What soap?

[Masonmou]

I have been advised that spraying a soap solution will help get rid of scale insect on my citrus bushes. Can anyone tell me what soap to use? Does it mean the Eco washing liquid or something? Don't want to use the wrong stuff & end up with a greenhouse looking like a bubble party!!
Thanks all, look forward to replies.

[Flummery]

I use washing up liquid. Not full strengh, just a few drops in a squeezy bottle with cold water. You can soften up the insects and then rinse or gently scrape them off.

[ixi1456]

thats where i've been going wrong i used cakes of soap..its hard to hit the buggers when there in flight...lol

[Alison]

I do the same as Flum and it seems to work OK although you do have to reapply quite often and it helps if you squidge also.

[zazen999]

They say that you should use Soft Soap...it apparently drowns them by reducing the surface tension and stopping them breathing. I have a spray bottle of this in the kitchen and any aphids are squirted once seen.

The reason that you have to reapply, is that each aphids gives birth to hundreds every day...so it is the babies on day 2 and the babies of the babies on day 3...you are drowning a new generation each day so you need to reapply regularly.

See, I did learn something on the Garden Organic course I went on. Yippee.

Not sure if it works on scale insects though - I'm talking about aphids here!

[silverfork]

What exactly is 'Soft soap'? I've heard this loads of times, but no-one ever says precisely what it is. Washing up liquid? Soap flakes? It might sound dim, but I don't want to harm my plants.

[Snadger]

Soft soap is the stuff you get in a public toilets from a dispenser. The newer stuff is usually pink and scented.

The best stuff is the brownish stuff we used to have at school........it stunk!

[yoanbob]

we use the used water from the washing up, we use ecover washing liquid, seems to work if you keep on top of it.

[Two_Sheds]

What exactly is 'Soft soap'? I've heard this loads of times, but no-one ever says precisely what it is.

Soft soap is of natural origin and its active ingredient, fatty acid potassium salt, is derived from bone material and palm oil.

This stuff: Chempak Traditional Soft Soap – 500g

and this stuff: http://www.ladybirdplantcare.co.uk/s...ncentrate.html

[Flummery]

Soft soap is the stuff you get in a public toilets from a dispenser. The newer stuff is usually pink and scented.

The best stuff is the brownish stuff we used to have at school........it stunk!

Carbolic! It was re-introduced into schools in Hull a few years back when there was an outbreak of enteritis in school kids. They just didn't bother washing their hands - ANY soap would have helped!

[finefencer]

I have used the chempak stuf and I find it very difficult to dissolve enough to use in a sprayer. What I have used is pure soap flakes, you can get from Tesco and places like that, and it works fine. Put some hot water in a jar, add some flakes and dissolve them untill you have a sprayable solution, let it cool and away you go. I have used it on all sorts of aphid, even catapillar on the cabage, and when you have used what you want, the misses can have the rest to do the woolies.