard several times he lives in Dallas Tx. and is very knowlegable on organics and also caan be heard live oon sunday morniings from 8am to noon on http://www.wbap.com

[kutnkru]

It works in a pinch for moss control. Nothing Like a yard that smells Tide clean. LOL

[HOMER]

When I had a smaller yard I tried some of these tricks, I bought the book. The liquid soap in a hose end feeder mixed with beer will control thatch, the yeast in beer breaks down the thatch. The ammonia trick works too for a quick green up, it breaks down and leaves nitrogen in the soil. If the truth were told thats probably all fertilizer is made up of, a lot of stuff off the grocery store shelf!

[rdh]

that show i seen of jerrys seemed so interesting
he would dig a hole and put a baby diaper under his
tomato plants, and puts pipe up through the ground
to water the diaper.
I had rolly pollies eating my tomatoes i will give the lemon
scent a try will it work on them??

[bondlawn]

I go to school with a competitor/friend who is a very strong devotee/fan of Jerry Baker. He runs a full time lawn service company and is very 'ecology' minded. He doesn't use any commercial treatments for insect control and very little for fertilization. He follows Jerry Baker's recommendations and his customers have beautiful lawns. Must be something to it.

I've never tried Baker's program because all of my properties have been large. Its sort of difficult to come up with 30 gallons of tobacco tea needed to treat some of my properties.

[65hoss]

I have Jerry Baker's Lawn book and its pretty good. Some interesting ideas in there. I have used the ammonia and soap several times on my lawn and it works pretty well. Very cheap also.

But his views on bagging are pretty old fashioned. You must bag the grass. "The guy who dreamed up the mulching mower, I believe, did it for a selfish reason: to avoid having to develop a safe mower-and that's a shame. Pick it up." pg 149.

I guess like anything, read it, analyse it, and use the useful parts.

[lawrence stone]

Please gentleman stop this homemade concoction nonsense.

This is the commercial lawn care forum. Those who apply pesticides for a living know that one cannot apply a product to a lawn that is not labled for usage on lawns.

Does the label on lemon joy say it has been tested on lawns?

Is there a material data safety sheet available to give to the person in charge at the jobsite?

What happens if you screw up and your customer reports you to the pesticide cops?

Sure you saved money buy using lemon joy vs. hortcultural soap for you will need to save a lot of money to pay off that $5000 fine.

[65hoss]

The pesticide cops have nothing to do with you putting soap on a lawn. They only regulate pesticides. There is nothing illegal about soap or any other organic matter. They are involved in controlled substances only.

But, I do think if you were to use this on customer lawns, it should be the horticultural soap.

[rdh]

i hope those police aint the same ones that got rodney
king

[moonarrow]

there is nothing with mulching, it is a high source of nitrogen and a good mulch to protect the grass roots

[kutnkru]

Mulching not only adds to profit, but reduces the amonut of fert we use.

Today our muclhing cutomers receive at least 40% LESS fert than they did when we bagged ALL clippings.

I havent Lowered our pricing to accomodate, but have REDUCED labor costs.

Kris

[JVS]

I have tried some of his practices..but it gets way too difficult to produce his products on a commercial level for many clients..but on the few I have "tested" they seem to work. I personally enjoy his plant shampoo.

Joe

JVS