Homemade sprays to rid veggies of bugs?

[secuono]

My tomatoes seem to also be bothered by insects. So I need a home made spray to help save them!
Ideas?

What types of traps are there to catch the bugs in the garden or are there none?

Found this mix online, safe?
1 cup of vegetable oil
1 tablespoon of dish washing detergent
To make a spray: Add 1 teaspoon of the oil and dish washing detergent mix to 1 cup of water.
Spray plants as needed and repeat in 7 days if necessary.


Read this-
Pick tomatoes as soon as they start to turn a LITTLE red and let them ripen inside the house. It stopped the pests from eating my tomatoes almost immediately.


Do they really ripen in the house? How does ripening work and why is it not needed outside?
Could they be put into a 39-45F fridge or left on a counter where temps can get to 85F? No AC here.

 

[journey11]

Put them on the counter or out on your porch. Tomatoes don't take kindly to refridgeration. It makes them mealy. They'll continue to ripen fine on their own just sitting out. In the fall you can even pick your mature green tomatoes (before the frost gets them) and wrap them individually in newspaper and put in a cool (not refridgerated), dark place and you can have tomatoes to eat out of season. Not exactly the same as a summer vine-ripened tomato, but better than no tomato!

I've not used that spray before either, but have been meaning to mix some up. I hear it is really good for stopping aphids and flea beetles. Bigger bugs sometimes are easier to hand pick if you have just a few plants. My biggest problem on tomatoes are the stink bugs. They are fast and hard to catch, but not impossible. However, if I see too many, I just go ahead and spray Sevin once or twice and that does me for the season. I hate it when they suck on the developing tomatoes (fruit) and make them have pithy spots.

ETA: The thing that makes tomatoes ripen is called "senescence". It is triggered by a gaseous chemical that is released by the mature fruit.

 

[secuono]

Found two caterpillars then sprayed with oil and dish soap mix.

 

[journey11]

How'd they do?

 

[hoodat]

Always keep in mind that any spray which kills pest insects will also destroy predators. Sometimes attacking pests and killing off the predators is counter productive and makes the problem worse in the long run.

 

[secuono]

Well, the tomatoes were being eaten like mad, nearly none were spared. The yard is nothing but crickets, never found any good bugs except the one tiny 1.5in pray-mantis all the way near the pasture a few months ago. Oh, and one ladybug...but it was dead on a cucumber plant long before I sprayed...