Will Garden Dust effect pollination??

gssgarden · May 31, 2018

That's my question. I'm SWIMMING in Aphids and Flea Beetles. I've tried most methods. Was thinking of going the dust route as a last resort.

Will dust 'cake' up the flowers and prevent pollination?

Thanks in advance.

Greg

FourOaks · May 31, 2018

Im certainly no expert, but casual use of garden dust shouldnt cause trouble. If your dipping the flowers down it, then you would have problems.

gssgarden · May 31, 2018

No dipping. Will get one of those hand held dusters with the crank and have at it. They're just out of control this year!

tarheelchick · June 1, 2018

I'm in NC also and the flea beetles (and possibly aphids) are after my small garden as well. I had them last year pretty badly and with the rainy humid weather these past couple of weeks.......argh.

I had a brief break in the rain about 3 days ago and I dusted my plants well with some DE which has helped a lot. Last night, I hung out yellow sticky traps and sprinkled some Sluggo around just for good measure (slugs come out with the rain around here).

As mentioned, my garden is small so I just used a small hand held puffer when I dusted. I tried to avoid dusting around the blooms and since then the rain has washed all the DE away. I'm trying to stay on top of problems this year since things got out of hand last year.

May 31, 2018	#1
gssgarden Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Feb 2007 Location: N.C. Posts: 1,827	Will Garden Dust effect pollination?? That's my question. I'm SWIMMING in Aphids and Flea Beetles. I've tried most methods. Was thinking of going the dust route as a last resort. Will dust 'cake' up the flowers and prevent pollination? Thanks in advance. Greg Last edited by gssgarden; May 31, 2018 at 06:29 PM.

May 31, 2018	#2
FourOaks Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Mar 2016 Location: NC Posts: 511	Im certainly no expert, but casual use of garden dust shouldnt cause trouble. If your dipping the flowers down it, then you would have problems.

June 1, 2018	#4
tarheelchick Tomatovillian™ Join Date: May 2015 Location: NC Posts: 97	I'm in NC also and the flea beetles (and possibly aphids) are after my small garden as well. I had them last year pretty badly and with the rainy humid weather these past couple of weeks.......argh. I had a brief break in the rain about 3 days ago and I dusted my plants well with some DE which has helped a lot. Last night, I hung out yellow sticky traps and sprinkled some Sluggo around just for good measure (slugs come out with the rain around here). As mentioned, my garden is small so I just used a small hand held puffer when I dusted. I tried to avoid dusting around the blooms and since then the rain has washed all the DE away. I'm trying to stay on top of problems this year since things got out of hand last year.