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  • From: Steve Diver <steved AT ncat.org>
  • To: market-farming AT lists.ibiblio.org
  • Subject: [Market-farming] Tagetes minuta for pest control
  • Date: Thu, 02 Oct 2003 14:45:50 -0500

Allan -

I haven't seen any literature that specifies which pests
Tagetes controls beyond nematodes, or how to make
plant extracts.

The green manure tea method -- soaking crushed or
chopped fresh leaves in ambient water temperatures
for 7-10 days -- seems like a good starting point
for an on-farm trail.
Fyi, the heavy duty botanicals are sometimes used
as a last gap measure for beetle infestations; i.e., mixtures
of pyrethrin-rotenone or pyrethrin-neem.

Tagetes minuta definitely has pest control properties,
especially nematicidal, as quite a few literatures sources
report. It has a strong odor when you rub it. It is loaded
with secondary plant compounds. Some of the Tagetes
literature review its plant chemistry.
That article on "Cannabis as repellent and pesticide"
provided a nice example of what kinds of literature,
research, and methods have been examined for plants
with pest control properties.

Cannabis as repellent and pesticide
John M. McPartland
Journal of the International Hemp Association
Vol. 4 No. 2 December 1997
http://www.druglibrary.org/olsen/hemp/iha/jiha4210.html

Plant-based pest control is widely used in natural farming
systems found in Africa, India, SE Asia, and elsewhere.
Natural farming systems use on-farm biomass sources,
such as native herbs or garden-grown herbs, in home-made
recipes to achieve fertilty and pest control. Sometimes
amendments like cow urine, milk, ashes, and soil are
added to the recipes.

Some terms used to describe these plant extracts include
herbal teas, liquid manures, and fermented plant extracts.
Organic and Biodynamic farmers in India, for example, have
taken leaps and bounds into plant-based pest control.
Some of these recipes and extracts are sophisticated.
Margarita Correa's work at Auroville, Honeybee Network
in Ahmedabad, and Centre for Indigenous Knowledge
Systems in Chennai are some notable Indian sources.

EM, or Effective Microorganisms, is being mixed with
plant extracts along with molasses, to achieve further
extraction and efficacy.

IM, or Indigenous Microorganisms, include special culture
recipes to achieve on-farm extracts for fertility & pest control.

To look for literature on Tagetes minuta, here are two
powerful science search engines.

Scirus
http://www.scirus.com/

BioMedNet
http://news.bmn.com/search/site

On Sanet, I posted key resources on FPE's, or fermented
plant extracts, with special attention on India. See:

Subject: Re: Regulation of compost teas (Effective Microorganisms)
Date: Wed, 6 Nov 2002 20:41:53 -0600
Sender: Sustainable Agriculture Network Discussion Group
SANET-MG at LISTS.IFAS.UFL.EDU
http://lists.ifas.ufl.edu/cgi-bin/wa.exe?A2=ind0211&L=sanet-mg&O=A&P=8254

Do beetles and weevils (harlequin, squash, blister, pecan weevil,
boll weevil, plum curculio) just laugh at the aromas and chemicals
inherent in herbal teas and plant extracts? Or, is there an effective
plant recipe waiting to be found?

The increased pest control effect with EM-FPE, IM-FPE, and
IM-LAS suggests a microbial shift on the plant surface sends out
signals that hinder bug attack.

Best regards,

Steve Diver


>Tagetes minuta has a number of secondary plant
>compounds that impart pest and nematode control. >
>The dried leaves can be added to the soil, root extractions have strong
>properties and a long shelf life, and fresh or dried leaves can be soaked
>in water as an herb tea / fermented plant extract, applied foliarly.
>
>Essential oil of Tagetes minuta has anti-bacterial / anti-fungal
>properties. A chemical profile is located on the ALNAP
website:

Steve - I have that 6ft marigold growing at our place. I have some
harlequin beetle problems that i can't solve with ANYTHING. They are
on collards and kale.

I'm interested in trying the marigolds on the collards to repel (or
kill!) these pests but I'm afraid of what the same plant might do to
my shareholders.

Do you have any ideas about that? Is it toxic? Does it taste bad?

And if I make a tea to apply: is this a green manure type tea or
should it be brewed like bd horsetail on the stove top?

Thanks

-Allan








  • [Market-farming] Tagetes minuta for pest control, Steve Diver, 10/02/2003

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