Last fall, I was persuaded by a nursery to purchase and plant a "Texas Rain Tree." I'm not sure precisely what the true name of it is. It's supposed to be an ornamental and to make beautiful fall leaves. It's pretty small--about 5' high and only about 1 1/2" calibre. Suddenly this spring, some of the leaves are turning brown, and one or two of the previously leafed-out branches are going bare. At the same time, there's quite a bit of new growth. Something appears to be eating it, but I have lady bugs and no other visible insects. I'm loathe to spray any sort of insecticide (even an organic one) because of the ladybugs. In any event, I need some remedy to keep it healthy! Help?

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clayreynolds.info

Garlic Pepper tea with no orange oil will run off but not kill bugs.

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Shepherd of the Trees
It is not our part to master all the tides of the world, but to do what is in us for the succor of those years wherein we are set, uprooting the evil in the fields we know so that those who live after may have clean earth to till.

I'm sorry, but that's not very helpful. What the heck is Garlic Pepper Tea and does it come normally with that oil? And if it runs off and doesn't deter insects, what good is it?

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clayreynolds.info

Evidently you misunderstood the response.

Garlic Pepper Tea will run off, as in drive away from your plant/tree, insects of all sorts. It will run off bugs but not kill bugs. Thus it will run off the undesireable bugs but won't kill the ladybugs you wish to protect. If you read our forum, you'll find garlic pepper tea mentioned many times and the formula is also posted in several entries on Howard's main site. Here is an example:

http://www.dirtdoctor.com/view_question.php?id=204
Garlic Pepper Tea
To make garlic/pepper tea, liquefy 2 bulbs of garlic and 2 hot peppers in a blender 1/2 to 2/3 full of water. Strain the solids and add enough water to the garlic/pepper juice to make 1 gallon of concentrate. Use 1/4 cup of concentrate per gallon of spray. To make garlic tea, simply omit the pepper and add another bulb of garlic.

I mentioned that is should be made with out adding orange oil because sometimes people add that when they're trying to specifically kill an infestation in addition to running off future bugs.

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Shepherd of the Trees
It is not our part to master all the tides of the world, but to do what is in us for the succor of those years wherein we are set, uprooting the evil in the fields we know so that those who live after may have clean earth to till.

Many thanks for the clarification. Around here, I guess, "run off" means to flow off. In any case, thanks for the recipe.

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clayreynolds.info