Mary Sue wrote: "I'm eager for aphid control stories too especially if anyone has some reliable ones that don't involve heavy duty poison control. I've used things like pyrola and neem when I first have discovered aphids every year and neither gives as good control as I would like. The neem didn't seem to phase them." What are pyrola and neem? We are having problems with garden insecticides, fungicides, etc. this side of the pond because of a recent EU directive requiring registration of all such materials for agricultural or horticultural use. The large registration fee (about ?100,000 if I remember correctly, but I may be exaggerating as I am anti EU bureaucratic ------------ (insert word here that insults a bull)) has put off many suppliers registering sprays for home gardeners. The cost is not justified by the relatively small sales levels and they are disappearing from the shelves of our garden suppliers. So for a real killer, I'll have to go back to that natural source tobacco and extract the nicotine. We still have derris and pyrethrum but they are not strong enough for some situations. A dilute solution of washing up liquid may be effective for aphis and caterpillars, parrticularly early in the season and while infestations are light, but try it carefully first. Some of these washing up liquids have many constituents and the formulations change from time to time. Concentration in water at about the same level as you use for washing up the dishes. (Sexist joke for you, Cathy. Quiz master in TV show: " What will you do with your prize money? Buy a new dishwasher perhaps?" Male contestant: "No, we don't need a new dishwasher. I AM the dishwasher.") Home Made Nicotine Insecticide Note: Both this and the next recipe can be a bit smelly in the making. Do it in the garden shed or outside if you are in one of those sunny places. Choose the wind direction appropriately. Soft Soap 1 pound (we have a proprietary soft soap here called Swarfega that would do, but there are cheaper brands around that will be good enough. Don't use washing up liquid. I've not tried it instead of soft soap but I suspect the high concentration needed and the presence of cationic surfactants as well as anionic ones may give undesired results, i.e., dead plants!) Tobacco 4 ounces (any cured tobacco will do, even cigarette ends. The best I know, because it has more nicotine, is pipe smokers shag. I would imagine that western chewing tobacco would be good stuff - go on, surprise your local store!) Cut up the tobacco first, if necessary. Boil the tobacco in 2 gallons water for two hours; just keep it simmering as if you were making jam and maintain the volume at two gallons. Strain through an old piece of cloth such as a pajama leg knotted at the bottom. Gently boil the clear solution with the soft soap until completely dispersed. Bottle the mixture as it will keep for years - it is too poisonous for bacteria. To spray, use one part of this mixture to four parts water. [Part of the effectiveness of this recipe probably lies in the detergent action of the soft soap.] As nicotine is poisonous, don't use it on your fruit and vegetables unless there is going to be a good rain to wash it away. Even without the nicotine the soft soap isn't very tasty either. (Does all this put you off smoking?) Quassia Spray If you can get hold of any quassia wood chips, this spray is good against aphis, caterpillars and Gooseberry sawfly. However, don't use it on your leaf vegetables - cabbage, brussels, spinach, etc. as it can give a bitter taste. It won't hurt, it's not poisonous to humans, birds or other animals but ... yuck. The bitterness will keep the birds off fruit buds in Spring. Boil 0.5 pound quassia wood chips vigorously with 1 gallon water for two hours. Add more water as the it boils away to keep the volume at the 1 gallon mark. Strain through your pajama leg (without your leg inside it, of course). Add 1 ounce ordinary soap, boil till it dissolves, bottle, store as long as you like. Use 1 part mixture to 5 parts water as your spray. --------- Regards to all Hamish Sloan