Since I started writing this column for Suite101.com a year ago, the most common question I've been asked is: "Where can I find the organic products you talk about in your articles?"
Well, I'm happy to report that organic gardening solutions are more readily available than you probably think...and more new products are entering the market all the time.
While I can't speak for all stores in every region, the Home Depot and Lowe's locations around my area are now carrying a large selection of organic gardening alternatives, and I suspect they are doing so in your neck of the woods as well.
(Incidentally, I requested an interview with Home Depot and Lowe's to give each a pat on the back and discuss the increasing presence of organics among their gardening product selections, and was wholly ignored by both. I guess if my name was P. Allen Smith, things would be a little different, but...c'est la vie, eh?)
In an effort to keep up with the Big Home Improvement Conglomerates, it seems the savviest hardware chains (like Ace and True Value) are also now offering these organic alternatives in their shops.
Don't look for organics to be on the shelf next to the toxic gardening stuff in the aforementioned stores, however. The trend is to display all organics all together, which I certainly appreciate. The product placement folks at those stores must've rightfully deduced that most people who buy organics are more likely to ONLY buy organics. After all, you can't really be halfway organic...it's like being halfway pregnant.
Common Brands
So, let's move along and look at some of the commonly available organic brands, specific products, and their contents:
Brand Product Use Contents Concern Citrus Spray General Insect Killer Orange Oil Concern Diatomaceous Earth Insect Killer Crawling Insect Killer Diatomaceous Earth
(NOT swimming pool-grade DE)Concern Insect Killing Soap Sucking Insect Killer Potassium salts of fatty acids Concern Slug Stop Barrier Slug Control Coconut Oil Soap Concern Weed Prevention Plus Lawn Weed-n-Feed Corn Gluten Meal Green Light Bioganic Crawling Insect Killer Crawling Insect Killer Rosemary Oil Green Light Bioganic Lawn & Garden Misc. Outdoor Insect Killer Neem Oil Green Light Bt Worm Killer Worm, Caterpillar Killer Bt (Bacillus Thuringiensis) Safer® Brand Fire Ant Bait Fire Ant Bait & Killer Spinosad Victor Mosquito Barrier Mosquito repellent Garlic Victor Poison-Free Wasp & Hornet Killer Wasp & Hornet Killer Mint Oil
Several of these same products can also be purchased through the stores' respective websites.
Safer, Concern and Victor are all owned by the same company, Woodstream Corp. Similarly, Green Light, Cedarcide and Bioganic fall under the Green Light company umbrella.
Kill and Repel...In a Nice Way
Interestingly, SC Johnson, the makers of Raid insecticides and Off! bug repellents, are marketing plant-based sprays much more noticeably this season. Raid is now offered in an "Earth Options" line of products. The active ingredients are Eugenol 0.50% (the principle ingredient in oil of cloves) and 2-Phenethyl Propionate 1.25% (considered a "minimum risk" pesticide by the Environmental Protection Agency).
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