2005-08-06

Smoking Kills

So, the bugs came back. Poor Killer, just sitting in the sun, minding his own business, then BAM! He's covered with teeny, tiny, crawly white flecks - wrapping their webs over all his
leaves!

Soap 'em:

Something had to be done! The first thing I did, was to run a cool sink of water with just a dab of dish soap. I dunked the whole plant in the sink, the after a few seconds, I rinsed the poor guy off. The next day - while better - still had some bugs, so I did it again. The third day I decided maybe it was time to try something different.

Smoke 'em:

We've all heard that "smoking kills." I don't know if you've heard it, but they used to tell me in school that there are more/the same chemicals in second hand smoke than some pesticides (I don't remember exactly, it's been years!). I thought - hey! it's worth a shot! So I asked my dad to help me out!

We put the rose in a plastic bag and dad puffed it full of smoke through a straw. We left the bag this way for a couple hours. The next day - NO BUGS! Great! Great for the rose, that is - after the eggs hatched, I figured we could be finished with those bugs once and for all with one more smoke treatment. But dad said . . .

NO WAY!!

"All the smoke that went in that bag came straight from MY LUNGS. You want to kill me too? I'm not doing THAT again!"

Guess it's back to the soap and water for me, until I get some spray! Does anyone know of an easy bug fix I can get around the house? :D