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'Tick Solution' work for ticks?
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Posted by magallaher z6 NY (My Page) on Thu, May 4, 06 at 21:19
| Today I sprayed my rock garden with something called "Tick Solution." It's supposed to "kill and repel fleas, ticks, and chiggers." The active ingredients are salt, lemon grass oil, peppermint oil, and allium sativum. Has anybody tried this product and does it work? Here's their website.
(www.bio-plex.com/naturalpestsolutions.asp)
Thanks,
Mary Ann |
Follow-Up Postings:
RE: 'Tick Solution' work for ticks?
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| I have not used this product, but I have serious doubts it will work for long. Lemon Grass and peppermint have long been used as insect repellents and they do appear to work OK. Compared to Deet though, there is no comparison. The primary problem with these 'natural' products is that they are natural/organic and therefore break down quickly. On the skin/clothes they work for a couple hours. In an open air/soil environment I can't see how they would retain effectiveness any longer than that. Maybe there is something in the 'inert ingredients' that preserves them longer, but otherwise these are simply oils from plants and they will be decomposed rapidly once exposed to the elements. |
RE: 'Tick Solution' work for ticks?
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| BUT, Mary Ann...please let us know what your experience with this product is. There are large numbers of us who cannot or will not use products containing DEET, so are always looking for good alternative repellents and deterrents. |
RE: 'Tick Solution' work for ticks?
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| I'll let you know how it goes. I'm not sure I'll be able to tell whether the product has made a difference. My rock garden area is a tick festival. I actually found a live tick on my clothing while spraying the stuff! I guess I should have sprayed it directly on that tick to see what would happen. I think the product is meant more for a mown lawn area rather than an overgrown rock garden. I personally will be wearing clothing treated with permethrins and I will use DEET on myself if necessary while gardening there. My county is #2 in the country for incidence of Lyme Disease so that is a big concern of mine and for me at least it outways other concerns. However, I refuse to spray the ground or foliage with anything nasty. It's not very polite to attract birds to your feeders and then say, oops, there's poison all around so be careful. Especially the woodpeckers and hummingbirds who will eat bugs and sap from the trees. I probably wasted my $25. Anyone have any luck using tea tree oil as an insect repellant? I mean putting it on your skin. Mary Ann |
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